We are so grateful we found Sam Mikhail and College Made Easy. They were recommended to us by our son's high school at one of the College Financial Education nights. We thought we navigate the financial aid application process ourselves, filling out the FAFSA and CSS on our own... It was way more complicated than we thought. Sam helped us understand our current finances and really supported us in making some important choices that made a valuable difference. Everybody's situation is different, but If we could quantify the savings over the next four years, it's easily over $200k. His services has helped us figure out how to stretch our son's current college saving and really make it last. read more

We are so grateful we found Sam Mikhail and College Made Easy. They were recommended to us by our son's high school at one of the College Financial Education nights. We thought we navigate the financial aid application process ourselves, filling out the FAFSA and CSS on our own... It was way more complicated than we thought. Sam helped us understand our current finances and really supported us in making some important choices that made a valuable difference. Everybody's situation is different, but If we could quantify the savings over the next four years, it's easily over $200k. His services has helped us figure out how to stretch our son's current college saving and really make it last. read more

Sam is extremely knowledgeable and personable. I had some questions that arose in relation to the FAFSA form and he helped clarify all my issues with his pertinent, clear and sound advice. Sam was also very generous with his time which was much appreciated. If you are looking for help with financing your kid's college tuition, I would definitely recommend giving College Planning Advisors a call. read more

Sam and his team are the real deal..my kid was a 4.3 gpa student I wanted to give her the best opportunities to pick a great college. Latina, female, I thought the scholarships would be rolling in, it doesn't work that way. There are scholarships out there but full rides are few and far between. Thanks to CME, they helped us work out a financial plan to maximize our EFC. Our kid is doing great in College, thanks to CME, she was awarded 25K for four years, this college was not on her radar, but it worked out for her and she is happy and so are we. I never thought I could afford to send my kid to this type of school, with SAMs help and his amazing team we did. The help continues for four years, every year they guide us through the FASFA application process to keep things moving along. Thank you CME, we have two more years and then grad school... read more

I give College Planning Advisors the highest possible recommendation. I wish Yelp allowed more stars! Without Sam Mikhail's help and guidance, our daughter would never be at her first-pick college, where she is absolutely thriving. It's the best thing that ever happened to her. Sam is smart, kind, and a great person all around. The staff is terrific and totally professional. You simply can't go wrong with this company. They allowed our daughter's dream to come true. read more

Full disclosure: We were never customers. We did, however, have a consultation with Sam in his office after attending an information session at a Public Library. He looked over our student's grades/SAT scores and our (required) detailed financial statement. He said "I can't help you". After reviewing the schools our student intended to apply to, he highlighted the 'C's' on our student's report card and told us she should enroll in a Community College to get her grades up because she wasn't likely to get into a 4 year college. We suspected the main reason he wouldn't work with us was because of a lack of cash savings. He never discloses fees ("Not cheap, but worth it.") so once he determined we didn't have enough liquid money, he simply let us go. Bottom line: Our student was accepted at 7 of the 12 schools she applied to, including her top 3 target schools. She qualified for 2 academic scholarships over $10,000, and one $14,000 grant. Sam trades on parents' fears that the financial aid forms are too difficult for the average person to manage and you risk not getting into the school of choice without college planning advisors help. In our case, apparently, he was wrong. read more

