Education Unlimited's academic programs are excellent. The staff are great, and the programs are a good balance of fun and learning. College Admission Prep Camp and Public Speaking Camp are both very, very good. In short, a double thumbs up from me. read more

Since Education Unlimited owner decided to respond TODAY to my post from 2013 (after not responding to my letter of disgust at the time).... he has earned a second bad review. My daughter had a had a terrible experience at what is now called EU "Science Camp for GIrls." Back then was called Sally Ride Science Camp. It says right on their website that they changed the name in 2015: "In 2015, after the passing of Dr. Ride, it was renamed the Science Camp for Girls." Today, in 2019, to undermine my review, Matt wrote to say that the camp is run by a different organization, Sorry Matt, you did (and do, under a different name) run that camp, and in fact, I'm still on your darn mailing list. Thanks for writing back 6 years later and pretending I was talking about something else. Buyer beware. PS my daughter is happily now at a great college, studying real science. read more

My daughter thoroughly enjoyed the Sally Ride camp she attended at Berkeley this summer. I can't say enough about the program from beginning to end. The staff was super accommodating and went above and beyond to make sure the girls were not only learning, but having a fun and great experience. Even the little touches like making sure there were able snacks and munchies. Lots of thoughtful touches. They also did a great job communicating to parents, letting us know what they learned every day and finding out if there was anything they could to do make it a better experience for the girls. As for the curriculum, it really hit the mark. I wanted my daughter to lose herself in science for a week and be inspired to learn more. The Director and Teachers did just that. She is now excited to continue to learn more about Science and made several international friends to boot! Thank you Education Unlimited for a great program! read more

My 8th grade daughter absolutely loved her mock trial camp last summer, and can't wait to do it again this year. She's a veteran of camps of various types, and this was by far her favorite. In fact, the Education Unlimited camps are the only ones she wants to attend this summer. As a lawyer myself, I thought they did a great job picking a case that could go either way to give both sides good arguments. The check in staff was very knowledgeable and helpful, and my daughter loved her instructor, who really seemed to do a good job making sure all of the kids were engaged. She loved it so much we're also sending her younger brother this year as well. All in all, a great value for the money. read more

My daughter was at the Emerging Writers camp the A+ pre-college class at the Berkeley campus for a couple of days before we realized that we should just cut our losses and bring her back home. Don't be fooled that these camps are housed at the most elite institutions, the quality of the education does not in any way reflect the academic standards of the institutions in which they are housed. Their glossy brochure would have you believe that there are several instructors and that there are "classes". In reality, there was one instructor; for my daughter's class and one monotonous class. If you are considering this camp, beware of the daily schedule. Three hours of class in the morning 9-12:15, same class (same teacher) from 1:30-4:00 and a class at the worst time from 6:45-8:15, an after dinner class. My daughter was not the only one who was unhappy about the schedule, all kids were grumbling about this. Also academically the program was not one that would have challenged my daughter. The "research" they were doing was something she had already been trained to do in her 10th grade English class. She would not have learned any new tricks here. Also beware they may have you believe that more classroom time is better, in a lot a cases more is not always better, and this is definitely one of those. They may also entice you with their small class size, but this is not always a positive when the class is too small and where group discussion is an important part of the learning. Also negative things about the campus, terrible food, hot water not always available, (my daughter had to take a cold shower). Only positive is that they were in Berkeley and could get off campus. However the planned activities are pretty lame, going to the mall and scavenger hunt and game nights. So after this experience, I would advise anyone considering this camp to consider other options. For the kind of money they are charging for these camps there are many other options available. read more

