Reviews from our Clients

Excellent
The College Coaches4.9
Based on 92 reviews
Diane Klein
We loved our coaches and found them invaluable for support for our son in writing his common app essay and school specific essays and in supporting him completing the common app itself. And the outcome was he was admitted to his first choice school. Thank you College Coaches.
Lori Cohen
It was a great experience working with a coach at this company for so many reasons. I loved her gentle but matter of fact advice. She is obviously knowledgeable about all things college admissions but more importantly, able to communicate well with a teenager - not always an easy task! I'm quite sure the coach put my son over the edge with her ability to help him craft his Common App. He ended up getting into one of his top choices. Highly recommend The College Coaches!
Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew
This is highly recommended!The advisors are highly knowledgeable about the college process, offer wonderful insights and encouragement, and work well with students. If I had to do this again I would use this company!! Outstanding!
Jennifer Suzanne Beer
My daughter and I loved working with Caroline and the College Coaches team. They gave great advice and offered helpful feedback on applications strategies, the Common App essay and building our college list. Highly recommend!
Amanda Herndon
All I can say is that The College Coaches are the ABSOLUTE BEST!! They guided us with all three of our children and our experience was great. They kept my children on track and kept my husband and me calm throughout the process. I highly recommend them!!!
Melissa T
My son had an amazing experience with the College Coaches. With the ever-evolving landscape of the college search and application process, it was helpful to have such a strong resource to back us up.

Our coach, Caroline, was able to get to know my son and his goals. She tailored their meetings to his needs and gave sound advice throughout - for both my son and myself. They set a reasonable schedule with small goals so that he was never overwhelmed. From creating a list of potential schools, advising us on how to get the most out of our school visits, assistance in writing the essays and supplements, creating a resume, and all of the other little things that each school now requires beyond the common app, Caroline made sure that he had all his i's dotted and t's crossed. We were ready and confident when it was time to submit the applications. College coaches gave us peace of mind and less stress though the whole process. We will be working with Caroline again when our daughter begins her college search next spring.
S Caff
College coaches is a great organization with caring college professionals. We were very happy with their guidance and support of our son and of us!
Teresa Gido
We would highly recommend The College Coaches! Our daughter had the best experience with her coach and ended up getting admitted to her top school. Her coach’s knowledge, guidance, and expertise proved invaluable!
Laura Weiss
Very helpful with strategies on applying to the schools at the top of our list.
Mercy Hope
The College Coaches team is very professional and knowledgeable. Our two students have received extremely useful support from The College Coaches and we will forever remain grateful for that. We will highly recommend The College Coaches to families looking for professional coaching for their students during the college application and admission process. Thank you to The College Coaches.
Clare Daniels
It was an amazing decision to use College Coaches to help me with my college applications! I had around the clock support, answering any questions I had and helping me build confidence in my applications. Thanks to Kathleen and George Sparrow I was able to get into my top choice and had a pain free application process!
Mark Morelli
We had a great experience working with Kathleen. She was very helpful through the application and decision process. Kathleen was very positive and reassuring, and our son ended up getting offers from his top two choices!
Suzanne Buckhoff
We absolutely loved working with Caroline! Her deep knowledge and thoughtful guidance were invaluable in helping our daughter navigate the college application process. She provided the support and insight our family needed to narrow down the options and ultimately find the perfect school. We are so grateful to Caroline and The College Coaches team—thank you for everything!
Jacqueline Mesa
Kathleen was an excellent college coach. She helped my daughter from start to finish in creating a college list, making sure the common app provided the correct information and helping with essay writing, word count, etc. Kathleen has a kind and positive approach to a difficult process. She never added to the stress! We highly recommend college coaches.
Tracy Mulligan
Our son had an extremely positive experience with The College Coaches. Kathleen and her team took the time to get to know him and really listen to his objectives to position him for a successful experience. From targeting the right schools, to fantastic essay support and thoughtful availability throughout the process - I highly recommend The College Coaches.
Ayesha Rahman
I highly recommend Sara Lacombe as a career coach. When I first met her, I felt at ease and impressed with her wealth of knowledge. She has been guiding my teenage daughter in finding various career paths in college. My daughter found Sara easy to talk to, and kind. My daughter felt she could safely discuss any topic with Sara knowing she would be non judgmental. Sara has a gift for finding what motivates a person and then helps them steer them in a positive direction. We look forward to continuing our journey with Sara as my daughter begins College.
Coby Udell
They helped me apply to all my schools. I also got help with my college essays. I am very grateful to have gotten their help.
Jared Landau
I had a very positive experience working with Kathleen. She is responsive, honest, and will always point you in the right direction. Because of her, my college process was quick and easy.
Thomas
Extremely helpful and welcoming. Great advice and support throughout the entire process.
Katherine Kelly
Thanks to Becky Bowlby for all her tremendous help! This is our second child in two years applying to college with Becky’s help and we’re grateful for her calm and knowledgeable guidance. Things have changed so much since we applied to college, so her help was invaluable. We highly recommend her and the College Coaches overall.
Helen Kulstad
We had a fantastic experience working with Kathleen, George, and especially Becky at The College Coaches. Becky’s knowledge and support were invaluable. What initially felt like an overwhelming process quickly became manageable thanks to her calm and reassuring presence. Our son truly enjoyed working with Becky and felt confident under her guidance. She’s not only incredibly knowledgeable and insightful, but also empathetic, a great listener—and genuinely funny!

