UCAN Prep offers terriflc college entrance exam test prep and college admissions/application services. Melodie Mitchell, owner and UCAN Prep principal is a highly educated, experienced educator and college test prep and admissions counselor who loves working with students and their families to help ensure high school academic and college entrance test prep and admissions success. read more

Melody and her company were our partners along this uncertain journey. We are forever grateful for all the advice and coaching. We always felt that Melody was responsive to my son's needs and worked with his schedule. We did it!!! With your guidance and support. We are forever grateful for you and your team. MIT bound. read more

We cannot say enough good things about Melody and the team at Ucan Prep! They worked with two of our sons and made an incredible difference in their academic and professional journeys. One of our sons was a National Merit Commended Scholar, scoring in the top 1% in the nation on the PSAT, and today both sons are working as Engineers at top companies while continuing their studies. Ucan Prep helped make this possible! They are patient, knowledgeable, and truly care about the success of their students. From day one, they went above and beyond for our family, and we will always be grateful for everything they did to help our sons reach their goals. read more

Melody Mitchell was an incredible help for my twin sons. I wish we engaged her so much sooner. We started working with her several months prior to the college application process. She gave us all the insights that were needed navigating the application process, supported them with a very high caliber essay writing tips, and was with us through the entire process. One son received a nearly full academic scholarship for Pepperdine and the other a prestigious honors College Westminster University in Utah! Now that freshmen year is coming to an end, we couldn't be more proud and thankful how her hardwork has continued in their college academics and privileges. She is responsive, professional, caring, and supportive!! read more

I am writing this to thank Melody for helping my son on this college application preparation. It was a big job for me as a father to help my son working on his application. Initially, I was working with my son on the initial draft and then got some UCLA and UC Berkeley friends to help a little here and there such as polishing the writing and correcting some grammar. In the middle of this process, we reached out to Melody Mitchell to help us strategize our writing and make it more attractive to the application reviewers. Melody has many years of experience in helping students get to great colleges. My son got into UCLA Computer Science major in 2023. Thanks to Melody again for her assistance in my son journey to get into UCLA. read more

My son used UCAN's test prep service over the past few months, and we are very happy with the results. His ACT score increased by 10 points from his initial assessment test, which is a significant improvement. Both Melody and the math teacher are excellent teachers. Melody genuinely cares about each student's success; she is always patient and polite. Despite her busy schedule, she consistently makes the effort to communicate in a timely manner. The math teacher provides clear and easy-to-understand instruction for math and science. We feel lucky to have found UCAN for my son's test prep, and I would definitely recommend UCAN to my friends and anyone looking for ACT/SAT test prep. read more

Melody has been an amazing support for me throughout the four years I have worked with her. She helped me brainstorm extracurricular activities, raised my SAT score, edited my college essays every week for five months, and so much more. She's a huge part of why I was admitted to UCLA this year! read more

If you are looking for a place to achieve high test scores and receive amazing college admissions results, UCAN Prep is the right place for you. I went into UCAN as a nervous high school junior who knew nothing about the admissions and test prep process. I came out of UCAN as a stellar test taker with amazing results. UCAN's nurturing environment can help anybody get results. I started the summer of my junior year with a 25 ACT diagnostic score. Jonathan's in-depth focus on passage analysis helped me develop strategies for the test. Melody's knowledge of grammar and sentence structure allowed me to achieve a perfect score in this section. Taner's undeniable gift of teaching math boosted my once very weak word problem skills. The result: a 34 ACT score, a whopping 9-point gain! I also was involved in UCAN's College Planning program. I was worried about crafting my essays and making myself stand out in the sea of college admissions, but UCAN made it easy. Jonathan was excellent in helping me brainstorm essay topics and really guided me throughout the process of making my activities/extracurriculars shine. He is deeply knowledgeable about this entire process, and I wouldn't recommend anyone except for him. He takes hours upon hours of his time to thoroughly guide you, step by step, through each section of our application. I never felt left in the dark. Melody also was spectacular in giving my essays a polished finish with her grammar finesse. I was admitted to some of the top schools in this country: USC, Carnegie Mellon, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis, Boston College, Northeastern, and more. I received over $650,000 in scholarship money. None of this would have been possible without Jonathan, Melody, and Taner. UCAN is truly a unique place that I would recommend over and over and over again. If you're on the edge about joining the UCAN family, trust me when I say it is worth it. read more

