There are not enough words to express our appreciation for Ilumin Education and the work that Kyra…read moredid with our two sons during their college application process- it was definitely one of the best decisions we made for them. From the very beginning, we appreciated how accommodating Anthony was given our limited time and how forthcoming he was with the information we needed to make our decision. Kyra was phenomenal! Although our kids were among many of her students, Kyra was so attentive and committed to their experience, helping clarify their interests in majors and helping them give voice to essays that were authentic to who they are- this was definitely not a cookie cutter experience! She was always supportive and well organized so our kids never felt overwhelmed or pressed for time. When we expressed concerns about the pathways for a particular major, Kyra put together an impressive presentation on the various options convincing us this pathway is fitting for our son. Kyra kept us in constant communication so we didn't need to worry about any hiccups or missed deadlines. We are so lucky to have found Ilumin Education to work with; they made the college application process seamless and actually enjoyable! We know that their involvement was key to our children being accepted to their "reach" schools! Thank you, Kyra, Anthony, and the entire team at Ilumin Education!

I was a highschool student being advised by Ilumin education. My counselor was always so helpful…read moreand never had me stressed or overwhelmed. The thing that sets Ilumin apart is that they don't stress out students or discourage them. I was always so stressed about the admissions process but thanks to the team at Ilumin I always felt supported and ahead on the college admissions process.

When I first reached out to Inno- V for college counseling service on college transferring, they…read moreimmediately scheduled a call with. While most college consulting business won't actively work with you until you became official client, my experience with Inno-V went much beyond the expectations. Rather than typical business relationship, the educational consultant I worked tried to be your best friend and get to know your character to help you become better in academics, experience, and daily life. He would always actively help me brainstorming for my essay prompts. In addition, my consultant was always there for me when I needed help. I was fortunate enough to get acceptances from UC Berkeley Haas school of business, USC Marshall school of business, Emory university, Boston university and all UCs. I would say that I won't be able to get into all those elite programs without inno-V. I highly recommend working with Inno- V counseling because their professional and experience in the industry will prepare you for your future.

I have been working with Inno-V since beginning of 10th grade year. They have done exactly…read moreeverything I hope to get the support during my high school years. My college counselor is very friendly and knowledgeable. He's able to guide me with specific concrete plans, from recommending outside courses to further my GPA to finding extracurricular activities and summer programs that gear toward my interests.   Through my college counselor's guidance, I was able to choose a major pathway which is what I want to do in my life - nursing. The whole process for nursing program was very competitive, but Inno-v was able to help me with the whole process, from building a college list that matches my preferences and profile to help me write the most compelling personal college essays to all the strategies and tips along the way.   I'm happy to say that I got into my dream school Case Western University Reserve for the Nursing program. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to work with Inno-V!

Hi Ajit, Any chance I can get my $200 back for an initial consultation that was absolute nonsense?…read moreI have kindly asked for my money back multiple times. I want you to known that telling my kid who is STEM focused taking 10+ APs to consider taking a ceramics course doesn't cut it for a $200 initial consultation. JUST GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK. Just letting you know that your responses on your reviews of people who complain about your service is underwhelming. Improve your service and you will do much better. Ajit, I will continue to complain about the service I received to every Indian parent that I know in the Bay Area. If you think otherwise, you don't know me well... Based on your "Stanford MBA" education, you may certainly know that word travels fast in the Bay Area. A simple suggestion to all who read this (including you Ajit) - Do NOT pay $200 for an initial consultation. Simply request a free initial consultation so that you are aware of the all of the program details, the costs, and the proficiency level of the counselor. If they can't give you a free consultation, move on and find another program. Believe me, there are plenty of programs that give you all the information that you need without paying fees to find out. They should be selling you on the program and not the other way around. 8/18/25 - Ajit, I read your response. Your answer is false. My wife, my son, and I all attended the meeting with your "counselor." It was you who was missing in that meeting. So don't make up stuff. The fact remains that I have not received my $200 back....