Our financial advisor who I implicitly trust recommended College Made Easy to us. Had I not fully trusted the person that recommended Sam I would have run away from CME. Too bad yelp doesn't let you leave 6 stars or at least 5.5 stars! I would give CME and Sam, their fearless leader six stars if I could. The application and selection process at these colleges is a friggin racket. If you don't think it's a racket get your head out of the sand. Sam's the real deal. I went to see him when my kid was a sophomore in high school, Sam basically said get the hell out of here (in a nice way), with his low GPA, why waste your money on me. He also explained the how the financial aid process worked. Sam told us where we needed to improve and invited me to come back if my Son's GPA went up. We looked at ways to improve my son's GPA and when my kid's GPA improved and we went back to CME. Sam reviewed our EFCs, our business, our taxes, our financials, what specific things to ask our tax advisors etc. There are several calculations that determine how much financial aid one gets. He made sure to put us in the best position for financial aid possible. We even had a couple financial meetings to make sure we were funding college in the most efficient manner, which also saved us thousands of dollars. Very eye opening. Keep in mind when Sam was making any of these recommendations he was simply recommending specific strategies based on our profile that I should legally do to reduce my EFCs. Every time Sam would throw one of these unique ideas at me, I would research for hours or days what he said. In actuality once I did my due diligence, everything Sam said made perfect sense and it worked! CME also has some magical method to match up good universities to your student. We applied to schools that were a good fit based upon their research. Colleges we never ever ever would have considered or even looked at. My child ended up getting into a college that is probably the best fit in the country for him. The school was not even on our radar until CME brought it up. The best news for me, my EFC, peanuts I tell you, mere peanuts. My kids going to come away with a four-year education for a little bit more than what some of my colleagues are paying for a year. I bitched incessantly for hours, days, weeks, months to my wife about paying for a college planner. Paying full tuition versus what we paid him, totally worth it! read more

We couldn't be happier with College Made Easy. Sam, along with his dedicated and professional team, guided us through the hectic college process. Because of Sam's specific recommendations to our family needs and his expertise in the field, our daughter is now a freshman at the private university of her choice. We highly recommend College Made Easy to parents who may be feeling overwhelmed with college procedures. Thanks for everything. read more

Sam is an expert and makes everything easy. I wish we went to him sooner. He understands the nuances of applying to different types of colleges. He understands the financial aid process. I highly recommend talking to Sam before applying to colleges. He will help you with a strategy that works for you that will save you time, money and heartache. Our mistake was waiting too long to talk to Sam. Our strategy became very limited because we waited until after my son got his acceptance/rejection letters. We made a lot of mistakes without Sam's guidance. Good luck to you. read more

Met with Sam last year for my daughter attending college in 2020. He gave all the right advise and she received a GREAT financial aid package for her east coast private school. Things didn't go as planned because of the pandemic and she deferred her Fall semester. I had some additional questions about some planning we did for this year and how it would affect 2021 and he gave more info and cleared up some pending issues for our finances this year. Everything is good to go and I would highly recommend his services. He will be very upfront and let you know if he can help and not waste anyone's time. I like that! read more

College Made Easy Financial Planning is one of the best out there. Sam is very honest, straightforward and knows the ins and outs. He is very professional as well. He guided me and put me on the right track, with some planning. He recommended some strategies to maximize the benefits. I attended some other college planning seminars, but nothing matches to Sam's expertise and honesty. My advice to parents is to talk to Sam 2 years prior to college, meaning before Junior year, to be able to maximize the benefits, because he can recommend some strategies that can help in the process. I would highly recommend him to friends and family. Thanks Sam! read more

Sam and his group were super helpful with both of our children, especially the first one. They helped us fill out the correct forms and gave us guidance for the college choices as well. Not cheap, but worth it for us. read more

College Made Easy Financial Planning with Sam was amazing - He was very professional made the process smooth and was able to help in our situation to put us in the best possible position for obtaining the maximum financial aid possible for our son's situation. Before we talked to Sam we didn't think we could qualify for aid. He referred us to other agencies as needed which was very helpful. He explained the process clearly and we knew where we stood and what we would have to do in this process of financial aid for college. Could not have done it with nearly the same success we had through his expertise. We had success we could not have imagined before working with him. I would highly recommend any family talk with him before going though the financial aid process. Thanks Sam! read more

My wife and I highly recommend Sam, Michael, Cynthia and the entire staff at College Planning Advisors. College is crazily competitive and although our son is a great student, we don't think he would have gotten into his first choice--UC Irvine--without their help. Besides helping him decide on the right colleges and career path, they gave us financial counseling so we would be prepared for filling out the dreaded FAFSA correctly. CPA kept us on time with all the applications and advised our son on his essay writing. We firmly believe that without their help, we would not have gotten the financial aid that made our son's dream a reality. It's such a worthwhile service, that our younger son will be working with them this summer too. How do people get into college without them? read more