As the class of 2020 ends their high school year in such an abrupt manner, I can't help but be thankful for all the opportunities my girls encountered in their path to success. They have been accepted to well over one dozen top universities, including USC, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC San Diego, Fordham, University of Rochester, Carnegie Mellon, Pepperdine, Loyola, among many more. Each of them received well over $640,000 in merit scholarship money, including the Regent's Scholarship and Dean's Scholarship. UCAN Prep was an integral component of my girls' success as they tackled the college application process and prepared to take the ACT and SAT. Before their junior year started, my husband and I researched college prep courses and companies, and we were lucky to find UCAN. It was an investment that has delivered a greater return than we could have ever imagined. Jonathan and Melody have a seamless system, in which my girls were able to begin planning their college application essays and building their resume over six months in advance. In exchange, when college applications were due, they had ample time to revise and check every section of their application. UCAN provided countless hours of guidance to our girls that went well beyond what the contract we signed outlined. Their dedication and commitment to our girls was evident and we are forever grateful to them. Their test preparation system is also a fine oiled machine that has been well thought out and has proven results. Jonathan, Melody, and Taner are amazing teachers and helped my girls both earn the National Merit Commended Scholar recognition, the National Hispanic Merit recognition, as well as a 34 on their ACT! If you are in search of an intelligent, dedicated, caring group of people that can help maximize your child's academic testing ability and take the load off of the college application process, UCAN is the place for you! read more

We are very happy with the college planning counseling service with Melody. My son's situation is very complexed because he changed his interest of studying in his high school senior year, which affected his high school four-year plan for college application. Without going into the details, we the parents were very concerned about disbanding our original college application and literally start a new one just a few months before the application deadline. Melody worked by our side on every aspects of the applications, she is always there to listen to our needs, and find solutions / recommendations so we can move forward. My son was admitted to his dream school with awarded scholarship, and he will be finishing-off with his first year by this summer. Thank you Melody for being on our side every step of the way. We highly recommend UCAN to all the parents out there seeking help on college preparation. read more

If you are searching for a place to have your high school student to prepare for either SAT, ACT, or both, you have come to the right place. I visited and consulted with a few college prep places before making my decision to go with Ucan. What sets Ucan aside from the other places I went to are their passion and dedication in helping your student to achieve a high test score. They have strong staffs who are experts in the areas of math, English & writing, and more. They will put your student in the hands of one of their knowledge staff based on the areas your student needs more help with. Unlike the college prep places I visited, some of their staffs are college students or college graduates, the staffs at Ucan are teachers that has teaching credentials and they take a rigorous tests before getting hired by Ucan. This is the ONE thing I like. If I am paying almost the same price as other college prep places, at least I know I am paying for someone who is well knowledge working with my child. My son joined Ucan around July timeframe of this year, when he took the practice ACT at Ucan for the first time, I was not too thrilled with his score. However, after taking lessons at Ucan, his scores from the weekly practice ACT went up by as high as 6 points. And when he took the ACT on 10/27/2018, his ACT score was beyond my expectation. Even with the ACT score he got from October, Ucan still wants him to take it again because they believe he can get a perfect score. The staffs at Ucan are experts in these college tests as they taught my son the techniques and strategies on how to take the test and get a higher score. I am glad we made the decision to go with Ucan. Thank you Melody, Jonathan, and Tanner for your dedication and hard work with helping my son scoring high on his ACT! I'll be sending my daughter and her friends to you soon. =) read more

Ucan prep was very helpful during my son's admission process. Melody did a great job in helping Ibrahim with his essays and directing his acceptances into UC Berkeley, USC, and UC Santa Barbara. read more