We’re already looking forward to working with Becky again when it’s our daughter’s turn. We wholeheartedly recommend The College Coaches; their expertise made all the difference, and we can’t imagine navigating the process without them!
Tim
Kathleen at the College Coaches was just who our family needed to help us think through an application strategy, to reduce our stress by keeping us on track, and to boost our daughter's spirits throughout the process. Thank you Kathleen!
Michelle Gutierrez
Great experience with The College Coaches
Jessica Browning
Even my jaded teenager enjoyed the essay-writing process! Kathleen and her team know how to get the best out of these kids and turn it into a compelling essay.
Sondra Wolff
Kathleen was a true professional in every way. She was patient, thoughtful, and wise. A winning combination. Applying to colleges is extremely stressful and confusing, and we could not have done it without Kathleen. My son was admitted into his top choice college. We are grateful for Kathleen’s experience and guidance.

ADDITIONAL TESTIMONIALS

CLICK BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL TESTIMONIALS

We’ve used initials (names upon request).
 “I had a great experience with the summer common app essay workshop.”  M.W.:  Attending Georgetown University
 “Great insight into which schools were appropriate – very helpful building final list!”  M.A.:  Attending Marist College
 “I had an amazing and productive time and really appreciated the help! The essay I wrote didn’t just feel like a college essay but something I really had fun writing. Thank you :). H.M.:  Attending Towson University
 “Greg was super helpful in helping me come up with a topic for my personal statement!  S.L.:  Attending Tufts University
 “I loved the questionnaire sheet to brainstorm main essay topic… before doing that I had NO idea what to right about but I ended up pulling a few ideas from that sheet to create a central theme that I really liked.  E.R. :  Attending University of Michigan
 “I loved how hands on the process was… I felt I was getting great quality and detailed advice. Was easy to follow through on the thorough action plan the coaches set for me.  D.F. :  Attending University of South Carolina
 “I appreciate everything the College Coaches did for me, It was a huge step in my application process and Im very glad I did it.  K.M.:  Attending University of South Carolina
 “Wonderful support for student and parent especially moral support. Thank you, Kathleen, Caroline, and Greg! So glad that Kate will be working with you for her college application process!  R.F. :  Attending UVA
 “Thanks so much for all you guys did.  W.C.:  Attending Xavier University
We’ve used initials (names upon request).

“Kathleen is so calming – she even made <my daughter> laugh – she injects humor into the whole stressful situation.  That conversation was a huge relief for her.” L.S.

“Thank you for meeting us today.  It was so helpful for all of us to hear what you had to say.  You made the process actually feel like we can do this. ” B.S.

“Just wanted to say thank you for all of your help and advice – was accepted into Univ of Miami ED!! He is beyond excited! You are so good at what you do – can’t thank you enough❤️” M.M.

“Just wanted to say your expanded college list had a big impact on college search as he recently got accepted to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.  He wants to go there.  We did not think of that school during his early college searches, so a big THANK YOU to you.  Thanks and I will be in touch once is ready to start his college search.” S.B.

“You’ve been so helpful throughout the process. I greatly appreciate it.”  W.N.