College Planning Advisors helped me with a financial plan two years prior to my son being a high school senior so that my son could financial qualify and be awarded a 4-year full ride scholarship from a private scholarship foundation. Great work to Sam and his team. I was concerned that my assets and annual income could disqualify my son from not qualifying in merit scholarship funds that require an applicant to pass a financial need-based test (i.e. you must make below a certain income and have below a certain asset amount). Sam helped me with a financial planning advice that allowed me to make decisions 2 years prior to my son's senior year so that he would not be disqualified consideration in a variety of privately funded scholarship foundations. Here's my advice to families who think their annual income is too high or have too much in financial assets for their children to qualify for need based financial aid such as grants and merit-based scholarships - you need to hire Sam 1 to 2 years before your child's senior high school year to advise you what to do. This way you have the time to make changes in your financial situation so that your high family income and assets will not disqualify you from being eligible from financial aid (e.g. Cal Grants, Pell Grants, etc,). For me, the results of Sam's advice and planning were wildly successful. My son was awarded a 4-year full ride scholarship paid for by a private scholarship fund. He was able to use this scholarship at any university he got accepted to. He used his scholarship to attend a Univ. of Calif. college. BTW, my son had an unweighted HS GPA of 3.9 so he had the grades to qualify for a scholarship. Sam's advice made sure he would not be disqualified from consideration because the family income and assets were above the financial need litmus tests. read more

I created a yelp account just to write a review for Sam. Thank you very much for getting us through the college process. We had no idea where to begin or what to do but the guys at College Planning Advisors helped us through the whole process and saved us more than I could ever imagine. They're definitely the professionals in the industry! Thanks again! read more

Without Sam, going through this entire process would have been worthless, because we would have had to pay much more for each college. Sam helped us navigate the complicated financial aid process and secure enough aid to make colleges a reality. Essentially- would you rather look over this service's couple hundred dollars and pay 70k for college, or make an early investment now and save more than 40k per year? read more

I have a junior in high school. I went to see Sam for advises regarding financial aid and college application process. He is very knowledgeable in those areas. It was an eye opening experience for me. I highly recommended his service as he is very professional and knowledgeable! read more

Sam put us on the right track to preparing for college financially. He not only helped us get ready for the challenges of paying for college, he helped us tighten up financially over all and make our income work harder. We were intimidated by the process of applying for aid, now we are sure that we are covering all bases. Being from a blue collar background as we are, Sam understood our insecurity and showed us how to maximize our options. 'Wealth management' was a term we always scoffed at. Most college 'financial advice' is unhelpfully to "save more!" Sam showed us we had more resources than we knew and gave us the tools and confidence to make changes that will allow us to take on tuition in a way that won't create a life long financial crisis for us or our son. He spent a lot of time with us, and never rushed. Scheduling with Briar at the front desk was always a pleasure. We are clearer on how financial aid works, what to expect, when to apply, and how to prepare to get the maximum aid we we are eligible for. Knowledge is power after all. Now we can enjoy the most important part of the process: seeing our son fulfill all of the hard work he's done and apply to the colleges he deserves to consider. read more

After hours of research and speaking to school counselors on how best to secure financial aid for my daughter, I happened across a seminar given by Sam. He reiterated much of what I had learned. However, with a strategy and approach on how to secure the most possible for my daughter. I walked out of the seminar knowing I could never do on my own what Sam's company does with expertise and knowing. His entire team and organization has been excellent to work with; did everything they said they would. I have to add... I read Bill B's review. Appears he spent a good amount of time on it. This is my first kid in college so I have been spending a lot of time talking with other parents who are facing the same situation I am... getting bright kids into the very best schools and with the best financial aid packages/awards possible. Not one parent's results came close to what Sam was able to do for my daughter. Bottom line. I would highly recommend meeting with Sam for a consultation - the person Bill described in the Yelp review is noting like who I worked with. read more

