I couldn't be happier with our experience with David and College Zoom. Their program is like NO…read moreOTHER. They have created a system that truly helps the student organize his/her/their thoughts and ideas in order to put their best foot forward and create a college application that represents who the student is and what their achievements are. Both my children worked with College Zoom. My son is a very typical young man who had a hard time getting started with his applications, and College Zoom did an excellent job supporting him every step of the way. My daughter, on the other hand, was very motivated and College Zoom worked well with her enthusiasm and organization. I am happy to report that both kids got into their DREAM schools (USC and UC Berkeley) with College Zoom's help. David and College Zoom really understood each student's unique needs, and also helped this mom feel less worried!!

College Zoom was instrumental in my success with college applications. I've gotten into more…read moreschools than I could ever even dream about, and Harvard is where I will be going for the next four years. When I started the CZ program, my vision was that Yale and the Naval Academy were my unlikely 10% chance dreams, while I'd realistically have a 50% chance of landing at Purdue (which is still a great school nonetheless), and a 40% at a Vanderbilt or Northwestern-level school. When I got into the Naval Academy, I thought that would be it. And then came Yale, where at that point I applied to Harvard and Princeton more or less to put my name in the drawing hat. But to be standing here at the end of the journey, having gotten into all of these top universities as an engineering major, I truly never could've dreamed it at the beginning. It was only possible with CZ's help, between the hours and hours poured into the personal statement, supplementals, cutting and rewriting the activity sheet. They told me exactly how to fill out each section of my applications in the optimal way, while leaving ample room for me to represent myself through my own words. And when it came to college interviews - the part I was most nervous for - CZ provided me with ample practice and resources to gain the confidence I needed. I know that without their guidance and organization, I would've been lost in the process and fallen behind quickly. Before applications started, its college planning package helped me by pushing me to create a Passion Project in high school. I tended to be someone with strong academics and average extracurriculars, and this concept pushed me to lead impactfully within the computer science club at my school - which, looking back, was both very important to my applications and is something I value even beyond college admissions. As someone who tended to shy away from leadership activities like these, without CZ's encouragement for me to pursue them, I would've missed out on a lot of opportunities for self-development in high school so I am grateful for its guidance in this respect as well. All in all, CZ's straightforward and effective guidance, in conjunction with its reasonable cost, made it the best choice for me! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this organization to others. It's been awesome working with them, and I owe my success with the application cycle to them.

My son dreamed of NYU Tisch Film and we knew we needed help in the applicaton process. Jen at Great…read moreExpectations recommended the perfect fit. Sajel Oelerich made the college application process so seamless and SO much easier. From the moment my son first spoke with her, he knew that Sajel was the key to getting into his dream school. Her patience, advice, demeanor and enthusiasm were beyond incredible. She gently pushed him and helped him to see how much more he could bring to his applications. He looked forward to his sessions and after each one he came out more energized, more excited and SO much less stressed out. He got into his dream school! Thank you so much Sajel and thank you Great Expectations! -Deb S.

We had a terrible experience with this group. I would have told the owner director had she ever…read morechecked in during the process. We did not even use all of the hours.

Liz Marx is absolutely incredible! She just helped my son get into his dream school (Early…read moreDecision) and now he can enjoy the rest of his senior year. What impressed me most about Liz is how she partnered so closely with my son on every step of the college admissions process, teaching him how to be responsible for his work, while shielding us parents from the day-to-day stress of it all. With Liz's guidance, my son learned to take ownership of his college admissions journey, from the early research phase, where she helped him figure out what he wanted out of his college experience, to drafting smart, authentic essays that showcased the best parts of his personality. She also created a killer SAT prep strategy for my son, which involved selecting the right tutor for him and steering him toward taking the test early in 11th grade, which was incredibly effective. She made sure he prepared ALL of his materials well in advance, so there was no scrambling. Best of all, Liz built a great relationship with my son over weekly zoom meetings, and was deeply invested in his progress every step of the way. My son trusted Liz's guidance and judgement completely, and we quickly learned that she understands this process like no one else. Working with Liz was an excellent experience and I can't recommend her highly enough!

Liz Marx was incredible to work with. She was readily available, accommodating, and pragmatic. My…read moredaughter started to work with her in the beginning of junior year of High School and they kept frequent meetings, having us parents join as needed. Liz really took the time to get to know my daughter, which helped selecting the right fit for her when it comes to majors and schools. She was very meticulous in editing the essays and very skillful to handle our anxiety as parents during this process. She was also very pragmatic and realistic when selecting schools. My daughter was accepted to the Fall semester to 11 universities of the 12 she applied, and was on waitlist in one of them. She ended up getting in her first choice, which was USC. I could not be happier with Liz Marx work.