My daughter has been to three Education Unlimited summer camps on college campuses, and they were all fantastic. During middle school she attended the Sally Ride Science Camp at Stanford University. She lived in the Stanford dorms and met girls from all over the U.S. She loved it so much that she went back the following summer! She built a rocket, a robot, and did other science projects, plus went swimming and on field trips to SF, all well supervised by female adults in science careers. Last summer, just before her senior year, she went to the Emerging Writers Institute at UC Berkeley for two weeks. It was a life changing experience for her. She always loved to write, but in this setting, surrounded by other young writers, talented and just-published young authors, and amazing instructors, she found her true path. She is on the quiet side but could NOT stop talking on the ride home after I picked her up. She led off with, "Mom, when I met the other kids they asked me what BOOKS I like to read. They were all just like me! They read all the time!" She was able to choose what kind of writing she wanted to do at camp, short stories, plays, poetry, whatever. The workshops were run like a real writers group: they wrote, they shared, they critiqued each other's work. The critiquing was hard for her at first, she said, but on the way home she was pulling out all the critiques of her own work and LOVED reading them. She looked at one and said, "Oh, Luis made such a good suggestion for this one part of my story." Anyway, if your son or daughter is at all interested in writing, I HIGHLY recommend this camp. Because of it, my daughter has decided to major in Creative Writing and Communications in college, and she is enthusiastic about getting started. She and the other campers still stay in touch through a Facebook group. Absolutely the best camp ever. read more

My son completed the Nor Cal & So. Cal college tour trip this summer. What an amazing experience he had ! The staff was so kind, and he had a wonderful FUN educational over view, of what college options are out there. They stayed in nice hotels,ate well, toured many schools, and had all their questions answered ! He also made several friends from other countries and states, that he plans on keeping in touch with. thank you Education Unlimited for a wonderful important experience for my son. --- Jennifer read more

My son just took West Cost college tour and he loved it! Thank you for making learning about colleges fun, interesting. He came back home very inspired! Iryna. read more

I participated myself in the East Coast College Tour program and will always consider it to be one of the best decisions I made in the college application process. I got to spend a week a great group of students who had similar high-ranking college aspirations as me but came from a plethora of different backgrounds, including one guy from China and another from Russia (who, like many of us, would've had difficulty seeing all these colleges simply armed with the internet and a handful of brochures). Visiting colleges with other students versus visiting colleges with your parents is SO much more effective because parents (including my own) tend to get so involved in the application process that they can take over much of the experience. As a current college tour guide I cannot name all the times I've seen parents trying to impress the guide with intelliegent questions while their kid either looks embarrassed or disinterested. This program was great because I was able to feel like a student, surrounded by other students my age, and consider the kind of student-life I wanted a year from then. That's what gets me excited talking about that summer, but in terms of practicality you really can't get any better than this either. We got to see two colleges per day and scaled the East Coast, so I got to see half the Ivy Leagues and a variety of other colleges in at least 5 different cities in just 1 week, in addition to special tours, historic locations, and really nice food. I don't know about you, but my parents don't have the time or stamina to do 10 back to back tours across the coast and nor do they have the connections to get me into all the places Education Unlimited did. A great program, attracting amazing students who I still keep in touch with today, and a FANTASTIC summer investment. read more

My son attended the CAPC Day camp program (College Admission Prep Camp - Day Camp). I greatly appreciated the SAT and college preparation summer program (class from 5 to 10 August), as I liked their approach as well the fact that they work with small groups. The program started with a diagnostic SAT so they would know the level of each student and could adapt the work to improve specific weakness of each student, and so they could make the most of one-to-one sessions with the instructor. In addition of a preparation book for the SAT Education Unlimited furnishes a special system of cards for the dictionary and the math, which is very well done. I especially liked the program instructor who was dedicated to each student and did a very good job as SAT instructor. Seminars on writing college application essays, part of this program too, were very helpful because the instructor advises each student about the personal essay of college application. I would recommend this program to students who prepare the SAT and want to improve their chances of success in the college admissions process. read more

