Rachel Gonzalez is wonderful for English. We highly recommend her as a tutor. Our daughter improved…read moretremendously in English and Rachel is so good at building confidence in students as a former teacher.

Daniel has been a wonderful resource for my daughter in preparing for the ACT! He's developed a…read moregood rapport with her and was able to increase her confidence in various topics covered in the exam. I recommend Daniel for any test preparation!!

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

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

Manny is very good advisor for college. He is perfect for those looking for help that live in the…read moreSan Francisco Bay Area. I highly recommend seeing him when your kid in the 8th or 9th grade. This is the best time to take advantage of his services.

Manny has been with us from beginning, to middle, to end…read more it can be a challenging process to navigate, so having his kindness and knowledge is huge!! Thank you, Manny for always helping and showing us how it's done!

Dear Janet, Our son was admitted to Purdue University last…read moreFriday. I can't stress enough that it was a big success from your tutoring on his SAT and all the essays including additional essay that he wrote to Purdue after university deferred him. Big thank you for your support and encouragement to our son! Will always refer my friends to your tutoring! Best regards, Natalia Belova

Christine R was my son's College essay tutor. She's not very responsive. Even recently my son sent…read moreher email share that he got admitted to a very good university and to appreciate her, she didn't respond. When you pay someone $180 per hour, you expect more professionalism.

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

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

Mr. Trung Le at Bay Area College Consulting, Northern CA, is an expert and the best, most…read moreknowledgeable, and kindest College Counselor my family and I are lucky to have worked with. Counselor Trung Le has devotedly helped my son and daughter with great advices and in details, and their best college applications. My family and I are grateful for Mr. Le's help. You're in great hands with College Counselor Trung Le's guidances. Scott & Katelynn N. Sunnyvale, CA

I want to share my experience with Bay Area College Consulting and Trung - who is the founder and…read moreconsultant of this organization. We are extremely happy with Trung for guiding our son (and me too :-) ) through the College Admissions process. Our son is now admitted to UCLA and I give a huge credit of this achievement  to Trung and his consultation. Trung, very expertly took us through all the intricacies of the college application process and essentially gave a very realistic picture of this very daunting process. Interaction with him greatly demystified the college application process, for us.  This helped our son clearly focus his energies to the right areas without having to second-guess if this was the right thing to do. Right from the beginning Trung was very organized with his approach. -He created a baseline of our son's profile. -Created a list of colleges matching his profile and expectations. -Identified and recommended taking relevant community college courses to augment credentials (super helpful!) -Most Important: Trung recommended the execution of a unique project that showcased abilities that were relevant to his area of interest. I think this really helped towards rounding up our son's overall profile. -And finally, Trung helped us through all the details of the college application process. We are extremely happy with the guidance, counseling and consulting Trung has provided to us. I would happily and highly recommend Trung to any one who wants to prepare themselves, or their child, for the College Application process.

Overall, the tutoring service was helpful and effective. Concepts were explained clearly, and the…read morematerials provided, such as worksheets, were useful for practicing and reinforcing learning. The sessions helped improve understanding of the subject

Adam has been an excellent tutor for my daughter. You wouldn't necessarily think they would be a…read moregreat fit based on bios, but he has kept her focused, built her confidence and encouraged her to become better. Their sessions are always productive and instead of feeling frustrated and discouraged, she comes away smiling and feeling positive.

Working with the DWC team was a wonderful, reassuring experience. Most notably, they did not…read moresuggest I change myself to appeal to colleges and instead ensured that I built upon my preexisting qualities and strengths. Ted thoroughly assessed my personality to guide me in selecting my major and consistently followed up with extracurricular opportunities that catered specifically to my interests. Frona introduced me to excellent schools and prepared a great college list that matched my needs. Liz helped keep me on track of deadlines and boosted my confidence with positive reassurance. My essay coach, Matt, helped me craft a narrative that reflected my personality and explained the "why" behind the activities I pursued in high school. With DWC's guidance, I got into my first choice school early decision! I truly appreciate the personal, customized experience they provided me with, and the support they gave me at every step along the way.

My child went to DesignWorlds for College Counseling. We did not get what we needed from…read moreDesignWorlds. On one hand my child could have been more focused in their approach to college applications. They needed to be pushed and motivated. On the other hand we paid DesignWorlds a ton of money to help with the process and they were ineffective in this part. Their recommendations for extracurriculars over summer were flaky and unsystematic. Our own research came up with better options. They judged more than they helped. My child did not go with the list of colleges DesignWorlds came up for them. We felt that the student was lowballed with the selection list based on what they had accomplished, their GPA and SAT scores. We are not going with DesignWorlds for our next. Potentially because of our experience we may not go with any counselor.

Test prep is ok, but advisors to support school application and essay are terrible. The advisor…read moreoften comes unprepared and not responsive when the student asked to schedule for consultation hours, and you have to request repeatedly and eventually made a compliant. Poor knowledge about schools outside of UC and advisors do not make effort to help or guide the students as how they can maximize their chance for the best school they can get in.

Elite prep was extremely helpful during my college application process. They helped me curate a…read morecollege list geared towards my educational goals, and matched me with an essay advisor that helped make my application more competitive during this process. I ended up getting into multiple of my top choices, and am very grateful for their guidance!

As a parent, I honestly felt we had started the college application process too late. We first…read morebegan working with Mr. Park during the summer before senior year, and I was worried there would not be enough time to really help my son. But after meeting him, my thinking completely changed. From the beginning, Mr. Park was very clear, organized, and realistic with us. He did not just give general advice like many other counselors. He took time to understand my son's strengths, personality, and goals, and gave guidance based specifically on him. That made a very big difference for us. He helped a lot with essays and personal statements. Many times he pushed my son to think deeper and explain his experiences better, and I could see the improvement over time. His feedback was very detailed and personal, not advice that I could find online. What I appreciated most was that he was honest and straightforward while still being very supportive. The college process can be stressful for both students and parents, but Mr. Park helped make everything feel much more manageable. My son also became more confident, organized, and mature during this process. I truly feel Mr. Park cares about his students and wants them to succeed long term, not only for college admissions. I would highly recommend him to any family looking for genuine and personalized college counseling support.

Mr. Park is an outstanding college counselor. Through his guidance over the past two years, my…read morechild not only got into her dream colleges but she also learned many life skills from him. Mr. Park has in-depth knowledge of the admission process. His understanding of application requirements, deadlines, and institutional preferences has helped my child to have a clear idea of what she needed to do. He stays informed about the latest admission trends, and his advice is relevant and up to date with the priorities of each college and their selection criteria. The organizational skills of Mr. Park are exceptional. He tracks my child's progress, application requirements, important dates of tests and submission deadlines very carefully, making sure nothing is overlooked. His well-structured documentation system consists of clear timelines and checklists which make it easy to follow and help my child to stay on top of the tasks. He also frequently guides my child on the organization skill which is very useful in life. Mr. Park consistently met with my child to ensure all the tasks were on track and discuss upcoming requirements. He had coached my child on the SAT before Junior year started, so she could later be more focused on her school work and applications. After spending a month working with Mr. Park intensely on the areas the she needed to improve, she scored very well and was satisfied with her performance. For college applications, Mr. Park always set the deadlines early to make sure there was enough time for review and revision in order to submit the best quality of materials on time. This skill let my child navigate this complex process smoothly and reduced last-minute stress. Mr. Park is honest and direct on feedback and what needs to be done. At the same time, he is also very encouraging, providing a positive outlook and always made my child feel his confidence in her. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a structured yet supportive college counselor.