Why Our Success Rate is the Best
We measure our success rate by the original gold standard of our industry, as it was in the 2000s: acceptance to a top three choice college that a student truly wants to attend. In 2013, a now defunct venture capital backed firm, aspiring to be the Uber of college admissions consulting, creatively popularized the trend of measuring success rates against market averages. Before its collapse in 2019, its service quality, reviews, and outcomes increasingly suffered as it sought lightning growth, raising tens of millions of dollars in venture capital backing. Its success rate metric fell to only 74% of its students admitted to a top 3 choice, as it began promoting that its clients were admitted at 3x the market rate for top universities. Simultaneously, colleges' admissions rates were dropping to today's historic lows, further disempowering such boasts. Market rate metrics today indicate firms with looser organizational quality and influence over student outcomes. Their outcomes may be the result of generalized, well-intentioned, above-average professional mentoring of smart, well-resourced students—which, while helpful, doesn't justify the exorbitant fees.
Our Success Rate
Since our founding in 2009, 96.5% of students who fully completed our college application packages have been accepted to at least one of their top three choice colleges—even with below-average academic credentials, as long as those credentials were not lower than the 25th percentile for admitted students. For the small percentage not admitted to a top three choice: 60% still gained admission to a university with an admit rate of 15% or less (e.g., UCLA, UC Berkeley, NYU, Duke, Johns Hopkins, USC, Vanderbilt). Our secret? Our proprietary admissions rubric: crystal-clear goals are more achievable for students. We excel at bridging the precise gap between where students are and where they need to be.
Revealing the Right Windows Into Your Life Maximizes Your Chances
“There have been two experiences in my life that triggered massive quantum leaps in my intellectual awakening. The first was working with College Zoom. The second happened at Stanford.”
— Michael, Stanford University, Class of 2014
2.2% transfer acceptance rate★★★★★
“Instead of taking my surface level attributes and spinning them, College Zoom pulled out deep characteristics and parts of my life that I would have neglected. I would have never had the level of introspection to ask myself the kinds of questions that they did, and their ability to turn my life events into really compelling narratives is supernormal. When I was proofreading my final application, I thought, 'Wow, this is really about me,' as opposed to, 'this could be about anybody.'”
— Steve, Claremont McKenna College, Class of 2014
9.4% acceptance rate★★★★★
“My expectations were very low. I said, really, what are you going to do that the college counselor at my daughter's private high school could not? But you presented a novel point of view, one that had not occurred to the other professionals. Then you accomplished two years worth of therapy in an hour, pulling everything out of her and getting it onto the page. I was impressed!”
— Gita Rosenwald, Daughter matriculated to Vassar College, Class of 2016
★★★★★
"I just got off of the phone with my son and I don't even recognize him! He is more sure of himself, focused, organized...he sounds a lot like you. [laughing]. The way he reacts to things is different, too. He is no longer reactive, flustered, and anxious. What have you done with my son!??? [more laughing]. Wow. I'm so glad we found College Zoom."
— Surja H., Son matriculated to UC Berkeley
Class of 2021★★★★★
In 2015, Stanford rejected 2,000+ valedictorians. Meanwhile, a valedictorian that we helped was one of the 1,732 students admitted to Stanford's entering class. Though deeply honored, she opted to attend UCLA where she won a full merit scholarship awarded to fewer than 3% of admits.
— Kira, UCLA, Class of 2020
Full Scholarship★★★★★
College Counseling Might Pay for Itself
Get the Right Strategy For You
Being Compelling Isn't Always What It Seems.
SHE STOPPED GETTING IVY LEAGUE DENIALS
Antoinette, who was using another independent college counselor, came to us last minute after submitting applications that Harvard and Columbia ultimately denied. With us, she got into Penn, Brown, Duke, and Johns Hopkins. She described the difference in her application as night vs. day.
LOW SAT & ACT SCORES
Tianne, with bottom 25% SAT and ACT scores, got into her Ivy League dream school, Cornell, without applying early. Her friends, who scored much higher on the SAT/ACT and applied early (hoping for an advantage), got waitlisted or denied. She was accepted with a stronger application in regular decision.
SHE APPEALED HER REJECTION
A UCLA admissions officer told Michelle that she was rejected because her GPA was too low. We realized that couldn't be true and helped her win her appeal by addressing the real issue. She got admitted despite her GPA still being under the threshold that the admissions officer said she needed to be above.
SHE OVERCAME A 1.6% ACCEPTANCE RATE
Nina's smartest peers got into only 1 or 2 medical schools, Nina got into the MD programs at NYU (full scholarship), UCLA, UCSD, USC, UVA, and Texas A&M (w/ scholarship). We helped her stand out, step-by-step, avoiding overused advice found online and shared by her university's pre-med advisors.
SHE NEVER VOLUNTEERED
Kate, without any volunteer hours or extracurricular activities, got accepted by every top 25 ranked university to which she applied. We reframed her hobbies—which she initially thought were insignificant—showing her new and more compelling angles to them.
SHE OVERCAME LOW GRADES
McKenna, with a 3.11 unweighted GPA, no AP math classes, and an SAT score in the bottom 25% of admits, got into USC’s Marshall School of Business. Her former school headmaster assured her that she'd be rejected. We extenuated her grades and then helped USC see her potential to thrive.