I went on the Education Unlimited east coast college tour the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. For some context, I am now a sophomore in college at UC Berkeley. This trip was definitely one of the most memorable weeks of my life! In one week, we toured about 15 colleges, it was crazy! Most of us flew together as a group and we used a really nice tour bus to get around from city to city and tour the schools. We started in Boston and toured Harvard, BU, Boston College, Tufts, and then worked our way to NY to see NYU, Columbia, and a few more. We also toured Yale in CT, Brown in RI, as well as schools in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and DC. Each day, we would get to pick two different schools out of four options to go see. At each school we would do the guided tour, Q&A session, and listen to faculty speak. It was very informative. We would wake up early in the morning and get the two school tours done by mid afternoon. Then, during the late afternoon and evening, we'd get to explore whichever city we were in! It was exhausting but such a fun trip. Exploring the cities was so much fun, I still vividly remember the things we did almost 4 years later now. Our chaperones, Nermin and Janet, were so great. They always made sure we were safe and had the phone numbers of themselves, our bus driver, and our tour mates. They also made sure we switched roommates at each hotel so we got to know and make friends with all the kids on our trip. I always felt safe at the hotels we were at, and there was never a time when I felt hungry or uncomfortable. They were also really great at making sure that we had a lot of fun along the way. Though the trip is definitely focused on the college tours, we managed to pack in all the best parts of each city. We did duck tours, swan boat rides, and ate real Boston Cream pie in Massachusetts, stopped by the Today show filming, shopped in times square, had NY pizza and cheesecake in New York, saw the liberty bell, Rocky Steps, and had cheesesteaks and ice cream in Philadelphia, and much more. I have so many great memories from that trip! As far as advice for students planning to take the trip, you definitely need to do your research on each school before embarking on the trip. In each state we had 4 or 5 options of schools to go to, but you choose the 2 that you are actually interested in applying in to tour. Make sure you know exactly which schools you want to see and prepare questions for each one, you'll definitely have the chance to ask them. I hadn't done my research on some of the smaller colleges in Pennsylvania and remember that at one point I had the option between two of them and randomly chose because I didn't know much about either. Don't let that happen to you, research all the schools before the trip! I also recommend going between your junior and senior year of high school, it'll get you super excited for college apps and the atmosphere of each of the campuses will be fresh in your head. Anyone interested in applying to east coast schools should do this tour, it is FANTASTIC! read more

My daughter attended the 2017 A+ summer camp for Science and English at Stanford University and she had a BLAST! She was very impressed with the amount of education in forensic sciences she got out of the one week period. I was amazed watching her present her work as the Police Chief of a camp investigation. She made great friends from around the world and she is still in contact with them. The staff were super nice and accommodated our needs. I highly recommend this camp for students who are interested in science and English. Education Unlimited also has other camps that are equally appealing. read more

I'm troubled by Education Unlimited's claims on its website. They report 100% satisfaction. This is absurd (and untrue). I'm also troubled by how the employees are using Yelp to bolster their ratings. Yelp ratings should be used by consumers. My daughter, a bright student, hardworking and nice kid, attended on the Berkeley campus and did not get much out of it. It's not a good match for everyone. My sense is that it's a good fit for super competitive aggressive kids. The teachers, most are male, tend to have the style of a football coach, which can be alienating for a lot of kids. read more

My son completed the Neuroanatomy camp at Stanford in early July, and really enjoyed it. It exceeded our expectations. My husband and I both tend to have high expectations in general(!), so this is somewhat unusual. The experience both in the classroom (dissected a brain) and out were excellent from my son's account and given what we actually observed. All parental feedback was extremely positive at the conclusion. I would not hesitate to send my daughter to this same camp in a couple of years. The instructor (from Yale) related well to the kids and conveyed a genuine passion for the subject. read more

My students have been attending Education Unlimited camps for years, and I can't say enough good things about them. Each summer, no matter the kids' backgrounds and no matter which camps they attend, they come away having had a life-changing experience. The faculty and staff are unfailingly warm and welcoming, and the classes are not only academically challenging but also fun and enriching. Yes, the camps are an investment, but the return is immeasurable, not only in terms of student achievement but also in terms of college admission potential. read more

