Spark Admissions Omdömen 22

We have an only child so this was our first exposure to the college admissions process - which is completely different from when we went through it in the 90s.

Our family started working with Spark the summer before junior year and my only regret is not engaging them a year or two earlier.

We spoke with a number of counseling companies and ultimately landed on Spark for its thoughtful personalized plans and very strong team. After a bit of a bumpy start, which the company acknowledged, took responsibility for and addressed (all more telling qualities than the errors) we were paired with Meggan Arp Dillard.

I appreciated her (kind) honesty, candor, organization and experience. She was so fast to reply to any question and had terrific ideas and edits along the way. For the most part, she worked directly with our child, but kept us informed and made sure to meet parent needs along the way.

Meggan created a plan with lots of actionable steps and directions, including summer plan ideas. She developed the first college list, including schools we had never heard of but really loved. She provided a detailed schedule of application activities (wow, are there a lot of to-dos) and counseled us at every stage of the process. When we had a question she couldn't personally answer - this only happened once -- she quickly found a colleague tied to the particular school and came back with an answer.

Ben Kissner also provided ACT support and I can't recommend him highly enough. He was so flexible and knows how to connect with teenagers in a way I think few tutors are able.

Candid parent comment - if you're invested in it, this process is a lot. The emotional ups and downs are particularly rough. But having Meggan, Ben and the Spark team to guide us made all the difference, and probably saved my relationship with my child throughout this stressful period.

In the end, my child weighed 11 offers and landed at her top choice.

Highly recommend.

Brett built trust with our son and guided him through the college application with the right amount of support, encouragement, and feedback. He was able to provide an application strategy that worked very well, while not making the process overwhelming.

We began working with Courtney at the start of 10th grade, and looking back, it was one of the best decisions we made as a family. What sets her apart is the long-term vision she brought from day one — she didn't just help with applications, she mapped out a full three-year journey, from sophomore year planning all the way through to the final submissions.

Her guidance covered every dimension of the process: strategic summer program planning, building a meaningful and cohesive profile, navigating the college landscape, and ultimately crafting a strong application. When it came to the supplement essays, she provided incredibly detailed, thoughtful feedback that helped our daughter find her authentic voice while putting her best foot forward.

Organization and promptness are where she truly shines. Deadlines were never a source of stress in our household because she made sure everything was planned well in advance and completed on time. She is thorough, responsive, and always one step ahead.

Beyond the logistics, she is simply a wonderful person to work with — warm, supportive, and genuinely invested in my daughter's success. My daughter felt comfortable and guided throughout what can otherwise be an overwhelming process.

The results speak for themselves: my daughter was accepted to her dream school, along with two other top-choice institutions that are among the most selective in the world. We could not be more grateful. If you are looking for a college consultant who is dedicated, experienced, and truly cares about your child, look no further.

Courtney Hobgood did an excellent job guiding our child through the college admissions process. She provided calm guidance, which was a great compliment to our child's nervousness. She was able to keep our child on track and get things done without overwhelming her. She was a huge help in crafting the intitial college list balancing reach schools with target and backup schools. Most importantly, all of these schools were a great fit for our child and she was excited about attending any of them. In the end, she got her dream school and is ecstatic.

Courtney’s exceptional guidance, knowledge, and support gave our daughter a sense of agency in the often-daunting admissions process. In the end, every one of her applications was authentically true to her strengths and unique perspective, and she was overwhelmed with acceptances to so many amazing schools, all of which I think she genuinely would have thrived at. Candidly, I am not thrilled with the new, revised pricing and hours structure that Spark has outlined for our second child, but we will consider it only because of our overwhelmingly positive experience with Courtney.

Spark and Courtney Hobgood guided our child through the admissions process expertly. Or, I should say, "seems to have" as I was almost 100% hands-off through the entire admissions process (I never saw or read any part of any of kid's applications). My child and Courtney did all the work together, and our kid got into her number one choice for school (an Ivy). Most importantly, our child never seemed stressed out or overwhelmed throughout the application process. This was an excellent experience, and Courtney was terrific.

Kirsten worked with our family from start to finish, and she was an absolute pleasure to work with throughout the entire process. She was consistently informative, enthusiastic, kind, well-organized, and helpful — and always available when we needed her.
From the beginning, Kirsten provided us with a clear understanding of the timeline and goals. She created a thoughtful list of schools that was appropriate for our daughter, taking our feedback and priorities into account. She kept our daughter on target with clear-cut expectations and deliverables, serving as a fabulous partner to both our daughter and to us.
One of the greatest gifts Kirsten gave our family was taking the burden off of us as parents. When our daughter preferred to work with someone other than Mom and Dad, Kirsten stepped in seamlessly and became a trusted guide she could rely on.
We are thrilled not only with the outcome for our child, but also that we had the opportunity to work with someone like Kirsten during such an important process. We can't recommend her highly enough.

We would wish for every student to have access to Sparks Admissions . Caroline gently yet firmly guided our multi-faceted student to focus diverse interests into impactful and meaningful applications.From the very first conversation, a tremendous weight was lifted off the shoulders of the whole family. Caroline's approach is highly empathetic and sensitive yet informed, insightful, energetic and always forward-moving; from brainstorming a college list, crafting and reviewing essays, succinctly prioritizing and presenting supporting extra-curricular activities and keeping the student on schedule. We cannot thank Caroline enough in guiding us (student and parents alike) through such a stressful albeit - exciting process. Ultimately with many wonderful college options to choose from!

Caroline kept our daughter on a reasonable timeline. Her feedback on the essays was helpful, timely, and doable. My only suggestion would be to consider switching to Google Docs so that there can be one document that is updated rather than multiple documents for multiple essays floating around in emails.

