I had an amazing experience working with Gourdy. He helped raise my ACT score a ton and was super…read morehelpful with all my college essays, from private schools to UCs. He really knows what he's doing and made the whole process way less stressful. He was also a big reason I got into UC Berkeley, which I'm super grateful for. On top of that, he's really knowledgeable but also funny, so sessions never felt boring. Definitely recommend if you want someone who actually makes a difference.

Gordy is an exceptional college counselor! He kept my son on tack and met all the deadlines even…read morewhen we had limited time. He was encouraging and used virtual services effectively. I also liked how he created google folders and made the whole process of essays and tasks easy and even fun! I would highly recommend Gordy!

I wanted to take a moment to leave a quick review. I reached out to in regards to counseling…read moreservices for my daughter. Unfortunately, she was not taking new students at the time, but the fact that she took the time to call me back and spent her personal time on the phone, giving me some basic information with absolutely no upside for herself speaks volumes. If she will give her time to a parent, who is not her client I can only imagine how dedicated she is to the students she works with. Not only that, but she was a wealth of information in a short amount of time. Thank you for your time, it was truly appreciated.

We have just completed our second tour with Michelle and once again had a superb experience. She…read moreprovided great counsel starting at freshman year regarding what classes to take to improve GPA, summer enrichment programs to consider and how to round out experiences in order to make a compelling application come senior year. Her methodology and cadence for deliverables is very thought out and based on her depth of knowledge. It helped keep our student on track with a timeline and game plan. Everything she does is very purposeful. Our student got into his top target school and had many other options. She holds the kids accountable, is a straight shooter and is pleasant to work with, both for students and parents. She's a pro.

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.

Cliff MacDonald is an excellent resource for advising college-bound students. His vast knowledge…read moreon what a college is looking for in a student is invaluable. He is very personable and patient person. He will guide your child through the college application process including those dreaded college essays. Not sure whether you need Cliff's services, no worries. Give him a call and discuss it with him. He has limited openings for new students.

Cliff MacDonald is an incredible resource through the entire college application process. His…read moreknowledge and understanding, as well as, knowing the various requirements, information, and strategies about so many colleges/universities across the country are unmatched. He spent a lot of time with both our sons throughout this journey. Countless hours working with them on their essays and applications. We couldn't have imagined going through this process without him. Oxford Advisors is top notch! I have 2 very happy boys with their college choices.

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.

Elaine is a world-class advisor--thoughtful, capable, compassionate, and responsive…read more She worked with our twins for several years as we navigated the stress and uncertainty of the college process--where to apply, how to think about value, and how to strike the right balance between reach, target, and safety schools. The process today is daunting. With Ivies accepting just 3-5% of applicants and UC schools also extremely competitive, it's too risky to go it alone and hope for the best. Elaine dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and care guiding our kids through every step. No matter the situation, her advice was always thoughtful and transparent. She responded quickly to every question, usually the same day or within 24 hours. Of course, no advisor can work miracles if a student isn't already committed and putting in the effort--but for motivated students, even the strongest ones, her guidance is invaluable. She also helps set realistic expectations for both kids and parents, which is just as important as anything else. Now the results are in. Both of our kids are strong IB students who were active in music and leadership programs. While the Ivies ultimately proved too far a stretch (despite their qualifications), they were accepted to several top UC and state schools, as well as USC, LMU, and others. Our daughter has chosen UC Berkeley, where she also received a significant merit scholarship--something we were especially grateful for given the cost of college today. Our son was also offered spots at UC Berkeley and UCSD, but has USC Thornton in his sights. If you have a child entering or already in high school, I highly recommend starting with Elaine for an initial consultation. Our whole family--especially our kids--is grateful for her guidance, which led to outstanding options at some of the top public and private universities in the country. We couldn't be more thrilled with the outcome and look forward to the next chapter with twins in college.

Elaine Chan helped my daughter apply for college for the fall of 2023 and I can't say enough…read morepositive things about Elaine! Let me try though... First of all, Elaine is extremely knowledgeable and professional- she does her research on colleges and keeps very up-to-date on the changes in universities and in the application process, even going on regular in-person visits to check out college campuses herself. She offers very personalized counseling services because she gets to know the student in conversation as well as through assessment tools. She counsels the student and family to apply for best-match colleges based on all relevant interests including academic, social, environmental/"vibe", geographic, financial, etc. Secondly, Elaine is super accessible and an awesome communicator (dare I say, to a fault, with the speed in which she answered emails and texts??) and she is very organized. Elaine makes herself available to answer questions and to be helpful in any and all ways she can. Elaine is resourceful and provides important resources and support without overwhelming the student with TOO much information. Elaine is very easy to talk with and helped make the college application process practically painless! Thirdly, Elaine knows how to bring out the best in the student by helping the student understand and capitalize on their strengths and coaches the student in the essay writing and in all the other application requirements. Because of Elaine's deep familiarity with the college application process, she is able to counsel the student on approaching college application in a strategic manner. Lastly, Elaine is a genuinely wonderful person- she is warm and caring and we felt that she had my daughter's best interests in mind in all of her meetings with Elaine. Additionally, Elaine has a special place in her heart for first-generation college students and has extended herself above and beyond for students who would otherwise not have the knowledge, resources or support to apply for and attend college. We are grateful for Elaine's help and would give her 6 stars if we could!!