You know how at tax time you hire an accountant to do your taxes because he's the guy that is always up on the changes, the laws and the benefits? And it's his job to know all that stuff? And you don't have to mess with it and he always gets you the best possible deal? And you pay him to do this because it means you'll pay far less to the IRS? Well, that's what this place is, but for college planning. Sam and his team know everything a person needs to know about grants, scholarships, loans, financial aid, etc etc. and about a million other little tiny details that always come into play when preparing for college. He will also tell you - after looking at everything - and I mean everything - if you need his services (not everyone does). Now, your accountant/tax guy might know a little of this stuff, but his job is preparing your tax forms, not getting your kids into college. I have an excellent accountant that I have used since 2002, and I *still* send parents to Sam when their kids start talking about higher learning and university-necessary careers. (And some free advice here: the sooner the better - don't wait until your kid is in 11th or 12th grade to start "planning" for college, get on the ball when they turn 14.) My accountant tells me that the IRS collects millions of dollars more than they should every year when people do their taxes themselves. Same thing when it comes to college. The benefits and breaks are out there if you have someone to show you how to get them! read more

I went to one of his seminars held at a local city hall. The presentation was far different from the many I went to for my college bound children. It was not a sales pitch. It was the information I needed to figure out the money part of sending kids to college. Sam was very informative and professional regarding what not to do when applying for financial aid or grants. Sam stayed for a short one on one chat with each of participants and he was very sincere with whether I needed his service or if I could do this on my own. He even offered to consult me on how to do my own financial aid if my case was a "no-brainer". I highly recommend his service as he is sincere and really can save us money! read more

As a student who used College Made Easy, I can say that they go above and beyond in providing excellent and professional service. The college process was made so much easier, dare I say simple, thanks to their help. Their financial strategies have also saved my family and I tens of thousands of dollars in tuition. We also used their services for my older brother who is another example of how this company truly delivers. I would recommend this to anyone who is struggling with the college process but also to those who want to maximize their chances of being accepted to a top college. My family and I could not be happier with our decision to use College Made Easy. read more

I couldn't be happier with Sam and his team. Working with them has been absolutely the best investment I've ever made - and that includes the Bitcoin I bought early in 2014! (No kidding.) The difference between having a true caring professional working with you to help manage a complex and critical process versus doing it on your own is... well... huge. In our case the tangible expression of this difference is dramatic. We simply would not have been able to send our kid to the school she was in love with - without Sam's help. Now she is there, having a great time, and the cost is quite manageable. It isn't just that Sam and his team made things easier. It's that they made them possible. read more

Sam and the rest of the staff at College Made Easy are very knowledgeable. Their expertise and financial advice helped me get through my first child's application process with a peace-of-mind. They are very professional and responsive. Sam was sure to return my calls and explain financial matters in very simple and straight-forward language. read more

I went to one of his seminars held at a local city hall. The presentation was far different from the many I went to for my college bound children. It was not a sales pitch. It was the information I needed to figure out the money part of sending kids to college. Sam was very informative and professional regarding what not to do when applying for financial aid or grants. Sam stayed for a short one on one chat with each of participants and he was very sincere with whether I needed his service or if I could do this on my own. He even offered to consult me on how to do my own financial aid if my case was a "no-brainer". I highly recommend his service as he is sincere and really can save us money! read more

As my time in high school was coming to an end, me and my family found ourselves lost in college applications, financial aid, and deadlines - we really had no idea what to do. With just one year of high school left, we found Sam and his business. He and his staff are some of the most well informed people on everything college. They helped us with information regarding, financial aid, where to apply, tutoring, and much more. I am so pleased with the results. If anyone needs help with anything regarding college, these are the people to see! read more

I've spoken with Sam and Cynthia. Both were extremely generous with their time and patient with me. They gave me invaluable advice and guidance. I'm just in the application process right now and intend to continue utilizing their services as we progress and as my next child is gearing up to start the application process in a few years. I have immense gratitude for the help and peace of mind they've provided thus far. read more

I didn't know that membership includes the following years and help with the financial aid form and scholarship. They have been helping my brother get for his sophomore year at U of Chicago. thanks read more

