TESTIMONIALS

“Being an English-as-a-second-language-speaker, I was not in a position to edit or offer quality feedback to my son through his essay-writing-process. I was desperate and reached out to Ariel, who had guided our friend's daughter straight to Columbia! It was very last minute, less than 2 weeks before early decision application was due. The pressure was on and taking a toll on our entire family. Ariel responded right away with information on how she works with students. She scheduled milestones for each step in the process, to make sure we met each deadline. We got timely revisions and replies to every email/question/concern/draft.  She was very encouraging and incredibly sensitive to my son's story and gentle in her critique (I can't even call it critique but rather constructive guidance that guides the student's essay to perfection). I could not have hoped that my son's essays could be so heartfelt and beautiful. I have only one regret, for not seeking Ariel's help for my older daughter. Highly recommended!”
- Larisa F.

“To begin with, let me say that Ariel is the BEST. We accidentally stumbled across the website for Golden Ticket Admissions and were so glad that we had found the perfect match for my daughter. Ariel is kind, warm, organized, VERY thorough and prompt with her feedback. She provided excellent suggestions and helped us create a very balanced college list. My daughter got into Stanford, Yale and several other top universities. A big THANK YOU to Ariel for enriching our college application experience. We highly recommend Ariel!”
- Marta S.

“Ariel is absolutely the best college counselor in the Bay Area!  My son applied to two colleges and got into both - Yale (EA) and Stanford (RD). Because of Ariel's coaching, not only did my son have the opportunity to choose from two of the top tier schools in the U.S., but the process was managed flawlessly.  I'll be forever grateful for the advice and assistance Ariel provided to my son because not only is he thriving at Stanford now, but she helped him get a better understanding of himself and become more self reflective.  

We started out with another essay coach - a professional writer - the summer before my son's senior year. The idea was for him to get an early start on his essays and also to hone his writing skills. After weeks of drafting the main essay, and lots of $$ spent, my son was frustrated. I took a look at the work in process and was shocked - I felt the direction they were taking was off the mark. I showed it to our school counselor and she agreed. So at the start of the school year we were back to square one. Ariel agreed to work with my son, even though it was relatively late in the season. After the first session with her, I felt we were on track. My son came out of it with a clear sense of what he was going to write about. Such a relief. Over the course of the next several weeks they went through several rounds of edits, and Ariel kept him on a systematic schedule of drafting and editing the sequence of essays required.  I never had to get involved, and I didn't read a single one of his essays!

Ariel has a way of working with students that is just right - friendly, and approachable, yet she expects them to do the work and sets up a process to hold them accountable. She was highly responsive and turned around her comments often within hours. Because Ariel used to work in the admissions department of Stanford and is a graduate of the school, she has a sense for 'voice' and the nuances that will work best in these types of essays.

I was recommended to Ariel by a family whose son was accepted into University of Chicago, and I've recommended Ariel to students who were subsequently accepted into Stanford and other top tier schools. Most recently, I recommended Ariel to a friend whose son had not been making solid progress on his common app essay and she was filled with anxiety since the deadline is only 3 weeks away.  Ariel agreed to work with her son and once again she's worked her magic - her son is producing a steady stream of writing and looks as though he'll make the deadline.

Truly, I can't imagine there is anyone better than Ariel for college counseling.”
- Susan B.

“Ariel has always supported me realizing and achieving my dreams, twice! As an international student, I find the essay crafting process could be challenging at times. After working with Ariel, her methods have really been proven to be effective and made my essays standout among other applications. When first working with Ariel, I was super anxious and wanted to transfer to a US university from an overseas university. In the end, she has guided me to my dream school USC with a major in Communication, which is ranked #1 in the country. This time, I'm looking to apply for graduate schools and did not hesitate to work with Ariel again.

It is always super easy to communicate with Ariel and she has always been flexible and caring. I had a last-minute decision to apply for two schools that had imminent deadlines, but Ariel fully supported my decisions and helped me draft powerful essays. In terms of work flow, we would always first schedule a video chat to brainstorm ideas before drafting essays. Im always fascinated by how Ariel is able to capture the key themes and common threads with her unique perspective. I'm always impressed how she's able to turn my seemingly ordinary story into one that's captivating. Additionally, she would offer me a clear deadline each time so that I understand when I'll be receiving her edits. Ariel normally returns he feedback to me within 2-3 days, even when she's traveling abroad.

Besides drafting essays, Ariel is also extremely patient and is experienced in the application process. Be it writing emails to admission officers or offering suggestions for interviews and recommendation letters, Ariel always provides me comprehensive and detailed resources. We have together edited my resume for over six times and crafted every detail to perfection.

It has truly been a pleasure working with Ariel. Although the essay writing process could be dreadful sometimes, but I almost didn't want this process to end because of  Ariel. She has not only helped me improve my writing skills, but was also super encouraging and made me highly motivated during the application process. At this stage, which is still early in the game, I have already received an offer from one of the top universities.”
- Lingjun S.

“Ariel was very kind and super supportive of my daughter! Ariel is strength-based and always gave my daughter lots of praise to keep her motivated. She kept my daughter on a tight timeline, which I greatly appreciated. Arie was also a great editor of my daughter's essays and provided useful feedback regarding phrasing and tone. Most importantly, Ariel is a kind and sincere person.”
- Sonia A.

“After working for the past couple of months with Ariel on his essays, my son just got admitted to Stanford!!! Now, granted, 'your results may vary'. He had perfect grades, high tests scores and an otherwise strong application. But, so did thousands of other applicants. There is no doubt in my mind that Ariel's working with him to edit and clarify the focus of his essays, is what helped put his application 'over the top' into that tiny 'acceptance' pile. She was able to respond to his rough draft essays with gentle insights and suggestions that helped him rewrite and polish them to perfection. My son goes to a large and lousy public high school and received zero advice on writing college essays. He was floundering blindly through them until we connected with Ariel.

Ariel functions almost as a teacher, giving the kind of instruction and feedback that helped my son to understand what admission officers are looking for, and how best to achieve that. No, she can't get a B student into Harvard, but I think that she can make your child's 'reach' schools a little more reachable. I truly believe Ariel can help guide him or her to create an essay that is 'the best' of whatever group of applicants your child is part of. Her prices are quite reasonable compared to many others and I think it's a modest investment with a potentially big pay-off.

Also, she's pleasant to deal with—polite, low-key, punctual. I'm a nervous helicopter mom with lots of questions, which she was unfailingly patient in answering. We worked totally online—we live eight hundred miles away—and that worked out fine—we Skyped a few times and the rest of the time, she and my son worked online. I really can't see any downsides here, but (struggling to find one), Ariel seems to be a gentle soul, so if you're looking for a drill sergeant type to force your child to write an essay, she's probably not that. :)

Really, I can't say enough good things, and btw, even if my son hadn't gotten admitted to Stanford, I still would have written this glowing review!”
- Cynthia W.