Gerna is the best in his field and he does it all with a smile and a lot of Aloha! He has helped…read moreme throughout my son's entire college career and he makes the application process for FAFSA painless. Gerna is a blessing and a gift to the parents who ask for his advice and support while applying to FASFA. Gerna keeps it real. Gerna IS the Great Kahuna for college financial planning. Janet Welsh Somatic Arts practitioner/ choreographer/educator.

We had great result with Bay Area College Planners. Our daughter was accepted in multiple colleges…read moreincluding UC-Irvine, UC-Santa Cruz, UC-Riverside. We are extremely happy with the results, given our daughter had multiple great choices. Gerna was always helpful, he walked us through the entire process. He was always available to answer any of our questions no matter what time or what day we called. Great results, great service. We will absolutely go with Gerna for our son who is graduating in 2 years.

We've had an outstanding experience with Bright Fox. Both of my kids attended their SAT preparation…read moreprograms, and the impact has been truly valuable (though we went to Brightfox last min). We really appreciate how they accommodated last min sessions to get through the crazy application process. The instructors at BF are not only highly knowledgeable but also very structured and thoughtful in their approach. They understood how to bring out the best in our kids and made even challenging concepts easier to grasp. My kids especially appreciated that the instructors relate well to students and help them with narratives that stay true to their original voice and stories, which made a big difference in their confidence. I feel what sets Bright Fox apart is their commitment to student success and the consistency in the quality of teaching. Special thanks to Alex for the care and support, especially when we were confused with the process and frustrated after a bad experience at another institute (who wasted lot of time and hours without making real progress with essays). BF team was efficient, and their quick, iterative feedback helped a lot. They have a diverse and highly capable team, and communication has always been smooth with timely responses and support whenever needed. My kids felt confident, well-prepared, and supported throughout their journey. Both my kids found their voice and unique style of story telling that represented them in the essays, and discover themselves li'l more through this process. I genuinely appreciate the dedication of the entire team and would highly recommend Bright Fox to any parent looking for top-quality academic guidance. A well-deserved 5-Star experience!! Thanks Prasad & Saraswathi

HIGHLY RECOMMEND Birghtfox Education learning center! My…read morechild used this facility for SAT service and we are very happy with the outcome. I solicited few learning centers from Alamo to Dublin and landed with Brightfox for few reasons: 1. The approach is very strategic. Upon assessment of your child ability, they will come up with a REALISTIC plan without pushy 'marketing' tone that forces you to buy blocks of hours. They would ask your child to take the assessment twice to ensure consistency of results and serve as your child's ability/knowledge baseline. Then, they will set up a time with you and your child to review about timeline, targeted score and hours needed to review those areas that need improvement, inclusive lots of practice tests that I found extremely important to build the child confidence and comfort in taking the test. 2. Low ratio: 2:1 and sometimes even 1:1. One hour per Subject. 3. The hourly rate (in block discount) is far more reasonable than others that I inquired. 4. Brightfox Education user portal is very intuitive, easy to use/track and modern. 5. Administrative plus! There's always someone to respond ASAP (most of the time) or reasonable time, especially Ms. Heather, their office manager is SUPERB in providing response, flexibility, etc. Genuine interest in your child's success. 6. Facility is awesome. Clean, wide space, modern in office complex, plenty of parking and best of all, provide a welcoming sense. All in all, if you are looking a solid learning center partner, Brightfox can definitely offer you that as it did for us.

I originally found Elite Prep San Ramon looking for SAT prep for my senior son -- but honestly, we…read moregot so much more than that. Helen Kim and Sam Rim really took the time to counsel us and pointed us in the right direction. They helped us see that focusing on AP courses was going to do more for my son than just chasing SAT scores. Their guidance gave my son the tools he needed to apply to UC schools, and now he's happily finishing out his senior year. You can just tell his confidence has grown so much through this whole process. He's excited and ready for college -- and that means everything as a parent. If you have a kid going through the college prep process, I can't recommend them enough!

Mr. Rim at Elite Prep was so much more than a college counselor for our daughter - he was a mentor…read moreand friend when she needed it most. She went through a really difficult time in high school and her confidence was low, but Mr. Rim helped her rebuild that and believe in herself again. Over three years, she met with Mr. Rim regularly in person, and he guided her on everything from picking the right classes and summer activities to planning which colleges to apply to. His team also provided excellent essay coaching and help organizing her activities. Having these regular check-ins with Mr. Rim kept her accountable and motivated - she knew he'd ask about her grades and progress, so she stayed focused. Mr. Rim walked her through the entire college selection process, helping her choose schools that were actually a good fit for her, not just prestigious names. By the time applications rolled around, she had grown so much in confidence and had a real plan. She got into UC Santa Cruz and we're so grateful for Mr. Rim's mentorship and belief in her during such an important stage of her life.

Julian Brooks at EDMD has been absolutely amazing! He supported 2 of our 3 daughters with their…read morecollege experience. With both of our daughters, he provided feedback and created a customized plan, suggested courses and even took the time to help us during the dreading appeal process. His grounded approch to deal with the schools has been stellar. Because of his creative approach my daughters aid and grants increased significantly compared to what was originally offered at UC Santa Cruz and at the University of San Francisco. Not to mention, being admitted to multiple great schools. I'm extremely greateful and if I could rate him 10stars I would. Best investment ever! Thank you so much, Julian, we're looking to continue to work with you!

