What happens if my student and their counselor aren't a good fit?

We check in during the first few weeks to confirm the pairing is actually working. If it's not, we provide a free rematch with a different counselor, no extra cost, no hard feelings.

How much does it cost?

Pricing is personalized to each family, since it depends on how much support your student needs and where they are in the process, so there isn't a single number that applies to everyone. As a general range, programs typically start around $8,000 and scale up from there depending on scope. The best way to get an exact number for your family is a personalized consultation.

College Admissions Counseling

For 27 years, Collegewise has helped families navigate the complexities of college admissions with a partnership built on two things: top-tier expertise and a truly personal connection to your student.

Our team of true experts and insiders, including former admissions officers, veteran high school counselors, and expert educators, replaces the chaos of the process with a clear roadmap for success. We’re here to help your student build a powerful profile and craft an application that tells their unique story, delivering an outstanding result for the family.

OUR APPROACH

Two students smiling together, one wearing a Dartmouth sweatshirt and the other wearing a UCSD sweatshirt.

Tracking every deadline across a dozen different applications and platforms
Researching schools and programs well beyond the names everyone already knows
Building a balanced list of reach, match, and safety schools, without over- or under-shooting
Finding the real strategic paths to help your teen build an application that stands out, without losing who they are
Decoding financial aid before you even know what you'll actually owe
Separating fact from rumor, because everyone in your community has "heard something"

And underneath all of it sits a harder question: will it actually work? Getting in has become more competitive and far less predictable than ever, which means being strategic isn't optional anymore, it's the baseline.

That's the work we actually do: bringing the expertise to guide those decisions, and the organization to manage everything else, so your student can submit an application that genuinely represents them at their best.That's the work we actually do: bringing the expertise to guide those decisions, and the organization to manage everything else, so your student can submit an application that genuinely represents them at their best.

Our College Admissions Counseling Programs

Whether your student is just starting their journey or heading into their application year, our comprehensive college counseling is a full-service partnership, providing expert guidance for the entire admissions journey, from helping a student build a meaningful, authentic profile to ensuring their final application is a powerful reflection of their story and potential.

7th, 8th & 9th Grade: Building Foundations & Exploration

At this stage, the focus is exploration, not performance. We help your student discover what genuinely interests them, not what looks good on a college application, because the strongest applications later on come from genuine depth, not a resume built backward from what colleges supposedly want.

We build the foundation your student will rely on for the rest of high school and into the application itself: real strengths, strong writing, a smart and low-stress testing strategy, and the time management and self-advocacy skills that carry them through every demand high school puts in front of them.

How we help:

Finding their actual strengths and interests through real assessment, not guesswork (not manufactured ones)
Developing strong writing skills early
Mapping out a four-year course plan that keeps every door open, not just the next semester
Creating a smart, low-stress testing strategy, including an early, honest look at what the PSAT, SAT, ACT, and AP exams actually are and when each one matters
Building genuine engagement in activities and community, not a checklist of volunteer hours chosen to look good on paper
Building the time management and self-advocacy skills, such as autonomy and proactivity, that carry them through high school and set the foundation for the application process ahead

10th & 11th Grade: Strategic Planning & List Building

This is where exploration turns into depth. We want to help your student turn the interests found in earlier years into a solid foundation: helping them take the most out of their classes and the academic opportunities available, turning activities they actually loved into meaningful projects with real impact, building a real SAT or ACT test prep strategy, and deepening relationships with teachers who've watched them grow.

By the end of this stage, all of that work turns into direction: an academically strong and engaged student, a clear strategy for how to present everything they've built, and a well-researched college list. The goal is to arrive at application year with a strong record, a clear story, and real confidence.

How we help:

Researching and building a balanced college list of reach, match, and likely schools based on real fit, using strengths and personality assessments to guide decisions with real data
Exploring strategic application timing decisions, like Early Action or Early Decision, based on your student's specific goals
Evaluating athletic recruitment opportunities and additional support for student-athletes, where relevant
Making strategic course decisions (AP, IB, honors) based on where that list is heading
Deepening test strategy for the SAT or ACT, understanding what each one is actually measuring for your student, and building a clear timeline around it
Exploring majors and career directions, and connecting them to real college programs
Taking existing interests deeper through meaningful projects or leadership, rather than spreading thin across more activities
Planning and getting the most out of college visits, fairs, and rep visits
Introducing financial aid and college cost resources early, so your family can evaluate fit on your own terms before senior year pressure hits
Helping your student build the teacher relationships behind strong letters of recommendation, well before they're due
Getting a head start on the essay, brainstorming and outlining the personal statement before Senior Season begins

12th Grade & Gap Year: Crafting a Standout Application

The Application Year is where years of groundwork meet real deadlines. Every piece your student has built, academic record, activities, testing, relationships with teachers, now has to come together into applications that are complete, polished, and submitted on time. Our job is to help the student send an application that is strategically crafted to represent their best self, no matter if the student is applying during senior year or a gap year.

