Collegewise Reviews 618

Graduating high school senior here! Joel Ontiveros and Collegewise helped me get accepted to many prestigious colleges (top 40 public and private schools), including my dream school!

Whether through giving helpful writing feedback, providing the most in-depth advice each time I was unsure about balancing my extracurriculars, or navigating the college application process, I always felt I was in safe hands. Joel's immense expertise in everything related to college is unparalleled (supporting me from beginning to end - from my sophomore year to applying to choosing a college to commit to), and he was always ready to answer any miscellaneous questions I had on my mind! Words can't express truly how grateful I am for the opportunity to work with him. Joel encouraged me and helped me greatly in exploring my interests in politics, law, and public policy, through which I was able to refine my college and major list.

Additionally, I truly appreciate Veronica Leyva for helping me too and for recommending Joel to me - I learned so much from her when my family and I were initially stressing about applying to college and navigating high school life!

Collegewise is no doubt the best choice my family and I made throughout my time in high school. 100% would recommend - at least try it out for yourself!

We availed Collegewise counseling for our son for the past three years, from sophomore to senior year. Overall our experience was very positive. His counselor Sam Jostura was very thorough and detailed in planning, communication and providing the necessary guidance. She made overall process seamless, while empowering us with information and facts to make informed decisions. Her extensive insights was instrumental in our son's acceptance to several of his top choice colleges.

Collegewise was worth the investment! Ali was clear with our daughter about deadlines, setting realistic expectations about her options, helping her focus on her achievement and keeping her on track- and she wound up at her 1st choice! Ali minizized the stress and removed any additional arguments between us about the application process, while still keeping us involved. Highly recommended to navigate what is a very challenging process!

Collegewise was our partner for our three children as they made their way through the college admissions process. We could not have gone through this process without their guidance!

My daughter’s counselor Ali in particular was wonderful. She was straightforward and honest - which is invaluable! She was also encouraging and kind - but firm and set expectation - also invaluable. Parents can be as engaged as they want but Collegewise takes the lead on timelines and deadlines - again invaluable. I highly recommend!

Ali was such an encouraging counselor and she motivated me so much. I feel so lucky to have had her by my side, she truly was so inspiring and kind!

Caitlin Harper provided fantastic support and guidance throughout my college journey. As a student looking to pursue musical theater in college, she was able to provide me specialized information that came from her in depth research and conversations with fellow colleagues. Even in times of uncertainty, she was able to help me refine my college list, fill out my applications, and finally commit to a school. In addition, Caitlin made sure to connect with me during each meeting, which made our interactions feel more personalized and enjoyable. Overall, Caitlin made what can be an extremely stressful process, organized and exciting.

When I first started the college search process, I was really confused and unsure about what I wanted to study or where I wanted to go. My parents suggested working with a college counselor, and I decided to give it a try. After just a few sessions, I already had a clearer idea of what I wanted to major in and which areas I was interested in. As a senior about to graduate, I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to work with Ali! Thank you!

Melissa Royal helped our twins realize their goal of getting admitted to the UCs and USC. She was amazing for us! We valued her supportive, nurturing disposition. She knew how busy our twins were with their course load and activities, and she was very patient and encouraging. She helped them stay on track early on in the process so they didn't have to stress near the deadlines. She made us feel comfortable throughout the whole process, eager to answer all our questions - I really appreciated her being available and being responsive, which was huge knowing the demands on her time. We highly recommend Melissa!

The college process has gotten hypercompetitive and frankly unmanageable for families. Our child started working with Christopher in 8th grade. This wasn't about getting into an Ivy league school for us personally, this was about having help on his educational journey finding the path that helped him determine his strengths, interests, and goals so he could ultimately identify and get into a college that would challenge him and make him happy. Christopher is perceptive, smart, funny, strategic, and a voice of reason in an overwhelming educational world. Working with them significantly reduced the stress for us as a family. Together they curated a list of universities perfect for our quirky kid, some of which we were completely unfamiliar with. Christopher supervised our kid crafting excellent applications, and our child got into every single school he applied to with significant merit money at all but one. In the end, our kid found and got into his dream school, which thanks to the merit money we could swing, and we couldn't be more thrilled.

I'll be the first one in my family to go to college in the US, so the application process was really confusing when we first encountered it. However, Collegewise and Melissa made the process so much easier to understand and tackle, which definitely helped me get into my dream school!

Sam was my counselor throughout my whole college application process and was a big help with all my decisions, from essays to my school list. Her guidance and experience helped me get into my dream school, and I am so grateful for her encouragement and feedback throughout my application process.

We learned of Collegewise via a friend who'd used their services and we can easily say it was the best use of the money we spent on our college serch journey for our Son. We worked with Ali Springer who i can't recommend enough. She was a great personality fit for our Son and kept him on track and stretched his imagination to schools which may not have been on his radar as well as coordinated many aspects of the process. My wife and I were at ease knowing he was in good hands. The process is stressful enough for child and parent alike but Collegewise made the difference for us and our Son from the beginning. I recommend them fully.

