There are not enough words to express our appreciation for Ilumin Education and the work that Kyra…read moredid with our two sons during their college application process- it was definitely one of the best decisions we made for them. From the very beginning, we appreciated how accommodating Anthony was given our limited time and how forthcoming he was with the information we needed to make our decision. Kyra was phenomenal! Although our kids were among many of her students, Kyra was so attentive and committed to their experience, helping clarify their interests in majors and helping them give voice to essays that were authentic to who they are- this was definitely not a cookie cutter experience! She was always supportive and well organized so our kids never felt overwhelmed or pressed for time. When we expressed concerns about the pathways for a particular major, Kyra put together an impressive presentation on the various options convincing us this pathway is fitting for our son. Kyra kept us in constant communication so we didn't need to worry about any hiccups or missed deadlines. We are so lucky to have found Ilumin Education to work with; they made the college application process seamless and actually enjoyable! We know that their involvement was key to our children being accepted to their "reach" schools! Thank you, Kyra, Anthony, and the entire team at Ilumin Education!

I was a highschool student being advised by Ilumin education. My counselor was always so helpful…read moreand never had me stressed or overwhelmed. The thing that sets Ilumin apart is that they don't stress out students or discourage them. I was always so stressed about the admissions process but thanks to the team at Ilumin I always felt supported and ahead on the college admissions process.

Review from my son: Zach Pava played a major role in my…read morecollege admissions process. Not only was his college essay feedback on 15+ essays extremely insightful, I felt that the manner in which he set up a schedule with deadlines and tasks was more helpful. He always kept in touch, especially during October and November, and always responded promptly. Zach set up mock interviews for me with other Insight counselors to practice for college admissions interviews, which did not count against my counseling hours! Also, the fact that Zach primarily worked over Skype was actually more convenient, since I did not have drive to the Cupertino office all the time for the counseling; instead, I could just do it over Skype in my room.

I just recently graduated from Emory University, and upon finishing my time in undergrad, I found…read moremyself looking back and reflecting on my college application process. I am the eldest in my family, and a first-generation American, so my family and I were unseasoned and largely out of our comfort zone when the time came to begin applying to universities. I found Zach through Insight, and he was a tremendous help to me, offering up suggestions about colleges I may be interested in applying to, prepping me for college tours and visits, editing my personal statements and supplemental essays, and offering me any guidance or support I needed throughout the long process. While I was a bit shy and lacking in confidence, Zach saw my strengths and potential, and constantly motivated me to challenge myself, ensuring that my applications reflected my best attributes. With Zach as my counselor, I never once felt stressed or overwhelmed about writing my applications, as Zach planned out deadlines for all components of my applications, ensuring that I would have everything in on time. Zach's genuine concern for my well-being and future was palpable throughout the application process, and after being accepted into Emory, my top choice school, Zach continued to be supportive of my aspirations. He was always more than happy to answer any questions I had about college and the future beyond. I highly recommend Zach not only as a college counselor, but also as a trusted mentor. His help was, and continues to be, an invaluable resource for me and my family!

My time spent with Manuel and his team was super helpful for me and my family!…read more When it came time to do essays for my college applications, his team was very specific and detailed in their criticisms. Since the essays used in my college applications were very particular about subject matter and word count, him and his team's pointers greatly helped me in conveying my essays' messages effectively. They also made understanding finances for my difference colleges easy to understand. Going into the federal financial aid application process, I was rather intimidated with the amount of steps involved. However, after consulting with Manuel and his team, they gave us a clear outline of what we have to do and what forms of financial aid to look out for--even going as far as to point out which of my chosen colleges offer the best financial aid. Overall, College Planning ABC offered me and my family a smooth, professional, and streamlined approach to the college application process that would've felt more time-consuming and stressful otherwise.

I met Manny at one of his free meetings at the library and trusting him with my daughter's college…read moreadmission was truly one of the best decisions I've made. She was admitted to several top schools and will be attending one of the top UCs this year. As a middle‑class parent without much knowledge of how the admissions system works here, I was overwhelmed. Manny guided us through every step -- from essays to financial aid to taxes -- with patience, clarity, and genuine care. My daughter says that without his help she wouldn't have done nearly as well, and she really enjoyed working with him, which mattered a lot during an already stressful school year. I highly recommend Manny if you have a child preparing for college, Thank you, Manny!