We've had a great experience with Insight, Purvi is phenomenal. The college process can be…read moreoverwhelming, and a lot of it comes down to picking the right list of schools to apply to early and during regular decision. Insight has a lot of experience on this front, and also a lot of "insight" into what colleges look for. In short, Purvi has been able to guide us through the nuances of the application process. Additionally, she gave us some great advice around summer programs - we would have never found the ones that she suggested. We also had a great tutor for ACT from Insight, who was able to give my daughter some great tips. She ultimately got into her top-choice school. We are very happy with Insight, and have recommended them to many friends!

My kid went through Mr. Hulls program back in 2008-2010, so this is a very late review. However, I…read morehonestly felt that he and his program had helped my kid greatly. It did improve his scores and he was able to get into a very good school, and eventually got into a very good law school and received his JD. Now, he works for a high tech company and their stocks have gone through the roof. Mr. Hull was a little stiff at times, but I think that is from him taking his job seriously.

Did not help in any admissions. Child got into all the schools that Ivy Review did not help with…read more The schools Ivy review helped with, student did not get admission. Essay feedback was not personalized enough, very generic advice. Needs more 1-1 sessions of actually doing work, case by case basis, not just general admission strategy. Would not recommend.

Not Disability-Friendly & Big Drop in Quality After Management Change…read more I worked with Goals Art Academic Tutor through the Department of Rehabilitation while dealing with a serious health condition that affects my memory and brain function. They knew this from the beginning. The whole point of me being there was to get help building systems so I wouldn't forget tasks, emails, assignments, and basic things that come with school and life. At first, the experience was much better. When Mason was there, the service felt more supportive and accountable. If there were issues, he checked in and made sure things were handled. After he left, the quality of service went downhill. Leadership didn't take the same level of responsibility when problems came up, and concerns were mostly kept "within the tutors" instead of actually being addressed at a higher level. One of my tutors (Brianna) was great and genuinely supportive. My experience with another tutor (Maddie) was not a good fit at all. Our sessions felt uncomfortable, and at one point I was told things that made me feel like I wasn't going to succeed. She also made negative comments about my other tutor, which put me in a really awkward position. I tried to request a change in tutor because it wasn't working for me, but I wasn't given that opportunity. What made this worse is that when concerns were raised, it felt like leadership relied more on what this tutor reported rather than actually checking in with me or looking at my progress. At the time, I had been sick and told her I was behind on some assignments, which is pretty normal when you're dealing with health issues. What wasn't acknowledged is that I had caught up, completed my work, and finished my exams shortly after. That context didn't seem to matter. Instead of adjusting strategies to support my memory and health-related challenges (which is literally what DOR is paying them to help with), it felt like the blame was put on me. The support I was supposed to receive to help me remember things like emails and tasks wasn't consistently implemented until very late in the process. There was progress happening, but it got overshadowed by internal issues and poor handling of concerns. In the end, my services were terminated without a real conversation or collaborative attempt by the CEO. It felt dismissive and honestly pretty hurtful, especially as someone with a disability trying to rebuild skills after a major health setback. If you're someone with ADHD, neurological issues, memory problems, or any kind of disability, please be careful with this organization. They may work fine for people without complex needs, but in my experience, they are not well-equipped or properly trained to support people with disabilities. The service changed over time, and not in a good way. I'm now working with a different agency that actually understands disability-informed support, and the difference is night and day.

My child worked with GOAL for a year. The first tutor found a great way to work with my child and…read morethe tutoring sessions seemed successful. Then. In the middle of the year, the tutor left. They found another tutor and my child started the process again, getting to know this new tutor, as the new tutor was also coming up to speed. Then this tutor left. In total, they had four tutors work with my child. The last person was very pregnant, although we couldn't tell as the sessions were on-line. She was with my child for only a month prior to going on maternity leave. Then they offered to find a new tutor for the few remaining weeks of the school year and I just had to cancel services. Considering the amount of time necessary for both the tutor and the child to learn about each other and comfortable move forward in the learning process, I am unable to recommend this team to anyone as their style of replacing tutors is counterproductive.