“YOU are amazing 💕   Thank you so much for being such a gem in our family’s village!”  R.K.

“<My daughter> gets off her zooms with you (Becky) and tells me how much she loves you. I’m so glad we had you to help us pull it all together (without her getting upset with me.)” L.M.

“I’m glad you asked about Kathleen because honestly, we couldn’t be happier!!!!  I can’t recommend her enough!  Where to start?  <My daughter> has been sure that given all her struggles she would never get into college.  We intentionally met with Kathleen her junior year because we just wanted to begin the conversation and hopefully with more information, she would be less stressed.  So that initial meeting with Kathleen was a Godsend!  She instantly had <my daughter> calm.  We had, of course, tried to relay the same information that Kathleen did – that of course there would be schools that would be a fit for her – but she really didn’t want to hear anything we had to say on the matter.” L.S.

“In the end, he was accepted to 4 colleges.   What a great boost for this kiddo! It also does not go unnoticed that without you we never would have been introduced to these schools.  Thank you for EVERYTHING!  I wish I could hug you right now …  really I can’t say thank you enough!” K.B.

“I keep spreading your name because I believe you are a miracle worker. Not only did you recommend <my daughter> look at Tulane,  which has been a fabulous fit for her, but your work with <my son> managed to get him accepted at nine schools!” K.H.

“Greg, Thank you so much for your help and guidance today, looking forward to when we next meet! You were such an awesome help.”  K.M.

“Thank you so very much for taking the time to help us start the guidance process…We all commented how much we enjoyed your friendly honest personality!” M.C

“My husband and I were very satisfied with our introduction session.  We believe you will be a great fit for <our son>…we feel your energy and personality will work well!” E.M.

“You were such a great help this year, I think you were the one who even brought up Michigan as an option for me! Thank you so much for everything!” C.M.

“I wanted to let you know that I was accepted into Northwestern University! Thank you for helping me make this possible! Getting to work with you to finalize the list and determine the next steps was an invaluable opportunity. I appreciated the information you sent in the binder, which came in handy throughout the process. Thank you again!” J.F. 

“The acceptances continue to come in. did get into UNH with a $10K/year Presidential Scholarship and U Del offered her a Presidential Scholarship of $15K/year. She also heard from UMass Amherst this week. We couldn’t have gotten through the process without you.” S.W. 

“Thanks again for the clutch assistance when I was really losing it!” L.B.

“Thank you Kathleen for your incredible advice and insights. <My daughter> adores you! Our son is coming up behind her.”  J.E.

“I hope you are well and taking a moment to bask in the glory of how many college dreams you and your team made come true this year. ” L.M.

“Thank you for all of your help during this whole process. You were so helpful and made the application process so much less stressful. I can’t express that enough…I was so overwhelmed with my essay and just the whole decision portion and you really helped me. ” A.H.

“<My daughter> really benefited from your class. Thanks so much for getting her going in such a productive and fun way!!”  E.R.
 
“This past week, she participated in the essay writing bootcamp, which was on-site at her home in Bethesda.  The first night at the end of the bootcamp, <my daughter> came home at 10:30 and exclaimed really loudly, “Mom…  OMG….  I can’t thank you enough for signing me up for this essay writing camp.”  It was kind of shocking (and awesome 🙂 because she rarely is effusive in her appreciation!”  L.S.
 
“Thank you for your boot camp course. I am sure it helped <my daughter> boost her confidence during this process of self-discovery.” L.P.
 

“Thank you so much! This course was so helpful and prepared me greatly. I appreciate the editing and overall help. Thanks again!!” M.K.

“Thank you Kathleen! It was a great week for <my son>!”  G.G.

“Thank you for meeting with me and today. Your approach to my child was perfect. You did not overwhelm him and he thought you were awesome. Which is double awesome in my mind because he rarely thinks that about any non professional athlete adult!” L.W. 

“Phew…I can’t thank you enough! You truly are worth your weight in gold!” J.E.

“Thanks for all your help with the essay. I hear her laughing while you’re working together, so that’s a good sign!” M.H.

“Greg was fantastic with the high school essay assistance! Thank you!” C.D.

“You have helped 2 of my kids write fabulous college essays. My youngest child will be going through the college application process in the fall. I would love for you to share your magic with him.” D.D.

“You are, quite simply, the best.  My thanks to you.” L.C.