How we help:

College List Strategy: We help the student build their final balanced list of reach, match, and likely schools, not considering name recognition alone, but presenting options where your student can actually thrive. We use our expertise, backed by data from thousands of students we've supported, to help the family make the best application decisions.
Application Strategy & Storytelling: In a sea of qualified applicants with high grades and test scores, what makes a student memorable is a compelling story. We help find your student's unique angle and build the entire application around it.
Gap Year Applications: For students applying after graduating high school, we help contextualize what the student has done after taking time off and how to connect it with their personal narrative.
Essay Development: We guide students through our entire process: deep brainstorming to unearth unique stories, strategic outlining before they write a word, and drafting paired with our two-expert team, an admissions strategist and a writing mentor working together, so the essay is both strategically sound and genuinely well-written. This covers both the personal statement and every school-specific supplemental essay on the list, each one treated with the same care, not rushed through at the end. The result is an essay that could only have been written by your student, authentic, powerful, and entirely their own.
Letters of Recommendation: We help your student approach the right recommenders, confirm every school's specific requirements are met, and make sure letters are requested and submitted with enough lead time that nothing becomes a last-minute scramble.
Complete Project Management: We manage every deadline, proofread every entry, and ensure flawless applications are submitted on time, every time. Through our Flamingo platform, you'll have 24/7 transparency on exactly where you stand, so your family can stay on top of every task and deadline.
Testing Strategy: Test-optional policies turned a simple requirement into a real decision. Submitting a strong score can help; submitting a weak one can hurt, and getting that call wrong in either direction costs your student real leverage. We compare your student's actual scores against the admitted range at each specific school on the list, and check whether that school is test-optional, test-blind, or still requires scores, so the decision is made school by school, based on data, not a blanket rule.
Financial Aid & Scholarship Guidance: We demystify the options and help you understand different aid packages so you can make financially sound decisions.
Final Decision Support: Our partnership doesn't end when applications are submitted. We help evaluate acceptances and aid packages. If there's a waitlist or deferral, we immediately deploy our advocacy strategy. We're with you until the final decision is made, and once it is, we take the time to debrief with your family and celebrate everything your student has accomplished.

Transfer Applications: Finding the Right Next Step

We help your student build a real transfer strategy around what actually matters at this stage: a strong college record, a clear case for the move, and every credit and deadline accounted for, so nothing is left to chance.

How we help:

Identify best-fit transfer schools based on real academic and program fit
Clarify which credits are likely to transfer and what's still required
Build an honest, specific case for why your student is transferring
Guide the transfer essay, a different task than the senior year personal statement
Help identify the right recommenders, usually current college professors
Track every deadline, which vary far more than standard admission timelines
Walk through how financial aid can change with a transfer

Homeschool Families: A Record Colleges Can Evaluate With Confidence

We help translate your student's homeschool education into an application admissions officers can evaluate with the same confidence as any other transcript, while taking on part of the guidance counselor role so it isn't only on you.

How we help:

Review your curriculum against your student's intended major requirements and prepare documentation colleges may request
Build a standardized testing plan tailored to your student's situation
Guide extracurricular strategy built around activities without formal school affiliation
Support the recommendation letter process, including guidance on the parent-written letter and help identifying outside recommenders
Take on part of the guidance counselor responsibilities directly, so you're not carrying every role alone

Why Families Choose Us

98%

of Our Students Admitted to One of Their Top 5

36,000+

Families Guided to Success Since 1999

27+

Years of Proven Experience

$75,500

Average Scholarship & Grant Aid Per Student

Top-Reviewed on Trustpilot. Real Trust.

We don't just promise results — our families tell the story. On Trustpilot, Collegewise holds a 4.9-star rating from 620+ reviews, with 97% rated five stars: the highest ratio among leading undergraduate admissions consultancies.

READ ALL REVIEWS

A mother proud with her daughter accepted to NYU

620+

Five-star reviews on Trustpilot

Brown University

Caltech

Harvard University

MIT

Princeton University

Stanford University

Yale University

Columbia University

Cornell University

Dartmouth College

Duke University

Johns Hopkins University

Northwestern University

University of Chicago

University of Pennsylvania

Brown University

Caltech

Harvard University

MIT

Princeton University

Stanford University

Yale University

Columbia University

Cornell University

Dartmouth College

Duke University

Johns Hopkins University

Northwestern University

University of Chicago

University of Pennsylvania

Amherst College

Boston College

Emory University

Georgetown University

UCLA

Northeastern University

Rice University

Tufts University

Boston University

CalArts

Parsons School of Design

Swarthmore College

Williams College

USC

Vanderbilt University

Amherst College

Boston College

Emory University

Georgetown University

UCLA

Northeastern University

Rice University

Tufts University

Boston University

CalArts

Parsons School of Design

Swarthmore College

Williams College

USC

Vanderbilt University

Brandeis University

Case Western Reserve University

New York University

University of California, Berkeley

University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

University of Texas–Austin

Fordham University

Ohio State University

Pennsylvania State University

Texas A&M University

University of Florida

University of Maryland, College Park

University of Virginia

Washington University in St. Louis

Brandeis University

Case Western Reserve University

New York University

University of California, Berkeley

University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

University of Texas–Austin

Fordham University

Ohio State University

Pennsylvania State University

Texas A&M University

University of Florida

University of Maryland, College Park

University of Virginia

Washington University in St. Louis

Our Approach

Our approach combines three things most college counseling services don't offer together: a feedback loop built on 27 years of real admissions data, most companies simply haven't been in business long enough to have it, an expertise that adapts to any student's goals, and a structure that manages the process end to end.