My review will only be in scope for the college application process. I can keep typing but results are what most reviews are for. I got into Computer Science at UCLA. Ms. Mitchell helped me with the essays but also revealed the secrets of the other parts of the application. Question: Can I find this all on youtube? Answer: Yes, but good luck. You will waste a lot of time with research and the information you receive will not be 100% the best. YouTube is a good source, but if you want the ethos and a full review customized for your content, best to have a professional as this program handle it. College is very important, so don't risk it. I still recommend this program if you already know a lot about the process like I did (partly because I spent hours on YouTube researching). This is because I went in with prior knowledge because I had anxiety that I was missing something. And I actually did learn new things. Hypothetical: What if I already know the whole process? Answer: Ucan Prep can still finalize your entire application to make sure you don't mess anything up. I would pay money for therapy sessions because college apps gave me PTSD, but the money was better spent on these sessions because they gave me both real help on my application and emotional healing knowing that it was Ms. Mitchell checked. If you really are still considering it, just do it because the time spent thinking if it is worth will waste your time (learned it the hard way). It is easier to regret not doing something than to doing something. And yes I do not regret it. Advice: Make sure to plan sessions ahead of time, because many people like to spam sessions near the due date (like me). read more

My son worked with Melody and Taner with his ACT and College application. His ACT scores increased tremendously after much guidance and patience from Ucan team. My son received his early acceptance to Azusa Pacific University Engineering Department. We look forward to receiving more next month. read more

Thank you Melody and the entire Ucan team. I admire your dedication to high quality teaching that prepares students to tackle the exams!

While we have just started this process with the team of Ucan Prep, I can without a doubt say that the information we've received and gleaned from Jonathan and Melody has been priceless - from SAT/ACT/pSAT test preparation to college direction and prep process via course direction and application...the list is endless with the assistance we've gotten. I had no idea how extensive this process was and thankfully with the direction of Ucan, I feel confident that my child is headed in the right and BEST direction to get him to his dream University. I'm looking forward to posting an even more favorable response once we progress further into this process...stay tuned people! (this first review was written when we first discovered/enrolled our son with Ucan...@ March, 2018) 4/8/2020 Fast forward to 2 years later and my son is now a senior. From start to finish, I cannot express how meticulous and thorough this organization is! I wasn't exactly sure how this process would work since we live out of state while our son goes to a boarding school yet in another state but somehow Jonathon and Melody worked out all the details and executed their services making the process painless! They tutored my son to get the ACT/SAT score he wanted and needed to get into his dream university. These individuals spent hours upon hours tutoring my son online the entire time and increased his ACT score by 7 points! But it didn't stop there because shortly thereafter was the College research and identification process, followed by the college application process - and oh what a process that is! Despite the fact that everything was done virtually, my son never felt lost. Without the advice, guidance and direction of UCan Prep I know for sure I would have felt lost and overwhelmed. My son never felt any of those things but rather, prepared and hopeful throughout the entire process. If you are looking for something of this nature to assist you in the cumbersome college application process and preparation, look no further - this is it! I'm forever grateful for this organization and for how insightful and resourceful they are - without them my son would not be going to his university of choice. Next fall, with the tremendous help of the team at UCan Prep, my son will be attending his dream college - thank you Jonathon, Melody and Tanner for the endless hours of preparation you invested into our child. If you or anyone you know is considering this organization feel free to contact me. I would be more than happy to share my personal experience with you in greater detail as well as to answer any questions that you may have: echauff@gmail.com read more

My daughter worked with both Melody and Taner last year to prepare her testing. Both instructors are very patient and have in-depth of experience in the areas they offer the tutoring. My daughter received intensive training and was awarded excellent test scores for her test. read more

My son started with Melody back in the summer of 2014 to prepare for the HSPT and ISEE tests. He met with a math tutor every Monday evening, with Melody on English on every Wednesday evening, and took a practice test every Saturday for about 5 months. Recently, my son took two HSPT tests and one ISEE test: HSPT results: 96th percentile and 98th percentile, respectively ISEE results: 84th percentile (harder test for entrance to 9-12 grades) Acceptance to all three schools he tested at. Although our son is a good and serious student, based on comparison of his test results on the very first day of working with Melody and these results, we could not be happier. This is massive improvement. We seriously owe Ucan Prep our most sincere gratitude for the expert tutoring and preparation they gave our son. Thank you Melody, Jonathan, and Tanner! Outstanding job, really. Craig Valine Pasadena, CA read more