Full Disclosure: We are not actually clients of Sam as of yet, but I am hoping that changes in the not so distant future - and let me tell you why. I went into our consultation expecting there to be little that Sam could do for us, and I wasn't disappointed there. The combination of our son's grades, our financial situation, and the schools my son was interested in didn't bode well. It was a little disheartening to say the least, but Sam told us that he wouldn't feel right taking money from us to get essentially the same results that we would probably be able to get on our own - that's because there wasn't much to be done. He didn't stop there though. He gave us all kinds of suggestions and advice for our son. Things that he could work on in the next couple of years that would help him to shine/stand out. He had some really good ideas and they went a long way in bringing my hopes back up. I mentioned that I would love for him to be able to speak to my son, and he said that he would be happy to. He is travelling right now, but he will be speaking to my son later this month and telling him about all of the wonderful things that he spoke to us about. I am really looking forward to them speaking. Actually, Sam has already sparked a fire in my son without having even spoken to him personally yet. We told our son all about our conversation with Sam, and the suggestions that Sam gave us, and he is already acting on them. He is no longer playing any video games during the week, and his grades are already improving. He had set up a pretty light schedule for next year, but after he heard what Sam had said about looking at other possible schools, he emailed his counselor that night, and we met with her the next day and got his schedule in gear for next year - with an optimistic outlook. My son has also got his wheels turning regarding some of Sam's other suggestions and it is wonderful to see. Even though our meeting started out disappointing, I am really feeling good about the future now. I am so jazzed in fact that I have been telling all of my family, friends, and co-workers about Sam and what he can do for them. I left our meeting with a real feeling that Sam truly cares about whether or not my son does well. Yes, this is a job for Sam (and he does it to make money), but I really get the sense that this is also a passion for him and how well my son does matters to him. Thank you Sam for being open, brutally honest, and above all, caring. read more

The best decision we ever made was going with Sam, he's the best at what he does; he helped us through the whole process of applying for financial aid. I would definitely recommend this to anyone. read more

Sam called and we were able to figure out something in regards to closing up my file.

My daughter's dream was to go to University of Southern California for college. Sam and the incredible staff at College Planning Advisors/College Made Easy not only helped her get into USC, she also got into every college she applied to (Loyola, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, U of San Diego, San Diego St, Long Beach State just to name a few). While getting into a reputable college is hard enough, paying for it is even harder. But, this is where College Planning Advisors really shines. Sam and his ever competent staff got my daughter a financial aid package that gave her grants (free money-not loans) that reduced the cost of going to USC by OVER 50%!! Sam got the rest of the college expenses covered by low interest rate loans and much of the interest of the loans is paid for by the government while she is in school. Result: ZERO out of pocket for my daughter to attend USC this year. Yes, she will have some student loans to pay back when she graduates, but they will be less than half of what it costs to attend USC. I would have never in a million years been able to do what Sam did. The paper work and forms are so confusing and tedious. I would have got lost and filled out the forms all wrong and would have never succeeded in getting my daughter a dime in financial aid. Without question, going with College Planning Advisors was the best investment I have ever made. All I have to say about College Planning Advisors is thanks Sam!!!...and....Fight on!! read more