Don't waste your money! Middle School camp was extremely overpriced, subpar instruction (they college students to save money) and curriculum that wasn't the least bit interesting or challenging. My daughter was looking forward to this camp and was extremely disappointed as were we. Don't get taken like we did! read more

My 10 year old daughter attended Sally Ride Science Camp, Berkeley, in June of 2014. I cannot say enough how amazing this camp was! My daughter absolutely wants to do it again next summer. We chose the marine biology section and along with the day to day activities, there was a field trip to the Lawrence Hall of Science which my daughter thoroughly enjoyed with Dr. Rhonda as her guide. My daughter has Type 1 diabetes and from the minute we checked in, the staff was aware of her condition and ready to help with her care. The staff was ready and available for checkin, always made sure we new how the girls were doing, responded to any emails and phone calls that were made and were extremely accommodating with the commuter option. It was so great for my daughter to meet kids from all around the world. Children from as far as Hong Kong and Syndey attended this camp. My daughter was signed up for the commuter option, but after making new friends, quickly wanted to stay into the evening and be there early enough to have breakfast with her new friends. The love of science has overflowed into her middle school experience. She and her fellow camp friend are 2 of only a handful of girls that have joined the STEM Club at our school. I feel that the Sally Ride Science Camp helped in getting her excited about science! One more nice bit was the food in the cafeteria was great! She came home every day telling me about the wonderful menu and how much she had eaten!!! read more

My son just returned home from spending 2 weeks at the Emerging Writers Camp at Yale. He had such a fantastic time! He flew alone (for the first time) from the West Coast to JFK. Brett was at the airport and touched base with him right after the plane landed. My son made friends that he's planning on keeping in contact with. He bonded well with his instructors Brett, Liz and Eva. He said the classes were amazing because he learned so much in such a fun and interesting way. He really liked the way the trip to NYC, the museums and the play were tied to writing. He loved being on the Yale campus and enjoyed learning about the campus. He came home a little more mature and a lot more inspired. I highly recommend this camp! read more

My daughter repeated the Sally Ride Science Camp this year as a 13 year old. The first time she went she was 11 and loved it so much she wanted to go back. When she arrived, one of the counselors recognized her! She loved living in the Berkeley dorms for 5 nights with her friend and getting a feel for college life. Great experience for girls and young teens who are interested in science. I would highly recommend. read more

My daughter attended the Emerging Writers program on the Brown campus this past summer. It was an amazing experience for her. It was her first time away from home, and the onsite counselors were caring, thorough and thoughtful. I had constant contact with the program's director, who always returned my emails and phone calls in a very timely matter. Everyone was professional and easy to work with. My daughter loves literature and writing. She felt like the program helped her grow as a writer, and opened her eyes to different genres. She wants to try the same program on a different campus next summer. read more

This summer, my11 yr old son had a vey positive and memorable experience attending to 2 different programs offered by Education Unlimited. This was his first week away from home, by himself, experience. He simply had a blast. He wasn't missing home at all. The program seemed very well planned, taught, and it's staff were extremely friendly and helpful to both the camper and parents. My child took 2 different sessions, Public Speaking and A+ Middle School at the Palo Alto location. He can't wait to go back for more of Education Unlimtied courses next summer. It is pricey and isn't too intense on academics, but provides a good balance of academics and fun for kids to enjoy during their summer. We were very satisfied and are likely to send our children to this camp again. read more

My 15 year old son attended a creative writing camp based on the UC Berkeley campus last summer. It was a great experience for him, both in terms of developing his skills and interest in writing as well as giving him a taste of college life. Education Unlimited provided a good balance between giving the students a lot of independence while still providing plenty of supervision and support. The teachers were engaged and engaging and the "field trips" were all well thought out. Highly recommended! read more

I'm fifteen years old and went to my first sleep away camp this year at Stanford with the A+ Summer High School program. I have to say that it was the most amazing experience of my life. I learned so much in the ares of logic, reading, and writing. My writing has improved greatly through this experience which has been noticeable to various teachers. The camp was also so enjoyable that it made the campers much more susceptible to learning new things. The teachers were also highly qualified college teachers who helped us realize what college professors will someday be searching for. The people I met at camp are also some of the best friends I have ever had, and we all plan to go to a different camp for a longer period of time next year. I hope everyone has the chance to experience any one of the camps Education Unlimited offers due to their truly life altering capabilities. read more