“We were all completely impressed, excited, and happy by our meeting with you. I really think you boosted confidence in a way we could never have. Looking forward to having her continue the process with you. Thank you again for your valuable insight and help.” J.E.
 
“Thank you so much for your help on all of this. I really don’t think I would have been able to apply to these colleges early without you.” M.H.
 
“….having you in life has made all the difference.  We would like to repeat the magic with our middle son.” K.B.
 
“Thank you so much for your help and kind words throughout this entire experience. It made the process a lot easier on both me and my mom and I am so thankful for your expertise!” S.W.
 
“That was such a helpful phone call. You are worth your weight in gold. Thank you so much for the insights and for getting a plan together for . I couldn’t be happier for her.”  J.E.  
 
“Fantastic, thank you! Huge relief to have a chunk of this process behind us. Nice that had fun doing it as well!!” K.M.

“You have been the most positive, reliable and value-added touch-point in the entire college process.  We cannot thank you enough…and for always being so positive!”  A.S.

“Thank you so much for meeting with us 🙂  I was blown away at how much information you had to give us.  I feel much more at ease with this process now. ” A.G.

“I cannot thank you enough for all of your help with the college process.  We are truly blessed with his choices and I give tons of credit to you for helping us!!!” K.N.

“I told [my friends] how helpful it was for both of our boys to hear your perspective, and how you offered suggestions and advice that neither [my partner] nor I would have considered.  We all had very good high school counselors, but it was still so helpful for my kids to talk with you.”  -P.S.

“Thank you! You are so warm and informative and reassuring. So, so helpful to talk to you and I am so glad we have two + years to work with you and to begin this journey with your guidance.” H.C.

“Just a quick note of thanks for this afternoon.  We’re all feeling better after talking to you … in particular.  She’s told me at least twice that you were “very nice, and very helpful;” and that she’s feeling a lot less stressed.” J.K.

Testimonials from 2019 and earlier:

“Thanks so much Kathleen – this is so helpful and the meeting was beyond helpful for the 3 of us.” E.H.

“Just wanted to share with you that got in ED to Davidson. She is beyond thrilled and we are so appreciative for your help.” H.M.

“Thank you for all of your help with the essays. There’s no way I could have done it without your help.” B.D.

“Thank you for meeting with us yesterday and providing us with so much useful information. We were impressed by your knowledge of all of the schools on list, especially the many specific and sometimes quirky details we wouldn’t have even known to ask about. Most refreshingly, we left you feeling happy and optimistic about the process, and we look forward to working with you in the upcoming months.” J.F.

“You made the hardest part of the process easy for us, downright enjoyable.” L.M.

“What an incredibly productive and positive session! No doubt that your targeted feedback and fine tuning were music to her ears — not to mention the encouragement she needs to know that she is on the right track. We can’t thank you enough!” A.F.

“Thank you for all your help with .  It’s always a relief to have you on our team!” M.Q.

“I can’t thank you and Maddie enough for all of your hard work and guidance you gave (and me).  He came home tonight thanking us for signing him up.  You two made quite an impact on him in just 4 days. He left the week feeling more confident about everything (school, application process, writing, etc) because of you both….you are an impressive duo!! 🙂  I am beyond happy that we enrolled him in your class – I will be sure to spread the word to all of my friends.” M.D.

“Thank you so much for helping me with my essay and common application. Your workshop helped so much!” S.Q.

“I am so happy I took your class and I feel very prepared now for this process.” E.D.

“I really enjoyed the class last week, and I will be sure to use everything you taught me to my advantage when going through the college application process.” P.D.

“Thank you so much for your help and insightful tips! I think that the class really enhanced my application with depth and deliberate details.” J.C.

“Your email gave me goosebumps! Thank you so much! I’m not sure how eager [my daughter] was to do this exercise but she was pretty excited about how painless it was and she loved working with you!! Really, thank you again!” N.D.

“You are just the best thing to happen to [my daughter] in this entire college process.  Thank you!” A.S.

“Thank you for helping me with my college essay. I feel that it is very strong and reflects the person who I am.” A.L.

“I’m so happy it went well. [My son] was thrilled when he came home!  He really enjoyed the session and couldn’t believe how productive it was. Thank you a million times!!” J.R.