Melody and Jonathan are the best! They worked closely with my daughter, guided her through the entire college prep and admissions process, and gave us a peace of mind. I never had to worry about my daughter as she was in good hands. Melody and Jonathan are experts in their field and passionate educators. They are fully committed and always accessible to their students and the parents. They were with my daughter every step of the way, always encouraging, supportive and we're deeply grateful and appreciative of them. Thank you for bringing my daughter to success! read more

My daughter started prepping for the ACT a few months ago. I was concerned because she was already a junior in high school and we had not done any serious test prep. I was even more concerned when she scored 18 out of 36 on her starting diagnostic test. Well, after the intensive practice and great tutoring by Melody & Taner, Chloe took her first official ACT in June. She achieved a composite score of 28, with a 34 in reading and 35 in English! Chloe will take the test again in October, and she is looking forward to boosting her composite score even higher! Thanks again to Jonathan, Melody & Taner for their professionalism and knowledge. read more

We did lot of research and consultation meetings before we selected Ucan.The reason we made such a decision is  because Ucan has more focus and dedication on each individual student, not like other bigger commercial organizations. It only took one and a half months to prove our decision was correct. My daughter is a high school freshman this year, but we decided to start her college planning earlier. The amazing thing is that her ACT test score improved drastically in one and a half months from 28 to 32. Ucan also proposed some very good ideas on how to attract colleges' attention and get their acception step by step. Many thanks to Jonathan, Melody, and Taner. We are looking forward to my daughter's success in entering a good college as we keep working with Ucan. read more

I was referred to Jonathan and Melody by a dear friend who heard me talk about my daughter wanting help with the test scores. My daughter did not start until late in her junior year and we thought it may have been too late. Not the case in this instance at all. Although my "teenage" daughter was slow to realize the benefits of this program, she finally did and her ACT scores improved by 5 points from her first test to the second. She is thrilled and her stress level has gone down by 150%. I cannot thank Jonathan, Melody and Tanner enough for helping Samantha. Our family is so thrilled with Samantha's improvement and cannot wait to see where this takes her. Thank you again UCAN Prep. Awesome program and I highly recommend it. Lorena Erickson-Buchhammer. read more

I recently applied to medical school. Melody and Jonathan were very encouraging and helpful in helping me write my personal statement! They taught me how to write in ways I'd never thought of before! Would recommend! They have tips and tricks to really make the writing process fun and easy! read more

Jonathan and Melody really care about their students and they do a great job!

It's been a great experience working with UCAN not once, not twice, but three times. Our son, Jonathan, worked closely with the entire team from Melody, Jonathan, Taner and having peer sessions. The team dedicates themselves to helping their students through patience, direct guidance, and teaching them good testing taking techniques, as well as, little tricks of the trade that really make a difference. It's also a plus that UCAN leads their students through the entire college process (from beginning to end) and helps them locate the best fit possible for school. Our daughter, Megan, worked with Melody and Taner the entire summer prior to starting her 8th grade, which continued until her testing date for the ISEE test. She did well and got into the high schools of her choice. Years later, Taner helped her with the preparation of the ACT test. Once again, thank you Melody and the entire UCAN team for their unconditional support to our children's future. read more

Jonathan, Melody and the other teachers helped our daugther vastly increase her SAT scores, guaranteeing her a spot in a top Ivy League school. They are simply the best. James and Yolanda read more

We are so disappointed especially Melody. First of all, we were scheduled to have a meeting for a college planning session the following Saturday morning at 9:30am after the diagnostic test. Next, on Thursday we were told that our appointment was cancelled, and Melody said that she didn't know they had a meeting with another family on that Saturday morning. Melody tried to schedule an afternoon time, and I told her repeatedly that my wife won't make it since she gets off work late. My son and I will be there for the meeting in the afternoon or whatever time you are available. She said "We can't do mornings. I wish we could. Can she get off one day from work?" and "We can't have a meeting without both parents attending." That is so unprofessional, outrageous, and shady. First of all, you cancelled our morning appointment and see another family instead. On contrary and said "We can't do mornings." and had the audacity to ask my wife to take a day off. My son and I are willing to accommodate you, and you still do NOT want to see us. read more