We have been using AJ on and off for a few years, and this past year was especially helpful for my…read moreson in his trig class at MVHS. Once his grade started to slip significantly, we reached out to AJ and were paired with Tyler. He was instrumental in helping my son not only raise his grade, but also build the confidence he needed to succeed. He is now helping other students in the class and scoring much higher on his tests and quizzes. We are very grateful for Tyler's support and highly recommend AJ Tutoring.

My son received math tutoring for BC Calculus from Tyler Vanvalkenburg who was EXCELLENT. Tyler was…read moreeffective in explaining concepts in a way that stuck for my son, enabling my son to earn an A on his final exam and improving his overall grade. The reason I'm writing the review is because in addition to being a great tutor, Tyler's friendly and approachable style was a great fit for my son, and he did an exceptional job in communicating with me. He seems to genuinely care about his tutees...he followed up after exams and AP testing to check in on how my son did. I 100% recommend AJ Tutoring and Tyler. Effective, and just good people.

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....

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!

This was our first time going through the college application process of today. Everything is so…read moredifferent from when we went to school, that we knew we needed a professional to guide us and our son on his next journey. Tiffany was a good fit, very organized and kept our son accountable and on track with the application process. She really listened to our son, guiding him through the process with his best interests in mind. She reviewed his essays timely with constructive feedback that helped give him a competitive advantage and made him stand out among so many applicants. As a parent, you naturally want the counselor to weigh your choices more heavily than the student. However, Tiffany tries her best to balance out the differences in choices. Tiffany's templates were very helpful and she had a lot of good references to share. Both us and our son had weekly action items. Our meetings with her were on time, focused and kept us moving forward. She took us step by step and explained clearly. There were some moments where it felt like things were moving a little too fast in areas we wanted to spend more time, but when we asked for clarification, she did provide it. Tiffany's systematic approach to the college application process, along with her recommendations on schools based on our son's interests, contributed to the high volume of acceptance letters from schools of his choosing. As a family, we committed to the university that best suited our son's personality, needs, and goals. Tiffany was there every step of the way. We are grateful for her support and look forward to going through the process again with her in another three years with our youngest.

Tiffany is amazing. She helped my senior son with his college application process…read more She helped him narrow down the college list. She worked with him to come up with a story about himself. On one occasion, my son decided to submit an appeal letter at the last minute. She was out of the country and my son was on vacation. Timing was very challenging. Nonetheless, Tiffany made herself available, stayed on top of it, and helped my son write and submit an appeal in a very short period of time. Best part of all is her communication skills. She knows how to work with teenagers. My son is introverted and sometimes it's hard for him to open up to people he doesn't know. Tiffany was able to make him feel comfortable and he was able to work with her genuinely. We were very happy with Tiffany's service, and when our younger son wanted to work with a counselor, we scheduled an initial meeting with her for him. During the initial meeting, my son already knew that he wanted to work with her and now Tiffany is his college counselor, too. I would recommend Tiffany to any high school student looking for an excellent college counselor. She is knowledgeable, approachable, and very passionate about what she does.

We were referred to John by one of our close friends and we are so thankful we did it. John and…read morehis team worked closely with our son for four years, from course selection to summer camp application, and eventually through the college app process. He put a lot of thought and paid extra attention to every details of the application forms. He is our guardian on meeting every milestone in this journey. John is more of a mentor to my son as well. He helped him navigate through his stress and anxiety, so that he could focus on making progress in his course work and applications. He also help bridging the communication between us and our son, which we deeply appreciated to balance our relationship during the crunching times. We would highly recommend John, he is the one you can count on!