“Thank you so much for all the help you gave [my daughter] on Saturday. She came home so happy, relieved, motivated… She said meeting with you was terrific, she enjoyed it very much.” A.R.

“Thank you much, Kathleen! We are so grateful for your help. You do a wonderful job with the students. You have a talent for bringing out the best in them.” J.S.

“…Thank you for all of your help with my college process.  I truly could not have gotten through it without you. I do not know how I could every repay you for you devotion, kindness, and advice towards my work. You helped give me professional guidance that I wasn’t really receiving throughout this college journey, until you came along! You also made me feel more confident about the work that I put out, and I am so grateful for that. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” C.L.

“Your guidance was immeasurable and made this journey a stress free and enjoyable one for both of us. Thought you would like to know that several of the colleges stated to [my son] that it was his essay that was pivotal in his acceptance. I can’t thank you enough, none of this would have happened without you! I am so excited to work with you again with [my daughter].” M.A.

“…we are thrilled, and have you to thank for all your help! Let me know when I can start sending [my daughter] to you- she’s a junior :)” M.Q.

“Huge hug! Thank you for making all of this sooooo much better for us!cannot tell you how much we appreciate it!” A.S.

“Kathleen, thank you so much! You’ve made life so much less stressful! :)”

“I got accepted to Cornell..and I am so excited…Thank you for helping me show both the creative and STEMy sides of myself in my essay, and for making the whole process fun and easy!” -K.O.

“I can’t thank you enough for taking time to speak with me regarding [my daughter’s] college status. Not only do you provide a wealth of information and knowledge but your upbeat, positive delivery is refreshing.” -W.S.

“You are so good at what you do – we all felt some stress reduction after talking with you…thanks for making our introduction to the process fun!” -A.Y.

“…amazingly, the essays were the smallest part of the effort thanks to you! We will spread the word about your painless and inventive process and the wonderful outcome. I can’t tell you how much angst you spared us. Now if only you taught driving…” -J.H.

“Wow I expected that to be a death march. I like her. She’s cool” -E.Y.

“Thanks so much for your positive help. I can’t tell you how great it has been, not just technically but for [my daughter’s] confidence and my peace of mind!” -J.S.

“David was very complimentary; he said actually enjoyed the dialogue and process you employed to tease out ideas and assemble paragraphs.  He said it would have been far more boring and arduous trying to plow through on his own.   So you certainly made good impressions today.  More importantly, you helped a kid out, which is something to feel good about.  Will be happy to recommend your services to others.”

“Kathleen, I am so thankful for your sound advice and guidance — not to mention the time that you put in to help Chris get organized and finish his essays. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Please save a spot in Summer 2019 for my next son!”

“Kathleen, I cannot thank you enough for your help with Ken, Lucy and Robert.”

“Thank you for all of your help and support throughout the process. It is a very stressful process, but having your advice and guidance really put me at ease!”

“Having people such as yourself, who connect so well with these kids, can really make a huge difference.”

“I am happy to tell everyone about you.  All of my friends are thrilled to hear about your offerings. You not only help the students, but you take a tremendous amount of anxiety and pressure off of the parents.  Not to mention, you help to greatly reduce the amount of nagging we would have to do without your services.”

“I wanted to share with you that the letter that came from the VP for Enrollment/Dean of Admissions hand wrote a note on the bottom of the letter congratulating my daughter on her achievements and said that her essay was inspiring and a great reminder that we can overcome adversity. I was impressed! Sometimes you wonder if those essays are actually read and for her to take an extra minute to write that note meant a great deal. I just thought you’d like to know that the essay you helped my daughter craft did the job of getting her into her 1st choice of schools!”

“I have passed your name on to many! Happy to always be a glowing reference!”

“It was incredibly helpful to speak with someone with so much experience and insight!” -Z.Y.

“Some checks I write with pleasure! This check is one of them. Our session with you was not only helpful and informative but gave the emotional boost that she so needed. I can’t thank you enough for the care and love you shared.”

“Thank you so much for all of your help with my college process. I don’t know where I would be in this process if it wasn’t for you. The essay is terrific and it was so nice to see how the ideas developed from draft to draft. You made the process so fun and I can’t thank you enough!!!”

“Your advice has been instrumental in planning the visits. [Per your advice] my son met with profs at 10 different schools – and the more he did it, the more comfortable he became, which I think will really help him in his interviews.” A.M