We could not recommend Melody, Jonathan and Taner more strongly. Our son began working with them at the end of his sophomore year. The team first developed a complete plan for not only test taking, but also a strategy for the college application process and what our son needed to accomplish during his sophomore, junior and senior year. They helped prep for the PSAT, which led to a great result and National recognition. Soon after, SAT prep began along with coaching and tracking of his plan for the college application process. All along the process, they guided, advised, taught and managed all the deadlines. The final results speak for themselves. Our son achieved a 270 point gain on the SAT, and was accepted into his top college choice. None of this could have been achieved without their dedicated help and support. We could not be more greatful. read more

I joined UCAN in the summer going to senior year. My initial SAT score was a 1400 but after UCAN I had a 1900! This program really helped me not just with the SAT but with my everyday study habits. I also enrolled in their college admission program. They made it so that I was not rushing the process and that I was thoroughly organized the whole time. With their help I was accepted to Gonzaga with a $12,000 scholarship a year, Whittier College with $25,000 a year, the University of Oregon, Loyola Marymount University and many others. Jonathan, Melody and Tanner are excellent teachers and are very helpful. I would recommend them to anyone who wants to improve their SAT score or needs help in the college application process. Although the classes may require a lot of time it is worth it and the end results (college acceptances) are very rewarding. read more

Working with all of the UCAN staff was such a great experience. Applying to get into a top university can be a very nerve-wracking process, but Jonathan and Melody helped alleviated most of that stress. Individualized college planning is what makes this program so unique. They help you pick colleges, set deadlines, and achieve your goals. Thanks to UCAN I was able to get into my top four schools and I had a variety of amazing schools to pick from, which was such a gratifying feeling. As long as you're willing to put in the time and effort, UCAN will undoubtedly help you succeed. The next four years of my life are going to be amazing and I know I couldn't have done it without UCAN!! read more

I would highly recommend UCAN to everyone and anyone that has kids preparing for going on to college. UCAN helped my son Steven bump his score up 250 points on the SAT. Thanks to UCAN, My son got a 65% scholarship ($25k per year for 4 years) to Holy Cross in Indiana. Thank you Jonathan, Melody & Taner for all your help. We could not have done it without you! read more

I am so glad that I decided to choose UCAN as the site for my SAT tutoring. My score jumped all the way from the low 1700s to 1940! Melody and Jonathan helped me greatly improve my confidence in preparation for this test and also helped me boost my scores in the writing and reading sections respectively. Melody's writing tips vastly improved my understanding of how to write essays not only for this test, but also in general. Tanner, on the other hand, was responsible for my math score improvement. He helped make seemingly difficult concepts seem easier. UCAN helped me receive a full scholarship to one of my colleges as well. I definitely recommend that you come HERE for SAT or ACT prep! I promise, you will not regret it. read more

My son worked with Melody and Jonathan and did an incredible job of raising his SAT scores more than 300 points from his practice tests. UCAN has been instrumental in getting my son into his school of choice and taught him valuable study skills he can take with him to college. I can't thank Melody and Jonathan enough for working so hard for my son so he can realize his dream. Thank you, thank you. read more

I do not know where to start. So many positive things that one could write about UCAN Prep 4 College (UCAN) and its entire staff which include Jonathan, Melody and Taner (The A Team). Well here we go! My wife, son and I were very impressed when we met Melody and Jonathan for the first time during the college preparation presentation. They were well prepared and efficient. Their vast knowledge about the entire college preparation and application process put our family at ease for the competitive college process we were facing. It is a competitive world out there for the future students. Thus causing a great deal of stress for the entire family of those students. The A Team sure knows how to position the student for a successful future regarding their acceptance to their college of choice. The A Tem prepares the students extremely well for the exhausting SAT or ACT tests by expanding their knowledge and by helping them build their self-trust. Without hesitation and with their full devotion, The A Team worked with our son endlessly and tirelessly for an eight-month period. He went from a diagnostic test score of a 21 to a 29 in the actual ACT score. My son made an eight point gain in that short period of time despite handling many other activities during his high school senior year. This speaks volumes about how knowledgeable, dedicated and professional The A Team is. It also shows the potential that their students could achieve when all involved parties work in unison. The A Team members are experts in all of the associated fields related to the college application process. They were on top of things by constantly emailing or texting us with important dates and by providing us with important information. They were easy to get a hold of. We were given their personal cell numbers and they made themselves available at any given time. In several occasions, our son worked with members of The A Team pass regular hours. The UCAN program was a well made investment into the future of our son as well as that of our family. As of the day of this review, my son has been accepted to two of the several schools he has applied to. We are still waiting for other schools to respond. He is seeking a career which the degree for it is highly impacted in the nation. One of the schools has offered our son a $10,000.00 US Dollars, yearly scholarship. This shows that the rate of return in our investment in the UCAN college preparation program has yielded its benefits. We highly recommend UCAN without hesitation. UCAN rocks!!!!!!!! and yes every student, you can..... read more

