Alison Forbes provided excellent services to our child. She established a clear timeline of the college planning process, generated an appropriate list of schools to research and visit, reviewed and revised as the process continued, and helped our child clarify values and goals so that she could find the college that was the "best fit" for her. Alison was realistic, thorough and supportive throughout the process. We are very happy with the outcome.

MS

Alison Forbes was absolutely wonderful to work with this year. My son was anxious about the college admission process. Alison immediately put him at ease and made the process manageable. After meeting with us, she put together a comprehensive list of options that she thought would work for him. She is very knowledgeable about different schools as she has visited many of them. Alison held an essay writing workshop where my son actually got a first draft done. She steered him to a tutor to help improve his SAT scores. She helped with the final decision process and she has checked in with us since he went off to college. He made a great choice and her help along the way was very much appreciated by him and me. For us, it was worth spending the money for her expertise. I would highly recommend Alison Forbes.

If I could score "O" I would. Let me save you a LOT of $$$... walk away from Alison Forbes - fast!

If I had a child who was easy, organized and straightforward, I wouldn't need a college advisor. So let's assume that when we hired Alison for over $4K we assumed that we would not only get good advise but as structured program and focus for the college search. Here's what we got: NOTHING!

* Not a list of schools to apply to!

* Not an open office during the last week of Dec... application week!

* No communication with parents (who pay the bills)

* No structured schedule of when applications were due / cost

* No advise on how to handle wait list

What we did get:

* Inconsistent messages of which schools to pay full tuition to.

* A lot of frustration, travel, time, energy & emotions.

* Inconsistent information about which schools to visit.

Stick with doing your own research on college prowler & school ranking then access your free high school counselor who has to write a recommendation letter anyway. Ask friends where they went to school and ask for letters of reference. Hey! I should start my own business... but I wouldn't rip you off like Alison!