We used IvyMax for college consulting last year. Experience was pretty bad for that price. As a parent, I learn nothing new from them. Many of their advices are just too general. You can learn that from youtube videos. Also, it's hard to get in touch with our college consultant, Mr. Wei. Every communication (phone call, text chats) had to go through his secretary. Very time consuming. They also tried to sell you more services in some meetings. The essay review was helpful but that's it. Unless you really don't know anything about college admission, you should look somewhere else. read more

I have sent my kid to IvyMax. At the beginning, just for a SAT class. Their class is very helpful. Teacher actually has good reputation because my daughter said she has some classmates come from Stockton! She got a 2380 in the real test (her diagnostic test was only 1940, after the test, her general counselor analyzed what were her weaknesses so she could really work on those parts). Class management was satisfying, teacher assistant reported to us how well she was doing, so we could keep tracking her progress. Later, we had a counseling meeting with their counselor and agreed that extracurricular was important but also her weakness since we didn't know much about how and what to do was good for her. Then we joined IvyMax's counseling program. I have to say, this one year so far, overall is good, even though not all the time being extremely satisfying, they have been adjusting and coordinating, willing to listen and communicate. My daughter now enjoys participating in their students actives. They have provided many volunteering opportunities and encouraged my daughter to try and challenge. I have seen how my daughter have changed! read more

IvyMax - Pleasanton - Test Preparation Near Me - Pleasanton, California

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I met Ms. Yuan (she's the Director of this site?) at a volunteer event. She led a team of middle school and high school student volunteers to help at the event. I was surprised they are just a learning center but not a public/private school, since learning centers usually only offer classes? or care about academics? Anyways, we exchanged contact information, last month I contacted her because my boy's Bio is not good. She not just provide professional suggestions, but also encouraged him to challenge himself, not set barriers and not stay too comfortable and not trying. read more

IvyMax - Pleasanton - Their GPL volunteer winter & summer internship pictures on demo wall. It's encouraging. - Test Preparation Near Me - Pleasanton, California

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I had a pretty good experience in this center. I think its their director, Ms. Yuan, she is super nice and considerate. I went on the Global Philanthropy Leadership Internship Program this summer in China. The entire trip had a great impact on my life. After coming back to the US, I have been receiving help in my writing and college application which I really appreciate. I would recommend Ivymax to anyone looking at educational related services. read more

My daughters attended the summer camp in Ningxia, China organized by Ivymax. Kids created water filters for local farmers, taught local school kids origami, and evaluated families to loan money towards with. They both learned a lot and had fun. The teachers and advisors are nice and program was well structured. My daughter would like to sign up the same program next year. read more

I used IvyMax to help me with my SAT score in sophomore year, and they helped me bump up my score by almost three hundred points (back when the SAT was on a 2400 scale). I also took tutoring there for my Biology and Math II subject tests, and I felt SO much more prepared! The teachers and tutors were are really nice as well. read more

I am currently in college now, and I'm writing about my ivymax experience that I had from 2008-2013). I can honestly say ivymax didn't do that much for me, and looking back, i would've stopped my mom from shelling out thousands of dollars for me to go there. I used all their resources -- student groups, volunteer projects overseas, private tutors, SAT prep, AP prep, counseling, and college application help. hear me out, im giving it one star not because i had an absolute shit experience, its just that I dont think its worth the money. some employees there are really awesome! student groups: I was only involved in student groups in 2009-2010, and it was pretty helpful. we visited some companies and took tours with them to see the working environment and each company's goal. we also did events like hosting fundraisers and such. i don't remember much of it now as it was so long ago... i dont even know if they still have these groups now. volunteer projects overseas: students get the opportunity to volunteer overseas for community service. this stands out a lot on your college applications -- this was DEFINITELY helpful. pricey though. private tutors: experience varies depending on the tutor you get. some are meh, and some are extremely helpful and enthusiastic about helping you. (shout out to Trevor, if he still works there. EXTREMELY intelligent and enthusiastic. he genuinely cared about his students and he was awesome.) SAT prep: i feel like you are either good at taking tests or you are not. for me, i wasn't that good at taking tests in particular... so i feel like there was a limit to how high i could've scored. nonetheless, through the numerous practice tests they offered me, i became less scared of the SAT (it was extremely intimidating to me at first). AP prep: i was only in one AP prep class, and it was okay. again, it depends on your teacher. counseling: big MEH. it also depends on which counselor you get. I had 2 really cool ones, and the rest weren't that amazing. if you are mediocre, some will flat out tell you, and they aren't that nice about it. i've had some counselors too who were extremely understanding. not everyone who goes there is a genius...i definitely was one of the dumber ones. college application process: this was absolutely HELL in the beginning, until i got a different editor for my essays.i had one college app guy who was extremely rude, and he yelled at me on several occasions when it was clearly his fault. (he had lost my essays that I turned in, and said I never turned one into him. eventually, he apologized for this, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place). i heard from friends that after I had left the center, he would talk smack about me to the people who worked at the front desk. afterwards, that guy got laid off and i got another guy (bradley bryan, not sure if he still works there) and he was AWESOME. way more understanding, way more helpful, and he was way more organized. all in all, it was NOT worth all that money. their membership or whatever is NOT worth it. sure, take a few classes there that you might really need, but other than that, do not bother. i went there for 5 years and i'm still going to a shit school. read more