Julian Brooks at EdMD was an asset to have for my daughter's college preparation. He listened to…read moreall of our needs, he walked her through the preparation for college applications and admissions. He was there for all of our questions and concerns. He prepared her months ahead of time for the application and financial aid processes. He meet with her on a regular basis and updated myself. He was amazing when it came time for the application process and he made it so much easier on all of us. He stayed on top of her regarding her deadlines and helped her begin preparing her admissions essays and information months in advance along with reviewing and giving her insight and advice on improving her essays. I recommend using the service and especially recommend Julian. My daughter was accepted into several schools including UC Berkeley and UCLA. She will be attending UCLA this fall.

I completely agree with the other review saying that Gloria provided limited essay help. I was also…read morediscontent with my essays, but she only looked at it a couple times before saying it's good to submit. Most of her edits were very minor grammar changes or things that don't make a difference. She gave very little advice that was actually useful (e.g. changing the topic, changing the theme, etc.). The edits are definitely not worth the thousands of dollars she charges, as you can get similar quality edits from current college students for MUCH less money. Furthermore, I was busy at a certain point in my Junior year, but she refused to reschedule my meeting for a later time "because everyone is on the same boat". So she's very unaccommodating. One time she failed to show up to one of our online meetings, and instead of apologizing, she blamed me for not calling her. She also wastes a couple sessions on personality tests and career tests that you can easily do at home. I ended up getting into UCLA/Berkeley, but rejected from most privates. The top-UCs are mostly based on stats (not essays), so it's clear her essay edits didn't really do anything. The success of her clients is mostly because the type of people she accepts are already high-achieving. Unfortunately, many parents (many of whom are immigrants) will continue to be willing to shell out thousands of dollars for the useless counselor.

I completely agree with all the other reviewers. My child had a hard time coming up with ideas for…read moretheir personal statement and she did not brainstorm and help in any way. Instead, she made them feel their writing ability was sub-par and it was something they could not achieve. Also a week before the application deadline for rea college she said the supplemental essays are not good enough. I wonder why she did not give that feedback earlier. When they got rejected by the school they had applied for rea, she made them feel that this was not something they could achieve and asked them to apply for lower-rated schools. That is when we decided in December to hire another consultant to rewrite the personal statement. Our whole winter vacation was spent rewriting the essays with input from the new consultant. This new consultant provided an essay structure and walked them through the essay. My child finally got into 6 or 7 top-notch colleges, but no thanks to Gloria for that.

Thank you, StrivePath! As a mom navigating our first college process, I can't say enough about…read moreSaumya--she was patient, supportive, reassuring, and kind from start to finish. She built a realistic summer plan for my son that helped us complete the college research and essay work early, so when October 1 arrived, our applications were already submitted. The organization and calm she brought to the process were a huge relief. She reassured my son that he would have many options and celebrated each college admittance with him. We felt guided every step of the way. Get ready for Kid #2!

Our son is currently working with Strive Path for his college application process, and we couldn't…read morebe more grateful for the guidance and support he is receiving, putting our mind at ease that he is getting the support needed to plan for his college applications. From the initial consultation, Strive Path has been incredibly supportive, organized and thorough, providing a clear timeline and a checklist of what our son needs to prepare, on a monthly basis, that helps him ensure he is on task, while including us (parents) on all correspondence to support him in such endeavors. Our consultant, Saumya, along with Sunny, have always been available for questions, no matter how small, and provided prompt and thoughtful responses that eased our son's anxiety during this stressful time. While we are close to mid-way through this process, we are confident of the outcomes that lie ahead and highly recommend their services to any student looking for comprehensive and personalized guidance on their college applications. Their expertise not only prepares you for the application process but also empowers you to present the best version of yourself to your dream schools!

Melissa was a huge help to my Daughter throughout the college applications process. She took the…read moretime to really get to know my daughter and what she was looking for in a college. She helped her to come up with a list of colleges to apply to and then walked her through the entire process. They worked on building her resume and on different essays or questions she needed to answer for her applications. She met with her once a week to help fill out actual applications and to review what she had been working on. They would come up with what her focus for the following week would be as well. This really kept her organized and took the stress out of the whole process! We would highly recommend her!

If anyone asks me or my daughter if we have a college counselor recommendation, without hesitation…read morewe'd recommend Melissa Corso. Talk about helping to relieve some of the stress that goes with the college application process! She is wonderful! My daughter immediately felt comfortable working with Melissa. In particular she helped her with essay editing, college applications and even helped her put together a very nice resume. She's very approachable and you feel like she really cares. My daughter will be attending UC Berkeley this fall and I know Melissa helped her stand out amongst thousands of applicants.

My daughter has worked with Savannah at Olympus for tutoring in Biology and their sessions made a…read moretremendous difference in her understanding of the subject matter and her grade. My daughter says that not only did Savannah give her the resources to succeed, she is very nice and easy to work with.

The tutoring services at Olympus College Prep have been very beneficial. Savannah is flexible and…read moreadjusts to the needs of her students.

Working with the Fin Goose team was great. My sister took financial education courses with them. It…read morewas a great headstart to her college experience!!

Although the counselor I was connected to was excellent, the service was worth nowhere near 3,000…read moredollars for 3 months of counseling. Also, the business-owner, Abhimanyu, didn't respond well to my feedback and request for a refund. Upon a request for a refund, I was told by Abhimanyu that they had a no-refund policy. When I asked to see where this policy was published in writing, he refused to send any proof. Furthermore, when I cited the California Consumer Code, which states that any business that doesn't have a published refund policy must offer a refund if the customer is dissatisfied, Abhimanyu completely denied the law, and rather threatened to sue me for filing a transaction voiding investigation with my credit card company. Furthermore, upon my stating that I would not be writing a good review, he again threatened to sue for defamation. Beyond just the interaction with Abhimanyu, the prices are ridiculous, with the actual councilors making a fraction of what Abhimanyu is pocketing. I have also attached screenshots of my interaction with Abhimanyu below.