A male student wearing a UCLA sweatshirt

TOUCH

01 We Take Pressure Off, Not Add More.

01We Take Pressure Off, Not Add More.

We bring the structure and expertise to manage the process end to end: tracking every deadline, organizing every requirement, and guiding your student directly. That structure is what creates a calmer experience for your family.

A female student wearing a Dartmouth sweatshirt

TOUCH

02 We Learn From Every Student, Every Year

02We Learn From Every Student, Every Year

With 27 years of admissions data updated every year, something most competitors simply don't have, we identify new trends every cycle and retrain our counselors on them annually, so your family always gets advice shaped by what's relevant right now.

A male student wearing a Wake Forest sweatshirt

TOUCH

03 The Right College for Your Student

03The Right College for Your Student

Our expertise isn't limited to elite schools or a specific GPA. We meet every student where they are and help them put their best foot forward, whatever their college goals.

Collage of eight Collegewise students admitted to top universities including UT Austin, UC San Diego, UPenn Wharton, Yale, and Stanford

We see the person behind the grades.

Colleges don't admit transcripts, they admit people. Your counselor's job is to help your child find and tell their own story, not a version built to impress a committee. As a parent, what you'll notice isn't just progress on paper, it's your teen growing more confident and self-aware along the way, guided by someone who's done this thousands of times before. That authenticity isn't just the right way to go through the process; it's also what tends to produce the strongest results.

ABOUT COLLEGEWISE

Frequently Asked Questions

What's included in a Collegewise counseling program?

Support scales with the program tier you choose, but every family gets a dedicated counselor working one-on-one with your student from start to finish, backed by our full network of 130+ former admissions officers, veteran educators, and specialists.

How is Collegewise different from other admissions consulting companies?

Four things set us apart. Your child works with one counselor from start to finish, backed by the Hivemind, our network of 130+ former admissions officers and specialists. We've been doing this since 1999, analyzing outcomes across 1,000+ students every cycle so our guidance reflects what's actually working now. We don't manufacture a profile to impress admissions committees; we help your child tell their real story, with the structure and accountability to execute it end to end. And the results back it up: 98% of our students land at one of their top five choices, with a 4.9-star Trustpilot rating from 620+ reviews.

How much do Collegewise services cost?

Comprehensive admissions counseling packages range from $8,000 to $15,000 for up to 12 applications, while specialized Premier programs range from $23,000 to $41,000. Our high-touch, Elite counseling program, Summa College Admissions Advisory, can cost up to $60,000.

Further, we offer success skills coaching, leadership mentoring, and 1:1 tutoring, which cost $180 per hour for our 12-hour programs.

How do Collegewise prices compare to other major college consulting firms?

Collegewise offers transparent, tiered pricing and strictly capped counselor caseloads. According to reporting from CNBC and CBS News, some competing firms charge families $30,000 to $750,000+ for comprehensive packages. Across many of the country's most selective colleges, our students are admitted at rates 1.5–4x higher than the national acceptance average, results most high-cost firms don't publish at all.

What results can we expect?

98% of our students are admitted to one of their top 5 college choices, and families receive an average of $75,500 in aid and scholarships per student. We've guided 36,000+ families since 1999.

When is the best time to start the college planning process?

The best time to start formal college planning is the summer before or early during 9th grade. Early planning allows students to intentionally build course rigor, cultivate meaningful extracurricular leadership, and establish a balanced testing schedule across all four years, significantly reducing high school stress.

Get honest about where your student stands.

We'll learn about your teen's academic background and future goals, giving you an expert perspective on their opportunities.

Address your specific concerns.

Bring us your biggest worries. We're here to provide direct answers and help you navigate your family's circumstances.

Show you exactly how we can help.

Based on your student's needs and goals, we'll show you how our programs are tailored to support your family.

Give you a clear path forward.

You'll leave with a tangible plan, actionable next steps, and transparent partnership options.

College Admissions Counseling

What Is Every Family Actually Navigating?

Our College Admissions Counseling Programs

Why Families Choose Us

Top-Reviewed on Trustpilot. Real Trust.

Real Students. Real Outcomes.

Universities and colleges our students have been accepted include:

Our Approach

We see the person behind the grades.

Explore Our Full Range of Support

Frequently Asked Questions

Let's Talk About Your Child's Path to College.