Collegewise Avis 580

Working with Jared Rivers was one of the best decisions we made during my daughter’s college process. From the very beginning, he brought a level of insight and experience that immediately set him apart. Knowing he had spent years reading applications at places like Cornell, Brandeis, and Bates gave us a lot of confidence, but what really mattered was how clearly he understood how to position Laurel in a way that felt both authentic and compelling. He didn’t try to mold her into something she wasn’t, instead, he guided her on how to tell her story in a way that truly resonated with admissions readers.

Jared has an incredible ability to connect with students. He quickly built trust with Laurel, striking that perfect balance of being supportive while also offering honest, thoughtful guidance. He has a calm, approachable style that makes you comfortable, but behind that is a very sharp understanding of what top schools are actually looking for. He helped Laurel focus on fit, where she would genuinely thrive, and that perspective shaped every step of the process in a meaningful way.

His guidance was instrumental in my daughter's admission to Cornell, where she is now a graduating Senior. That experience became a strong foundation for everything that followed. With Jared’s help, Laurel built a clear and cohesive academic narrative that continued to open doors, including earning a St Andrews scholarship that will fully fund her MSc at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She will also be attending Yale University for her MPH as a recipient of the rare Horstmann scholarship the following year, which is truly a dream come true.

What stood out most about Jared is that he truly cares. He is thoughtful, responsive, and deeply invested in his students’ success, not just in getting in, but in finding the right path. We always felt like Laurel was in the best possible hands. We are incredibly grateful for his guidance and would recommend him without hesitation to any family navigating this process.

we were very pleased with the decision we made on using collegewise and working with Shruti who was an amazing counselor to our daughter and the whole family
it made a big difference, it eased up so much of the stress and guided our daughter thoughtfully in selecting her colleges which she got accepted in most of them with a good scholarship,
we will be using collegewise again for our second daughter

Lynne was an amazing counselor and always available! I had a great and successful college application experience with her & the rest of the Collegewise team's help.

Rebecca & Collegewise was transformational with our son. She worked with him through all 4 years of high school and believed in his journey. She took the stress off of us and allowed us to be his cheerleaders. The Collegewise platform kept him on track along the way. We ended with a great result - a college that’s he’s really happy with and a senior year full of great memories. ❤️

We have had such a positive experience with Collegewise over the years. They first helped our daughter get into her dream school (one that is very competitive) and we were so impressed from the start.
A few years later, when it was time for our two sons (in 2022 and 2025), our previous counselor was not available anymore. But honestly, we could not have been luckier to work with Matt Doyle.
Matt was amazing with both of our sons. He kept them organized, on track, and focused, but never stressed. That, to me, says everything. The whole process felt manageable, and even calm, which is not something you usually hear about college applications!
He was also incredibly flexible with our family. We travel internationally during the summer, and Matt always worked around our schedule without missing a beat.
Both of our sons got into their #1 college choices, and we truly feel Matt played a big role in that.
We are so grateful. Five stars for Collegewise, and especially for Matt (only because we cannot give more!).

My son has worked with Elizabeth Majors as his Collegewise counselor for the past year. She has been extremely helpful with her expertise and ability to help my son think through how to write his applications in a concise and descriptive manner showcasing his talents and unique abilities. She gave thoughtful guidance in thinking through essays to ensure you are answering what is asked. She brought additional resources to help narrow the college list; although my son applied to numerous schools. I am happy to report with Liz’s help, my son was accepted in to numerous top schools including Ivy League schools that are known for Neuroscience; my son’s intended focus for college. Thank you Liz!

We have had 2 children go through the college application process with Collegewise. We are indebted to Ali Springer for helping our kids through this difficult and stressful process. Our kids are very different and they were looking for 2 very different college experiences. Ali really took the time to get to know them and helped them brainstorm everything from interests to strengths to weaknesses. She helped them decide on reasonable college lists and helped them throughout to support their application process. Both our kids ended up with perfect schools for them and that is in large part thanks to Ali. I would rec her and the Collegewise program with no reservations. Ali Springer is truly outstanding and we are so grateful for her help.

We are very grateful to Anita for her support and guidance. She is very honest and approachable. She turned an overwhelming and stressful journey into something smooth and manageable for our student. We truly appreciate how Anita checked regularly on our student and kept them motivated and on track.

Work takes H yy

Our son (and we as parents) were very pleased and impressed with our experience. Fayelah Johnson gave clear and helpful ideas and feedback as our son navigated and prepared his college applications. Fayelah's guidance and affirmation boosted his confidence and also helped him to make his personality and strengths shine throughout his application, in addition to the usual academic "stats". Our son is thrilled to be accepted to his first choice university. Thank you!

At first, I was unsure about getting help from a college counselor, but it was incredibly helpful for my application process. My counselor, Fayelah Johnson, helped me brainstorm ideas for my essays and refine my extracurricular lists. Once I had some solid rough drafts, she coordinated with editors to review my essays and make them perfect. It was great to have a check-in at every step to ensure that I was on track. Thanks to this experience, I was accepted into to my top choice and will be attending in the fall. It was a great experience, and I would recommend it to anyone going through the college application process!