After Alison helped my daughter get into her dream school UCLA, I turned to her to help my son. He…read morewas transferring from a CC to an UC. His hard work & her help with his essays really paid off. He will be starting at UC Berkeley this fall. One of the things I appreciated most was Alison's responsiveness and willingness to make revisions promptly. Her professionalism and attention to detail made the process smooth and stress-free. Thanks to Alison both my kids got admitted to top schools.

My son worked with Alison the Summer between his Junior and Senior year in high school on his…read morecollege essays. Her style of working with my son, as well as her knowledge of how to shape the essays for the major my son was applying to were valuable and in sightful. Alison communicated very clearly through out the process, both with me and my son, which made things so easy. I highly recommend using Alison for your college essays. I can firmly say it made the difference, as my son got into his dream school.

Patti really helped my son navigate his voice in his college essays. She was also instrumental in…read morehelping him decide where he wanted to apply (and why) and what majors would and wouldn't be a great fit for him, based on getting to know him over the two years they worked together. Once my son decided what he really wanted to pursue, she helped him back into choosing the best colleges within various universities, keeping location, size, campus vibe, cost and other variables in mind. As parents, it was wonderful to have a positive and knowledgable outside influence take the reins in aspects of the process that we didn't know much about. She kept him accountable and on track, while always being upbeat and a pleasure to work with. He submitted all his applications early and was confident that he'd done his best work. I highly recommend Patti to anyone looking for guidance at any point of the admissions process.

As a parent going through their first college application with their child, I strongly urge others…read moreto search elsewhere for college counseling. Despite the positive reviews others have left, my son, Christian felt strongly about Patti's various shortcomings during his college application process. He felt that his questions were left unanswered constantly and oftentimes would leave meetings more confused. He strongly felt that his time would have been better spent somewhere else. To other parents: Please be wary of the unrealistic promises made by this business!

I haven't been able to write a review since I was in medical school for the past 4 years, thanks…read morefor Shemmassian Consulting! I'm about to become a first year resident, but I remember the anxiety of feeling like I could never realize this dream like it were yesterday. I am a first-gen college grad, and pretty much did everything myself. I didn't have a mom or dad or aunt or uncle in medicine. I didn't go to a school with a strong premed program. I felt I wasn't a strong enough candidate. When I started with Shemmassian Consulting, I was second time applicant. They gave me a complete analysis of my previous application and made a customized plan to help me with my MCAT goals, primary and secondary apps, and gave me insight I couldn't gather anywhere else. I was assigned Erica to consult me, and Dr. Harris. I felt taken care of. They were honest about where I stood and what it would take to get to where I needed to be. They supported me every minute I panic emailed and were so accommodating in times when I had to change things up. I wound up getting accepted to four med schools ! Going through this application process is incredibly draining. With Shemmassian Consulting, I didn't have to do it alone. You don't have to, either! It was worth every cent. Sometimes, you just need someone who can give you a chance. You are good enough, you just need help reflecting that on your application :)