I read every book, blog and website regarding the college admissions, including hard-to-find internet books. While the books and sites helped educate me, they didn't give me the precise strategy to help both of my two children's unique situations. In my situation, I have one recruited athlete and two kids going to college almost the same time. The oldest, a College freshman now, applied to 9 schools and got into 8, including her dream reach school. This doesn't mean that CME will get your C student get into Harvard: it means that College Made Easy will maximize your child's chances of getting into the school that best fits your child's needs. I am very thankful that CME's matching system found me a lot of great schools. Right now, my college freshman is doing very well academically because CME taught me to not force your child to get into a school over their head. Some of my daughter's other friends are having a very difficult time during their freshmen year because not enough time was placed in finding a good fit. In my situation, my freshman daughter was a good writer but she had a harder time with multiple choices because she would over-analyze each answer. A college that grades on written essays, than multiple choice, was a better fit for my child. By using College Made Easy, I also got financial aid, which I would not have received if it weren't for them. The financial savings for one year of my freshmen exceeded the entire fees I paid to CME for both kids. This means that the projected financial savings on my freshman alone will be more than three time the fees I paid to CME. One of my daughter's friends utilized a private college counselor and he/she paid more fees than my daughter without the financial aid advice. This was a typical package without the financial aid consultation. You can ask around as I did and you will find that the fees of most packages with limited hours ($200 - $400) per hour will exceed the package by CME. My CME package was an overall package which was not done by a hourly rate. This meant that I would have paid double or triple the fees somewhere else. They have an easy, non-interest payment plan. They helped me throughout the process. In one instance, my daughter scored 600 points below the mid-range SAT what she wanted for her dream school. Through private tutoring and Dr. Judy, my freshmen child made up 600 points on the SAT and 6 points on the ACT to make the dream of my freshman child come true. In another instance, she started off with a D in AP History and Pre-calculus during the all-important junior year (the junior year was very difficult for her). Yet, College Made Easy devised a strategy that got my freshman child through the junior year. When my freshman child graduated, she had a 3.8. G.P.A. Sam worked with me to devise a personalized strategy that fit my personal concerns. When you get consultation, you get a Sam or Dr. Judy, not an assistant. I found that canned books and free advice (books, podcasts, blogs of private college consultants) could not help me devise a personal strategy from these sources alone. I would highly recommend these sources to become an educated consumer as a starting point if your child wants to get into a selective or highly selective college. You are paying CME for their experience and being a sounding board for any ideas you have. (I had plenty ideas -- while some were good, a few were bad). I was an alumni interviewer for a prestigious college and I had an opportunity to watch the results of admissions decisions even though my "participation" in the process was limited. While I provided feedback to the admissions committee in writing, I did not make the decision to admit or deny. This alumni interviewer experience taught me what the average competitive student applying my school looked like: 3.7 - 3.8 G.P.A. with a participation in a Varsity sport and EC as an officer. The ones that got accepted tended to have a passion for something outside of school in addition to the G.P.A. and participation indicated above. Through this experience, I realized that I needed someone that has worked with helping students. (Questions such as should my child do a summer camp or do a summer education program got answered). I needed someone that has worked with helping students. Just sit a few minutes with Sam and you realize he is very passionate about helping kids realize their dreams When I talked with Sam, I realized that they helped lots of students and gained experience of what works and what doesn't. Yes, I made some mistakes before I met Sam but we were able to fix most of them. For example, a Coverdale Account or 529 Plan are not always the best way to save for college -- it depends on your circumstances. You are paying for that experience that would maximize helping your child finding and getting into the best (fit) school. I am so glad that I made the decision to use College Made Easy. read more

College Made Easy and Sam Mikhail helped from minute one. They do not waste time, or grab you for billable hours. Instead, they ask you on the phone, the questions needed to get you the information you need to know, about how to help find aid, grants and scholarships for your kids. Their website from that point forward helps you, putting together your needs with great ideas that can help match your child's educational desires with potential grants and aid. As you can see, I am really happy with Sam Mikhail and College Made Easy. read more

This company has been the best investment I could have made for my child's college education. They have assisted us through the testing, application and financial aid processes. We could not have done it without them. My child is attending her "dream school" (a school originally not even on her radar screen) and loving every minute of it. They introduced us to the system of selecting the best school for my child and have stayed with us through the first two and soon to be third year. They are available and answer all my questions in a timely manner. I strongly recommend them to anyone with a child seriously considering the college route after high school; just get to them by the sophomore year at the latest! read more

"I want to thank Sam for his honesty and follow through. My husband and I met with him which we found helpful. Though we eventually decided not to move forward, I know of other clients that were very happy with their results, so I would strongly recommend Sam and College Made Easy. read more

College planning advisors has been a great program and offer wonderful services that have helped my daughter pursue her college plans and dreams. Who knew the college planning process could take so much work. Everyone ( Sam, Judy, Michael, Rachel, etc....) has been more than helpful. My daughter has been advised for 4 years now and is in her 3rd year of college, she is very happy, confident in her educational plan, and pretty successful. I'm so glad that 4 1/2 years ago I went to one of the discussions held at my local library, it's been the best thing I could have done for my daughter. read more

My family friend recommended this place and I'm so glad he did because if it weren't for College Made Easy I would not have received as much college information and financial support as I did. They not only informed me of important deadlines, they also helped me complete my college applications and perfect my personal statement. Anytime I had questions or needed help, they were just a call away and guided me with step by step instructions to ensure that everything was done right. Their expertise helped me find the colleges that suited my needs and interests and also provided information on how likely I was to be accepted and get financial aid. I strongly recommend this program to any parent or student who needs college guidance. They are truly the best at what they do and if it weren't for College Made Easy, I wouldn't have been accepted into all six of the schools I applied to, especially my dream school UCLA. read more