UCAN is dedicated to personalized attention to maximize each student's potential. Jonathan, Melody, and Taner have been a pleasure to work with. Recently, Taner helped our student achieve an 800 on the SAT Math 2 subject test after an initial score in the low 600s. We will be starting the college application process in the fall and are so thankful to have Jonathan and Melody guiding us through the process. They are deeply invested in knowing the strengths and interests of our student and offer many valuable resources and guidance specific to the needs of our family. Jonathan and Melody are quick to answer questions and very accommodating with schedule changes. Thank you, UCAN! read more

My daughter started with UCan the summer prior to starting her junior year. She attended Saturday classes weekly through the summer for SAT prep. Her baseline score was 1400. She took her SAT in October and got 1550 with 800 on the math portion and all 8's for the essay. Other prep classes required Monday through Friday attendance, so the Saturday only option made it possible for her to pursue other opportunities. Melody, Jonathan, and Taner really helped her deligently prepare. We so appreciate their dedication. read more

My wife and I have been appreciative of awesome work ethics of Ucan Prep team with consistency, attention to student needs and details of what is missing and what could be enhanced in short-term both SAT and college preparatory coursework. The dedication and care of Melody, Tanner, and Jonathan's for each one's success through methodic coordination and prompt responsiveness really give both student and parents a high level of confidence. Melody is an outstanding mentor, always energetic, positive and willing to do extra effort to help our son, a senior, for not only improving SAT testing skill set, college essay writing but also fine-tune strengths or traits of an applicant and suggest other leadership activities that may enhance student's college application package. The involvement of parents in both the testing process and college prep is also gratifying. Although my son suggests an improvement in the section of SAT passage analysis...In overall, the team has done a fantastic job. Our son got significant accomplishment: broke the 1500's of SAT official testing from 1470 score (he got last year) to recently attaining 1540 in a just 4-month period. Thank you Ucan Prep team. Great job! read more

I want to start off by saying that this review is long overdue. We were referred to Ucan by a friend of ours after they had a wonderful experience. Jonathan and Melody first worked with our son two years ago. It was our first child going to college and realized we needed some help. The Ucan team worked with my son with both test prep and with the college application process. Their teaching methods helped my son achieve an SAT score he was happy with and with the help they gave him during the application process he was accepted to his dream school UCLA. We knew that we would be repeat customers for our daughter. My daughter was extremely happy with the teaching methods of Jonathan, Melody, and Tanner. She felt that anything she needed to improve on was worked on in detail until she felt comfortable that she knew the material and the team helped her achieve a 1330 on her SAT exam. She was accepted to some very good schools and has a great list to choose from. From a parent's perspective, Ucan was extremely transparent when discussing progress with our daughter and the team provided very specific feedback that was extremely helpful. They have a great line of communication with both the parents and students and are very accessible when you have questions. This is a challenging program for the students but we can vouch that their methods are extremely effective. We will be definitely be using Ucan once again when it's time for our youngest daughter to go through the process. read more

They're so disorganized with each other. They're good for SAT class, but don't pay for __ week course of college application help. They send you texts talking about two different things and it gets very confusing. They don't keep up with you with college apps. and even when they say that they will go around your schedule, you end up trying to go around theirs. read more