Shemmassian Consulting ISN'T WORTH IT! Do yourself a favor and save your money by eliminating him…read moreas the middleman. Shirag bends over backwards sending you referrals, calling dozens of times even as late as 9pm and sending countless emails convincing you to sign up with SAC. Convincing us to trust him, he promised to personally and directly be involved in my daughter's application, but once we signed up, we NEVER HEARD FROM HIM AGAIN. I honestly can't quantify the amount of involvement he actually had and there certainly was no direct advice. Shemmassian is a great business man that has done an amazing job compiling free information that is out there to market himself as a leading authority in the Medical School Application process but that is all he is - a great business man that knows how to prey on, market to and convince anxiety ridden med school applicants and their parents into signing up with him. He knows exactly how to exploit our fears that the AMCAS application and cycle brings and will say and do anything to make you sign up for a plan. However make no mistake - Dr Shemmassian IS NO MORE THAN A FACILITATOR BETWEEN EDITORS AND RESIDENT DR's that have no time for you. We paid for one of his top plans expecting his direct personal help and advice (expectations and concerns that were made VERY clear via phone conversations and emails prior to signing up) but we literally got zero . Emails I can't show due to word count. Skip SAC and go to Fiverr or Leland because you will find great Editors, AdCom experienced Dr's or both that work directly with you for THOUSANDS LESS. Then all you need to do is pay a la carte for the interview prep from wherever you want. You will seriously save tons of money this way and find equally capable editors and advisors. Don't pay the premium for Shemmassian's name because all you're paying for is for him to be the middleman. And for those of you that still want a comprehensive plan - I would go to Med School Coach. They have A LOT more experienced staff and experienced advisors to work with than Shemmassian does which we didn't realize until it came to interview prep time. Writing Editor - My daughter liked her writing advisor but there was NO direct input on my daughter's content from her actual Dr advisor in terms of "focus on this, write about this, say this not that etc etc" - not even for his own school that he was a supposed AdCom member of (Hopkins). Once my daughter determined the direction of her essays and crafted them, her writing advisor helped her to rephrase things and refine it for grammar, sentence structure and flow. We appreciated the suggestion she did make, the schedule she kept her on and the reminders she provided like updating her AMCAS mid cycle but again her actual advisor had very little input and Shemmassian had absolutely NONE. Interview Prep - Future applicants - buy the interview prep session ala cart. You'll not only save money but also have control on how many hours of prep time you need and which companies you get that help from. Also DON'T PREPAY FOR INTERVIEW PREP FROM ANYONE'S COMBO PLAN (esp SAC) until you get interviews. You don't know how many interview invites you will get and end up wasting money. If you are considering SAC - know that they are seriously lacking in Dr's/staff from higher tiered med schools so if you are prepping for top tier schools avoid SAC completely if possible. Before signing up we made sure to confirm that Dr. Shemmassian had advisors from top tier schools because we wanted to ensure that during interview prep time, my daughter had the experience and knowledge of various advisors from T10 schools to help her with interview prep. However when it came to actual interview prep, my daughter only had her main advisor from Hopkins because there was no one else from those T10 schools that could work with her. We feel like that was a bait and switch situation by Shirag and as a result, she only used 6 hours as it was restricted to one person thereby making it NOT WORTH the price we were conned into paying for the whole plan. In conclusion - Find experienced editors and advisors to help with the med school process but DO NOT USE SHEMMASSIAN CONSULTING! After locking you in, he just moves on to signing up the next cycle's victim's/income pool. My daughter and I regret using SAC instead of any of our other choices because Shirag personally brought NOTHING to the table to help her with AMCAS applications to warrant his EXORBITANT FEES and her "advisor" Dr Wang barely had time for her. We paid a crazy amount of money due to Shemmassian's lies of personal help which we never got and although the writing advisor my daughter worked with was good, SAC itself wasn't worth the hard earned money we disappointingly paid Shemmassian. Daughters Stats - 4.0 Dual Degree B.S and B.A, MCAT 519, Preview 9/9, Publications and Presentations - Several, Thousands of hours of research, clinical experience and volunteer work, 1 Gap yr.

This is my second child working with Magellan. I cannot say enough good things about them and…read moreespecially about Carrie Adelman. Carrie not only skillfully navigated which schools would be the best choices for my daughter, but she helped us to consider colleges where she was then able to get substantial merit aid. We made hard choices early on about where to apply, but if you want a list of realistic schools that give aid -- I know kids who turned down a college because they got in but got zero aid at a very expensive school. She can not only help you figure this out but knows schools that may be lesser known gems that you haven't considered. Carrie is passionate about this work and had a great relationship with my daughter. Carrie sees the teen in front of them and understands it really is about the match and really connects with teens. Could not have done this without Carrie! Magellan has it all- integrity, professionalism and insight. Evelyn is also always open to answering questions and lending support. Added bonus is that it really does give your teen the chance to step up and apply themselves and leave you out of the equation; the process itself makes them more ready for college.

My son worked with Chris Savage and he was a great guide and cheerleader through the college…read moreadmissions journey. As a parent, if you really want to get in the weeds and be in the process with your kid, this might not be the service for you. But if you want to let your child own this part of their life and let them do it themselves but have a guide, Magellan was great. My son goes to a competitive LAUSD magnet and as good as they are, the counselors can't offer the same level of attention or resources as private schools. I saved all the money on private school tuition, so spending a little money for Magellan was well worth it. My wife and I didn't have the stress of nagging our son for a year and at the end of the day, he has a level of confidence and pride for this life milestone because he did it himself. He'll be attending UC Davis in the fall.

I was getting ready to apply to graduate schools but was clueless to where to begin. I was lucky…read moreenough to find SOS Admissions. I worked closely with Joe and throughout the entire process, he was extremely helpful, prompt and knowledgeable about the admissions process. Very professional and also caters to your specific situation and needs. Applying to schools can be daunting but Joe made it approachable and actually a pleasant experience. I got into several top ranking graduate school programs all thanks to Joe and his team. I would recommend Joe for anyone needing assistance when applying to schools. You will not regret letting them help you.

Joe Ingam at SOS Admissions helped my son get into a great graduate program. it's hard to get your…read moremoney's worth these days but Joe outperformed all my expectations. He invested a great deal of time and energy into the process and he was invested in my son's success. He really cared about us and was always there for us. He guided us through this difficult process and was always spot on. I think there are a lot of fakes in this industry but Joe is the real deal. Unequivocal wholehearted recommendation 5 stars!