I am very grateful for the role that Nicole Freeling played in our son's college selection process,…read moreand would like to explain it in some detail. My wife and I approached Nicole during our son's sophomore year. He had suffered a brain injury the prior summer and was struggling in school because of visual deficits and persistent head pain resulting from the trauma. At that moment, we were more concerned about how to get the right treatment for our son -- and the right accommodations in place -- so he could finish high school. But engaged Nicole because the decisions we made would ultimately affect our son's ability to attend a great university, and we wanted him to believe that this was still within his reach. He's a deeply intellectually serious young man, so we wanted to keep his horizons broad. Nicole did the research and returned to us with the conclusion that we should extend our son's high school career so he could focus on his recovery, and that a fifth year of high school would be a better solution for his circumstances than graduating on time with a less rigorous curriculum. We plotted his high school trajectory to maximize time spent in recovery during this junior year, ramping up the rigor and density of his coursework through a "gap year" that allowed him to finish his A to G requirements most at UC Berkeley and BCC, to great success. Nicole believed in our son and supported his application to a range of selective colleges. She had on-point advice on making the list, ensuring that it included schools he would likely get into as well as reach schools. Most importantly in this process, she encouraged our son to tell the story of his recovery, which he was not otherwise inclined to do. In the end, he was admitted early decision to a highly competitive college, where we believe he will thrive. We are all very grateful for Nicole and On My Way for their role not just in the college process, but in our son's overall recovery. These are good people.

I chose Olivia becauseshe brought the insight, expertise and best practices that I needed to help…read moremy kids. Olivia brought structure to how my kids should think about the types of school and the majors they should explore. She was tremendously helpful in deciphering the financial aid black hole for my and my husband. I love her collaborative approach with my kids and us parents. Working with Olivia helped open up opportunities, lessen the stress and even made the application process a little bit fun. I've already recommended Olivia to all my friends with college bound kids. You and your kids will be glad you decided to work with Olivia!!

My son worked with Alex on his post-graduate schools and doctoral program applications, and working…read morewith Alex made huge difference. He was extremely knowledgeable about the process and easy to access at any time. My son accepted to a fully funded program.I highly recommend Alex if anyone looking for a coach to help with their writing . Thank you Alex!! I m grateful for your dedication and availability

Dr. Blum worked with my son on his college personal statement. Coached him over 5 sessions on how…read moreto organize, edit, transition and finish his statement. What we really appreciated was Dr. Blum did not write or direct the paper. He helped my son through the writing process. Strategies my son will use long past college. Highly recommend his services.

We are so happy for our daughter that we selected BEEC to help her prepare for her second attempt…read moreat the SAT exam. She worked with Aadi for two months and increased her score to a 1470 from a 1280! Her number one pick for college went from a reach to a match. Aadi taught her so much in such a short amount of time. she went into the second exam full of confidence and came out feeling great about how she did. Aadi and the BEEC team were very accommodating of our daughte's busy schedule and they were an absolute pleasure to work with.

My daughter used BEEC for testing prep for the SAT and I could not recommend them more! We will…read moredefinitely use them for my younger son when the time comes!

Terrible experience with Nisha and Blaine who practically sabotaged my child preparation for SAT…read more Super unreliable operation - promise a lot and don't even show up to scheduled meetings - terrible!!

Matt Pickup is an amazing tutor for any social science and history/government related courses. He…read moreconstantly went above and beyond, even emailing me constantly with last minute personalized tips the night before my APUSH exam. He helped me go from getting my first bad semester grade in AP World first semester to getting an A the 2nd semester and a 5 on the exam. He was so good that i went back to him for APUSH, helping me score straight As and a 5 on that exam as well. He personally asked me what I needed specifically to improve and gave me tons of practice resources that we went through together and i got so used to the exam question types that It helped me with every other AP I've taken since then. He truly cares about his students!