Lori was my counselor throughout my whole college application process and truly guided me in the right direction across all decisions, from essays to my school list. This guidance helped me get into my dream school, UCLA, and I am so grateful for her encouraging words, and feedback throughout my application process.

We moved to the US as my daughter started Junior year in high school - a very tricky time for any teenager academically, socially and from a perspective where we hadn't even been planning for her to attend college in the US. Sam Joustra at Collegwise was referred to us by a work colleague and her impact has simply been incredible. My daughter achieved college admission way beyond expectations and can't wait to start at her dream institution this summer. My son, who is currently a Sophomore, has already started working with Sam and even though he is the opposite of my daughter in almost every way, has also given tremendous feedback on Sam's sessions with him. Collegewise is not cheap but in my opinion I can't think of a better investment for my children.

My son had a great counselor in Sam J who guided him through the college process with patience and encouragement throughout. His experience (and ours as parents) elevated the creativity and confidence to pursue the university that was the best fit for our son.

We are very grateful to Ali Springer for her exceptional guidance during our daughter's college admissions journey. Her unwavering support and insightful expertise were instrumental in securing acceptances to multiple top-ten engineering programs, including our daughter's first choice school. Ali was very responsive when we sent her emails, and she always provided thorough feedback. Her genuine dedication to my daughter created a supportive and stress-free environment. We are also extremely appreciative of the essay editing team’s prompt and constructive feedback. We cannot recommend Ali enough and would urge any parent seeking a college counselor to consider working with Ali and Collegewise.

We highly recommend Melissa Royal from Collegewise as your counselor! From the very beginning, Melissa demonstrated a deep level of compassion and dedication to my son’s success. She truly cares about her students, taking the time to get to know them personally, understanding their aspirations, and guiding them toward the best college fit.

Thanks to Melissa’s expertise and support, my son was accepted to every University of California school he applied to and will now be able to pursue his dream of a career in legal studies. She worked diligently to fine-tune his college essays, ensuring they reflected his unique voice and strengths, while also making the entire admissions process far less stressful for our family.

Melissa is an absolute treasure—her knowledge, patience, and encouragement were invaluable in helping my son achieve his college goals. If you are looking for someone who genuinely cares and will go above and beyond to help your child succeed, look no further than Melissa Royal!

My daughter started working with Kate Coffman during her sophomore year of high school, and I can honestly say it was the best decisions we made! Kate is dedicated; she created a supportive, encouraging, and approachable environment for my daughter. Kate didn’t just help my daughter explore a wide range of college options—they worked together to narrow down the choices to a more manageable list that truly aligned with my daughter’s goals and interests. Throughout every stage of the college application process, Kate provided input and guidance, making sure my daughter felt confident and supported every step of the way. The best part is that my daughter was accepted to her first choice!

Kate’s partnership with parents is truly collaborative. She kept me informed and answered all my questions with clarity and efficiency, no matter how small. Kate has a broad network that is invaluable when it comes to navigating the complex world of college admissions. I HIGHLY recommend Kate Coffman to any family looking for an outstanding college counselor. She is absolutely amazing!

Our experience with Collegewise was amazing! We worked with Joel Ontiveros and he guided us through the application process for the UC colleges, some CSU colleges and some other private colleges. Joel was so helpful keeping my daughter on track, giving her realistic timelines on getting essays and personal insight questions submitted leaving lots of time for edits and fine tuning. She was always happy to jump onto a call with Joel and was so comfortable getting through this college process with his guidance! Collegewise uses Flamingo and Editate which we found user friendly and easy to navigate.
His experience and knowledge really showed and was so helpful to my daughter especially with regard to the UC colleges which was her main focus.
And the great news is that the results were amazing and she got into her top choice (and others too that she didn't expect!!)
I cannot recommend Joel enough! Thank you Joel!

I am so grateful to Beth Littleford for transforming my son's college application process from what could have been a stressful nightmare into a positive, enlightening - and even fun! - journey of discovery.
First of all, Beth is a delight. Her magical combination of calming and motivation meant that our son felt better about everything after each meeting. As a mentor, she is warm, friendly, highly engaged and also very funny, and he was always in a good mood after his contact with her.
Beth changed our family's mindset about college applications from a single-minded focus on a few, desperate long-shots to an inclusive embrace of all kinds of varied and wonderful options. And now, as the admissions are rolling in, it's like an embarrassment of riches - with so many places to fall in love with, and so many possible experiences to explore and imagine.
We're still in mid-process, we haven't even heard from those long-shots yet, but it doesn't even matter; our son is delighted with all the interesting, exciting possibilities that are now open to him, and busy envisioning being a part of these various communities.
Beth made this whole process into a rewarding and enriching learning experience for us. We all grew so much this year, and I have to credit Beth with gently, cheerfully, patiently shaping our journey towards this unexpected and hugely positive outcome.