When come down to find a good college advisor for our high school kid, it could be very…read morechallenging! We interviewed three consulting companies, after first initial meeting, very obviously Cortex was standing out! We are with them for three months now, we realized we made the right decision. There so many good things about Cortex! I will start with our family's first meeting with them, the presentation James showed to us was very impressive, the goal, the process and timeline of applying college was so clear, especially the philosophy behind their service is to help kids to build good study habit and be productive. My kid likes James instantly, to him, James is more like mentor. Each week James gives assignments and also monthly face to face meeting, which is very helpful. James is super responsive, patient and be passionately about his work! We feel so grateful to find Cortex! thank you James!

Being immigrants and attending a public school where counselors are overwhelmed by a very large…read morestudent body, we felt that we needed help to prepare for the college admissions process. We spent quite some time looking for someone who was not only knowledgeable and experienced but also relatable to our son, and we are pleased to have found Amy. Amy really makes an effort to understand the individual, his or her aspirations, merits, and potential, the basis of every recommendation and feedback, from which extracurriculars to pursue to which colleges to apply, always having in mind whether that is a good match for that specific individual. While the credit really goes to the student who earn the grades, take the tests, and write the essays, her support and advice really helped throughout the journey and the outcomes are a testimony to this: Columbia, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, Amherst, Johns Hopkins, University of Chicago, Northwestern, University of Southern California, and all of the UCs. Working with Amy was a delight and we highly recommend her.

Review from my son: Zach Pava played a major role in my…read morecollege admissions process. Not only was his college essay feedback on 15+ essays extremely insightful, I felt that the manner in which he set up a schedule with deadlines and tasks was more helpful. He always kept in touch, especially during October and November, and always responded promptly. Zach set up mock interviews for me with other Insight counselors to practice for college admissions interviews, which did not count against my counseling hours! Also, the fact that Zach primarily worked over Skype was actually more convenient, since I did not have drive to the Cupertino office all the time for the counseling; instead, I could just do it over Skype in my room.

I just recently graduated from Emory University, and upon finishing my time in undergrad, I found…read moremyself looking back and reflecting on my college application process. I am the eldest in my family, and a first-generation American, so my family and I were unseasoned and largely out of our comfort zone when the time came to begin applying to universities. I found Zach through Insight, and he was a tremendous help to me, offering up suggestions about colleges I may be interested in applying to, prepping me for college tours and visits, editing my personal statements and supplemental essays, and offering me any guidance or support I needed throughout the long process. While I was a bit shy and lacking in confidence, Zach saw my strengths and potential, and constantly motivated me to challenge myself, ensuring that my applications reflected my best attributes. With Zach as my counselor, I never once felt stressed or overwhelmed about writing my applications, as Zach planned out deadlines for all components of my applications, ensuring that I would have everything in on time. Zach's genuine concern for my well-being and future was palpable throughout the application process, and after being accepted into Emory, my top choice school, Zach continued to be supportive of my aspirations. He was always more than happy to answer any questions I had about college and the future beyond. I highly recommend Zach not only as a college counselor, but also as a trusted mentor. His help was, and continues to be, an invaluable resource for me and my family!

Mark provided very useful information that the average parent and applicant may not know other…read morewise. He was patient and reliable.

My family has been working with Mark at Clear Path College Counseling for the past few months on…read moreour daughter's college application. Mark patiently guided us through the entire process. He confidently answered all of our questions. He carefully reviewed the essays and provided thoughtful comments, edits, and suggestions. He even reviewed our entire application to make sure that all entries were correct. Mark used his extensive knowledge and experience to provide valuable insights and advice into the college application process. We would highly recommend Mark to any family who is looking for guidance during this process or to strengthen their child's college application.