My 16-year-old son attended two Education Unlimited camps last summer (2014.) He did the CAPC intensive SAT prep camp and then joined up with the group doing the East Coast College Tour. He loved them both. From the moment I expressed interest in EU I had a tremendously positive response from the camp. I had a lot of questions, and every email was promptly addressed with care. Sending my son away for even part of the summer was a little like losing one of my hands, or lungs. But they understood that and communicated with me in a professional, yet friendly, manner throughout the experience. I wasn't really expecting my son to enjoy spending part of his summer studying for the SAT. But on the contrary, he LOVED the experience. He completely enjoyed Tufts campus, the food (and is he picky!?), Boston, the director of the camp, other campers and his roommate. He did not have one negative comment... and he is 16. That says it all, if you think about it. There was a two day break between the CAPC and the East Coast College Tour. I was really stressed about what he was going to do during those days. But he is fairly independent and resourceful and I figured he could do his laundry and get about a bit on his own. But no, the camp had the director of the CAPC stay late, and the director of the next camp come in early so our son had somone with him all the time. They did fun things together, like sight-seeing and eating in fun restaurants. My son loved it! Education Unlimited in no way had to do this for our son. I was expecting him to be on his own. It was a generous and kind surprise. The college tour was also great fun and super informative. If you have done, or attempted to do, these college tours with your son or daughter, then you too will understand why we went with EU. They really take the time to do the tours and interviews the right way.... which can be so boring and not fun and... I could go on and on. But through EU my son had a great time and learned a ton! He had an organized look at universities that he can aspire to get into, as well as those he could not even dream of. Even if he may not be able to get into all of the schools, there is method to this madness. The kids can see which they prefer - huge universities, or small, city or rural, private or public, etc. They can begin to determine what they prefer and will be able to make very educated choices about which school they'd like to apply. And my family doesn't have to burn precious vacation time and a ton of money flying and driving from school to school, doing the interviews and tours. If you are still reading this far, then you probably are in my situation with teenagers. Let me address one final point. After doing these two camps, my son is WAY more focused at his studies. The music is turned off, the phone is put away (not kidding), no texting via phone or computer, his grades have gone up! Straight A's so far this year! Because of these camps he has seen WHY he needs to study harder, and he is. Yes, the camps are expensive. But, for us, the results have been priceless. Finally, let me say that while I am writing this review I can see other reviews on the margin of this page. I'm dying laughing. I cannot believe that anyone would be gauche enough to post their combined income, or to compare these camps to YMCA. That seems a lot to me like comparing The French Laundry to Burger King. Both serve potentially delicious food, and certainly if you can't tell the difference, go to Burger King. But don't say they are the same. Education Unlimited is a premium camp experience. You totally get what you pay for and much more. Both of my sons will be doing EU camps next summer, and I will not spend a minute worrying about them. They will be in great hands. Great job and thanks EU! We are looking forward to 2015! read more