Courtney expertly guided our daughter through this process and allowed us to step back and simply cheer her on from the sidelines. Courtney's calm nature and supportive approach was the perfect mix! Additionally, her wisdom about the big picture coupled with her knowledge of very specific aspects of the applications was invaluable. The results were favorable but, even more importantly, the process was smooth and a positive learning experience thanks to Courtney's guidance.

Spark Admissions has an excellent quality of college counselors. They have a depth of knowledge on the college application process that cannot be found elsewhere. They are extremely supportive and give amazing feedback on application materials such as essays or activities lists. They also reach out to you and make sure that you are on top of the process and cognizant of different opportunities. Most importantly, they give you lisence when choosing where to apply to, while also giving feedback and helping you learn about all the universities you are considering.

We had a very positive experience working with our counselor on Chloe’s school application. She was professional, responded promptly, and provided thorough and well-organized guidance throughout the process. Her clear and comprehensive advice made everything much easier to navigate. We truly appreciated her support and would highly recommend her services.

Caroline was immensely knowledgeable about guiding us to right schools and had a well planned strategy to apply in good schools with competitive courses(computer science and finance). She really helped Suhani to write college app essays and had trained her for interviews.
She has an outstanding ability to grasp what us as parents and Suhani wanted in terms of college and the courses. Caroline is a big reason Suhani got into her top choice school for computer science and finance.

Spark and Emily gave our son strong direction and focus throughout the entire application process. The strategy they helped develop - especially around tying together his achievements and experiences into a cohesive story and thoughtfully selecting a major aligned with each school was incredibly valuable.

Our son connected very well with Emily. Her feedback, consistent follow-ups, and timely communication were truly excellent and made a big difference in keeping him on track.

He was ultimately admitted to some of his top-choice schools, which we believe would have been much harder to achieve otherwise.

We worked with Spark Admissions for both my son and my daughter, and we had great outcomes for each. Emily worked with my daughter. Emily was very supportive, encouraging, and full of positive energy. She was particularly good at identifying my daughter's unique interests and strengths and helping her find her interest areas and schools. The college admission process is impossible to navigate, and we were fortunate to have someone who is knowledgeable and encouraging at the same time.

Spark helped both our son and daughter navigate the undergraduate and graduate admissions process. They were wonderful-timely and relevant advice, and the counselors demonstrated excellent practical experience. Highly recommended!

Having worked closely with Brett during our daughter’s college application journey, we can say without reservation that he possesses deep knowledge regarding the admissions landscape. We recommend him to any applicant without hesitation.

The college admissions process is notoriously opaque and high-stakes, but Brett navigated it with a level of strategic insight we deeply valued. Rather than using a 'one-size-fits-all' template, he took a highly personalized approach. By truly understanding our daughter’s aspirations, academic profile, and unique strengths, he provided expert guidance on everything from course selection and extracurriculars to summer programs, ultimately creating a well-balanced and strategically sound college list.

One of Brett's greatest strengths was his ability to provide rigorous feedback on our daughter’s essays while ensuring her own voice remained central to the work. By asking provocative questions, he pushed her to think more deeply and craft responses relevant to each individual school. His friendly and supportive demeanour built a foundation of trust that allowed her to feel fully empowered throughout the revision process. The end products were superior essays that were both authentic to her character and intellectually sophisticated.

Brett also utilized the full and complementary resources available at Spark tapping into other colleagues opinions and specialized knowledge base when needed. Brett was extremely organized from the start presenting us with a clear understanding and breakdown of how our daughters (and our) time would be allocated. We did choose to add additional hours towards the end as she increased the application pool but we always felt our investment in Brett and Spark was worthwhile and clearly documented.

While the journey had its challenges, the results speak for themselves. After the early round, our daughter was ultimately admitted to four Ivy League universities and several other top-tier institutions. We could not be more pleased with the outcome and the mentorship Brett provided along the way. Our family would happily be open to communicate with serious perspective clients seeking information on any additional or important questions they might encounter. Once again a wholehearted recommendation from us!

Brett Fuller at Spark Admissions provided college counseling for our daughter for a little over a year, beginning in December of her junior year through her senior-year submissions. Our daughter had accomplishments in several seemingly unrelated areas, and Brett helped weave them into a coherent and compelling narrative that highlighted her strengths and ultimately proved instrumental to her success in this year’s college admissions cycle. He offered clear guidance on where to focus her efforts during senior-year, including advice on summer activities that would further strengthen her story. The Spark Admissions team provided curated, tailored resources that helped her secure highly relevant internship and research opportunities during the summer. Brett counseled her throughout the application process in the senior-year, brainstorming, editing essays, and gently guiding without ever imposing, preserving her voice in the essays. The results exceeded our expectations, as she was accepted into a top-tier university for a very competitive and impacted major. We are incredibly grateful and can say with confidence that Brett and the Spark team played a meaningful role in her achievement.

Our advisor, Kirsten, was incredibly helpful in setting expectations, providing information, coaching us through the process, and polishing the raw material into a strong application. Our daughter ended up at a school which would not have been on our list but was a top choice after visiting. Her advice was spot on in terms of likelihood of admission at a long list of schools. We also used this service for our son and ended up with an excellent early admission that relieved all of us of significant work and stress. Both children benefited from the support thinking about essay topics and improving essays. They do not write the essays for your child but do make helpful suggestions for improvement. The cost is significant but particularly for parents who have not had a recent college applicant in the household, the support is invaluable. We found Kirsten to be kind, effective, savvy and supportive.

Meggan Arp Dillard was a terrific advisor for our son and for us throughout his junior and senior year of high school as he went through his college application process. Meggan was deeply knowledgeable, supportive and thoughtful. We are incredibly appreciative of all her advice, which was deeply helpful to his process. We recommend her and the Spark team highly.