We had a great experience with Tanner Reive and Bob Kupelian as private SAT tutors for math and english, respectively. We had 1-on-1 sessions with Tanner and Bob in lieu of taking a more standardized SAT prep course. In just a few months, a score of low 1100s on the PSAT and similar on practice SATs turned into a mid 1300s.

I strongly recommend Collegewise to all my friends and family, in particular my daughter's consultant Kate Strzelecki. My daughter started with Collegewise early in her sophomore year after a recommendation from a close friend. I knew my family would need a private counselor to limit my daughter's procrastination and to reduce the stress and anxiety the whole college application process causes. The meetings have been so helpful to encourage her to research majors, then careers, then specific schools to create a strong list to apply to, then helping with essay topics, and so on. The results are in and wow, my daughter was admitted to 4 UC's, 2 Cal States, and 5 exceptional out of state universities!! The results have vastly exceeded my expectations. Kate has been so helpful and supportive every step of the way.

I had an amazing experience with Collegewise, and I can’t recommend them enough. The entire college application process can feel overwhelming, but they made everything so much easier and more manageable from start to finish.
I especially want to highlight Kaila Brown, who was absolutely incredible to work with. She was supportive, knowledgeable, and always available to answer questions or provide guidance. Our weekly calls quickly became the highlight of my week—I always looked forward to them not just because they kept me on track, but because of how genuinely enjoyable and encouraging they were.
Kaila took the time to truly understand my goals, strengths, and personality, and she went above and beyond to help me present my best self throughout the process. More than just a mentor, she became a friend, someone I could trust and rely on during such an important time. Her positivity and belief in me made a huge difference in my confidence. Thanks to her help, what could have been a stressful experience turned into something exciting and rewarding. If you’re looking for guidance through the college process, Collegewise, and ESPECIALLY Kaila, are the best choice and I honestly could not recommend them more!

I worked with Tanner and Bob, and they did an excellent job. They both could answer every question I could possibly think of, and my scores jumped up after these sessions. Tanner was attentive, energized, and truly cared about my progress. Bob was knowledgeable, relatable, and explained things in ways that I could perfectly understand. They both did great jobs!

My counselor was Ida Lonnqvist, and her experience and guidance was invaluable. She helped me select colleges, find the right major for me, and brainstorm essay ideas. Whenever I had a question or was confused on something, Ida would help me find the answer. I ended up getting into UCLA and UCSD with her support!

Fayelah was an amazing college counselor for me. When I first began college applications I was definitely lost and picked colleges based on what other people had said about them. With my first meeting with Fayelah, she helped me find key things I want in a school and ultimately research many options, in state and out of state that would suit my major and my liking. Each meeting she was super supportive, always checking in on how I was doing outside of college applications but also helping me A LOT. After she helped me find colleges that I genuinely liked, her help was greatly appreciated when writing my supplementals. She had helped me brainstorm an outline for each supplemental, which allowed me to easily write my supplementals. She also helped me choose the activities and honors that spoke to me most, allowing me to be confident with myself. Lastly, filling out the applications, most of it was pretty straightforward but Fayelah made sure to check each of my applications to make sure they were good to go and answered all of my questions super well. Overall, I look back now after receiving my decisions and really enjoyed the application process. Although most would argue it was the worst time of their life, I really think I enjoyed it because I had prepared so well in the summer.

My college counselor was Elizabeth Majors, and she was so helpful even until the very end. She started with the very basics, like brainstorming ideas for college essays, and ended with helping me choose the best college! I genuinely felt like I had a friend and supporter next to me instead of just an advisor, because she made an effort to get to know me as a person as well. Great college counseling and very nice people!

Karen Kimball and Collegewise provided tremendous help and guidance in my daughter’s college application process. I sent my daughter to a vocational high school- cooking track to learn a critical life skill after plandemics. Everyone questioned about her future and her dream of attending NYU or even getting into a good college.

With Karen’s strategic planning and guidance, my daughter’s hardworking and Collegewise team’s help, my daughter was not rejected by one college. Instead, she received good scholarship from most colleges and eventually committed to NYU’s new joint program of Math and Data Science offered by CAS and Courant. We are so thrilled as it is not only her number one choice, but also NYU Courant’s top ranking in the world. More importantly, our parent- daughter relationship has been stronger and my daughter gets happier during this incredible journey. I am very grateful that my daughter was in Karen’s class and I highly her service!

Working with Rebecca Putter and the Collegewise team was a dream! Our daughter had changed schools after a gap year. Rebecca helped her identify her strengths, activities and personal growth and focus on what colleges that would fit her interests and passions. She cheered her on when she felt insecure or daunted by fears. Rebecca helped us navigate her unusual path and put all her unique experiences, hard work and depth into context. An amazing Collegewise tutor helped her through Chemistry. She got accepted into her first choice Early Decision with an amazing scholarship!