My son is first generation going to college; we had no idea how to apply for college or even where to start. Luckily we found IvyMax. They are very professional and knowledgeable about the whole application process. Also they have variety of classes to help kids to improve their school classes. I have to mention their global leadership program, which helped him tremendously by enriching his knowledge about the world and improving his ability to be independent. Overall, I highly recommend joining IvyMax as early as you can since the college app process should start rather early; it is a process that takes time. read more

Just start working with Ivy max Pleasanton. Very nice and patient staff . They provide a lot of useful information, answering my questions on college application and planning professionally. read more

My son went to Pleasanton IvyMax for SAT preparation and improved a lot in scoring. He also went to China summer camp and just came back with a very positive experience and wanted to go back next year! read more

Despite many other reviews talking about the negative aspects (cost, bad teachers) of IvyMax, there are people who truly want to help you. Finance-wise, if you don't have the money you might as well find another place. However, if you spend that money well and meet the right people, you will have a good time. I went on the Global Philanthropy Leadership Internship Programs that they offered, which take place in locations such as Ningxia, China and Nepal. Lead by the founders of IvyMax, these trips will positively benefit your life. If you don't have enough money for all their programs, you might as well have your student or kid participate on these trips, as they will help them the most. read more

I went to IvyMax several years ago. They helped me with my graduated school application, my counselor gave me suggestions on what schools might be appropriate to apply. Step by step, the monthly meeting helped me better understand the whole application better. I appreciate my counselor, editor and other staff's help. read more

After attending the Ningxia summer program, I was able to truly respect and admire the rural environment and the people around me. This fueled my passion to help improve the lives of the DaGouYan villagers in any way I could from interacting with the children to digging holes for trees to being a part of a water filtration project for the village. I hope to travel again next year to continue the project and share my experiences to get as many people as possible involved. read more

First time sending my son who is advancing to 9th grade to the four week English and Math summer camp. Teachers here are very patient and knowledgeable who are willing to help my son when he was frustrated with the materials being a bit too overwhelmed at times. So glad my son had decided to attend this camp to get ready for 9th grade! read more

This place really helped us with UC Berkeley admission. Our daughter was placed on a wait list and had a chance to add 500 words kind of an "appeal letter" to get accepted from the wait list. She worked on her application all on her own before so we didn't want to take any more chances for this last essay and wanted to have an opinion or feedback on it. All other places we called told us we still need to pay for full package of application help ($1500) even though all we needed is a feedback on ONE letter. Yaqi the manager of IvyMax though was the only one with flexibility and said we can pay by an hour based on how much help we need and one letter would be may be one or two hours ($100-200). We scheduled a consultation with Trevor the editor - first time it was free just to to find out how much help would we need. Trevor was extremely helpful and already during this free consultation spent a lot of time with us and gave us a LOT of very useful information. Also, on his own initiative he asked to see her full application to look it over and honestly told us what he would do differently and that they had students with less qualifications to get accepted to UC Berkeley because there is a lot of nuances you need to know when writing an application. We then payed for one hour and met again to get feedback on the letter our daughter wrote. Trevor went above and beyond giving us feedback and doing research on our application even after we spent an hour with him, over an email. He helped us to fine tune the letter and he did an amazing job helping us highlight our daughters abilities in a way that was very appealing specifically to UC Berkeley. Our daughter was accepted from the wait list and I am not sure that would be possible without Trevor's help. read more