Overpriced, overrated and not-accredited would be appropriate adjectives for the Sally Ride Camp at the Cal-Tech Pasadena campus this summer. The reviews for Education Unlimited are somewhat divergent. Duly noted are the number of positive reviews written by employees of Education Unlimited which skew the positive rating. It can be surmised that many students attending these camps are high academic achievers, as their parents are investing a lot of money to attend this camp. The CEO of this company should be lauded as he seems to respond to the negative reviews. Our review of Education Unlimited falls into the one star category. We normally do not write reviews of our experiences but this appears to be the only avenue to elicit a follow up response from the CEO. We initially wrote the CEO, Matthew Fraser, to express our disappointment and concerns with our experience at the Sally Ride Camp at Cal Tech this July 2015. We received an immediate acknowledgement response but nearly eight weeks later, we have not had any follow up (even with a reminder email). Our daughter's experience at the Sally Ride Camp held at the Cal-Tech campus was less than positive. With her previous experience at other highly academically ranked camps, she was able to discern that this summer camp did not offer a challenging curriculum nor did they have exceptional teachers. As mentioned in other reviews, some of the instructors with Education Unlimited are recent college graduates. Although they may have acquired "book knowledge," they seemed to be lacking in experience, enthusiasm, patience, and classroom management/teaching skills which are important qualities necessary to inspire young scientists. We questioned whether or not our daughter's instructor was even credentialed or a licensed teacher in California. Her particular instructor (she is not listed on the Education Unlimited website nor would they disclose her full name after multiple requests) singled out our daughter in a less than professional manner a few times during the week. Her demeanor was unprofessional and her teaching ability could easily be described as "reading notes from a syllabus". We brought this up to the attention of the camp director and CEO. With the disappointment in the camp curriculum, teacher, and the consequent lack of follow up to rectify our situation, we strongly recommend parents to thoroughly investigate their child's summer camp before registering. We agree with other parents that there should be caution in selection of a camp as sometimes we can be deluded by the prestigious campus site at which the camp is offered. With the cost of tuition for the Sally Ride Camp, only talented licensed/credentialed teachers should be on the team. The director informed us some of the teachers are signed for just a one week commitment. What level of dedication can that involve? Legislation is currently pending for mandatory accreditation by the American Camp Association...Education Unlimited is not a member and therefore not compelled to abide by their standards to protect our children. Since the Sally Ride Camp at Cal-Tech is a non-residential camp and does not fall into the statutory definition of an organized camp, they are not mandated by the current regulations. Their flagrant dismissal of our parental concerns is clearly evident. To date, there has been no follow up from the CEO nor any effort made to rectify our disappointing experience and encounter with an unprofessional teacher. Caveat Emptor! read more

My daughter attended Sally Ride Science Camp in 2013 and this year she attended Prep Plus at UCLA. She is quite shy so meeting kids from all over the nation and the world is great exposure for her not to mention taking care of herself. Everything is well planned and the staff knew her name as soon as I introduced myself at check-in. What can I say, the schedule was tough, my daughter learned a ton, she was exhausted every evening BUT also having fun! She loved her teachers and counselors. The escort who took my daughter to LAX (for her return to NCAL) was super nice and careful with my kid and her best friend. Bad luck my daughter's flight was delayed almost 5 hours but EU was very careful to keep me informed and they made sure they were safe and sound. The communication was great! My only suggestion is that the kids see more of the campus' where they are attending camp. Instruction is great but seeing the campus, all areas, is also important exposure for the kids. I think parents would be very please if this was a bigger chunk of the camp agenda. Great job!!!! Thank you Nermin and Aaron for giving my girl a great experience. She got mad at me yesterday and said she wished she was back at UCLA. : ) THANK YOU! read more

STAY AWAY FROM THE SUMMER CAMPS OR THEY WILL CHEAT YOU! Don't be fooled by the name of the university campus this private company may be renting from. These jerks are the absolute worst. They are dishonest and unprofessional. They will refuse a refund even if you complain about their failure to safeguard your child and about the completely unprofessional, disorganized, and unprepared instructors and staff. They will then tell you completely different things than other staff have told you so that they are either lying or completely incompetent as an organization. They're version of "customer service" is to pass you on from one person to another in a process of attrition trying to make you give up while they keep your money even though they provided no service. They will insist you put your child in harms way by surrendering your child to them for at least one day (probably so they can charge you for that and, if you were silly enough to do that, to then force you to jerk your child around in the process of taking him or her out again), even though everything you saw at the children's orientation would give any parent reasonable objections about child safety and their curriculum. All they will say, over and over, is that they have been around awhile and have qualified instructors (yup, they have a degree). End result: no services rendered and they keep your thousands of dollars. Sound like a good business to you? read more