Entering my senior year of High School and the chaos of college applications, I was very lost on…read morewhat a strong college essay and application looked like. I remember having different extracurricular experiences to talk about but there was a missing piece of how to word my essay and let alone start on my essays. I spent 2 weeks blankly starring at my document before realizing I needed more help than I expected. It wasn't until I started working with John and Jamie that I was able to talk about my life experiences and turn them into strong essays that reflects who I am and the type of leader I am in any community. Working with them helped me quickly understand how college essays are structured and how I can word my experiences to illustrate my strong characteristics as a student and leader. I really appreciated the weekly workshops provided by Jamie and John for extra time to spend on essays. As someone who had a hard time finding time and motivation to work on my essays, the workshops and set meeting times held me accountable for getting my work done before each meeting. I would 100% recommend John's service to anyone else struggling during this process. I am now committing to UC Davis and I couldn't be more grateful for the help provided by John and Jamie.

I had a very disappointing experience with Fahey College Consultant. We paid a significant amount…read morefor guidance through the college application process, especially for help with essays and making sure applications were completed on time. Unfortunately, once the process began, the support we expected simply was not there. The student struggled with writer's block and anxiety during the essay writing stage and needed real guidance and feedback. Instead of meaningful help, we mostly received long lists of tasks with little actual support on how to complete them. Communication also became inconsistent during critical parts of the process. As deadlines approached, we expected close guidance and review of the application materials, but the student felt largely abandoned in the middle of the process. While the consultant presents herself very well and is a strong salesperson during the initial conversations, the actual delivery did not match the promises made. For such an expensive service, families expect hands-on guidance, especially when students are struggling. Our experience was that the student was left to manage a very stressful process largely alone. I would strongly advise families to carefully evaluate the level of support they will actually receive before committing to this service.

If I could give 0, I would. Please STAY AWAY from this counselor and her team. She would sweet talk…read moreuntil signing a contract and then from there everything goes downhill. She and her so called team of writers don't do any due diligence on the essays, they would even leave one college name in another college essays and this was after multiple rounds of checking by THEM. She addressed my child in email with another student's name and completely another major and college, so this shows how much thorough she is with her work. DONT WASTE MONEY....she only takes money and then vanishes.

Great coaching. Structured methodical and patient. The instructors are fantastic worth every…read morepenny.

My daughter works one-on-one with UPUSH tutor Matt Pickup, and we could not be happier with the…read moreexperience. Matt brings deep knowledge, excellent teaching materials, and a highly effective approach to tutoring. He is an exceptionally qualified professional. Thanks to Matt, AP US History has become far more engaging for my daughter, and she showed impressive results from the very first session. Her overall performance in junior year has also improved as a direct result of his guidance. Thank you, Matt, for sharing your expertise with such dedication, passion, and care. We truly appreciate your work and highly recommend your services.

I am so grateful for the support and insight that my family has received from Green Ivy. Ana and…read moreBrandon worked remotely with my college-aged son to help develop his Executive Functioning and to provide structure during a challenging period. Using weekly Zooms with Brandon, my son's organizational and planning practices improved significantly (with an accompanying boost in GPA). Ana also provided helpful support and resources to me as the parent. We truly appreciate their expertise and support!

Inability to get work done on time, procrastination, mild depression as a result of being unable to…read morecope with school/ school work and constantly feeling overwhelmed were the classic ADHD symptoms that our child has faced in the last few years. As a way to support them with school work we approached Ana to see if she could help. She came highly recommended by our medical care providers and I had heard a couple of her talks. After a brief consultation with Ana, I was sure this is the type of support we needed. I am so glad we made the decision to send our child to Green Ivy. After just two sessions we observed that our child was allocating time every day for certain tasks, and had developed a sense of control over their schedule. After just a few months of Green Ivy their grades are the best they have been. Although grades were not the driver for us parents, the improvement in grades has done wonders to the fragile/developing self esteem of our teen. There is a sense of joy in going to school, learning new things at school. I have seen them get work done on Saturdays so they can spend time with friends on Sundays. School is no longer a drag and they have developed an air of confidence that is such a joy to see as a parent. I had not realized the extent to which executive functioning coaching can help a child like ours. I have no ambiguity in thought regarding that now. Without a doubt, Green Ivy has been the link between our child's high functioning brain and success at school. Green Ivy has been life changing for our child and therefore for us!