Meet Samantha

We could not be happier with our experience with Sam and Collegewise! Not only was Sam so knowledgeable throughout this process, she did an amazing job of keeping our son on task. He applied to many schools with many supplements, and each one was completed with time to spare (this is a testament to Sam not my procrastinating son!). Sam always scheduled his next appointment before ending their call, and he always had a list of “to do’s” due by then. Sam also has a very positive and calming demeanor about her. She really helped put all of this into perspective for us. And even though the application process is over for us, Sam continues to reach out to check in. She is truly excited for our son! We highly recommend Sam and Collegewise!

The summer before my senior year I was frantically searching for the perfect college counselor. I called several places but was only left with a short response. Collegewise was a completely different experience right off the bat. The woman I talked to (Patti Winkel) took 20 minutes of her time to understand who I was as a person and what I needed in a college counselor. After mentioning that Vanderbilt and University of Michigan were my top two schools, she immediately mentioned Sam Joustra (worked in admissions at Vanderbilt and UMich before Collegewise). Right after our call, I signed up for Collegewise and was paired to work with Sam. My experience with Sam was INCREDIBLE to say the least. I was completely stress free throughout my college process. I worked with Sam via Zoom to perfect my common app, brainstorm ideas for essays, and talk about anything college related. She kept me on track and I always finished my essays ahead of the deadline. Besides our Zoom calls, Sam was quite literally only one text away. If I ever had a question, I would just shoot her a text and she always replied as soon as she could. Something else I loved about Collegewise is that each counselor isn't constrained to just a few colleges. If I had a question about Emory or UCLA, Sam would verify her answer by reaching out to her colleagues who previously worked at Emory or California schools. I loved everything about Collegewise and I am so so happy that I was able to work with Sam. I would do this entire college process all over again because of how easy Sam made it!!

Sam has guided my daughter, Trinity, through this whole college application process. It all went by smoothly. Sam was very persistent and patient with Trinity and constantly offered help and checked in. She made the application process go by quickly. Even though Trinity only started at the end of August, she finished over six applications and submissions by mid-October while other students were still only beginning the application process. Trinity went into this process not knowing the differences between the schools and universities or how to start the college application process. Sam guided Trinity to make the suitable college list of choices that would suit her best. I was impressed with Sam's expertise and guidance for my daughter and have already recommended her to many different families.

I started my college application process later than most upcoming senior students. After being introduced to Sam, we immediately began working to help me get on track and make my college application process easy. I immediately felt that Sam truly cared for her students during our first session. She was very patient with me and went out of her way to get to know and understand me to guide me better to make the right choices. She kept me on track to get everything done promptly. Sam helped me choose colleges and universities that would best suit me and helped me create a balanced list of colleges to apply to. I didn't know it at the time, but the first college I got accepted to ended up being my dream school. Without Sam and the Collegewise team, I would not have been able to get most of my essays and applications done and submitted as early as mid-October. Sam's support and enthusiasm during this whole process made me excited for my college application process and hearing from schools. I wouldn't have done it without Sam! Thank you, Sam and the Collegewise team, for your help and support during this critical time for many students.

Collegewise honestly helped me with more than my college applications. Having someone so trustworthy to talk to that cares about my future as much as I do (and also cares a lot for my mental health) means a lot to me. My counselor is honestly one of my favorite people ever because she is just so amazing and considerate. She was so so so so considerate with due dates even though I was kind of tough to deal with haha. I would strongly recommend Collegewise to anyone and everyone because not only will you be receiving help that is really the best of the best, but you will also meet someone that cares for you so much and they will always be there for you. My Collegewise counselor did so much for me academically and personally.

Sam was really supportive throughout my application process, I appreciated her honesty, and valued her constructive criticism, as well as compliments and just genuine support.