College Goals Client Testimonials

Here's what parents say about working with College Goals:

When we first heard about "College Goals", we were completely lost, confounded by the complexity of the application process and in hurry as it was less than three months before the closing date for some colleges my son had planned to apply for... Joyce Reed promptly replied and clarified for us the situation, without hiding the difficulties we would have to face, but highlighting also my son's assets. With the comforting impression of full knowledge of the facts we decided to try Marc's luck and Andrea Van Niekerk contacted us. She called my son to get a precise idea of his project, then gave him advice on his choice of colleges and provided decisive input in essay writing. She sent him reminders, kind advices and warm support. This was done on a precise and concise way, with compelling professional skills, making her support even stronger and reliable. Her close presence to our side during this crucial period was invaluable and, whatever the result might be, there is no doubt that this joint effort helped my son to clarify his orientation and gave him self-confidence.
P.V. family, Paris

The wisest decision that we made as parents was to obtain the services of College Goals. By virtue of our advanced degrees, we thought initially that we were qualified to guide our daughter through the college admission process. In short, we were wrong. We quickly realized that the process, especially for students attending high schools outside of the United States, was too complex to manage without support. As we became more and more frustrated, College Goals provided us with the emotional and practical lifeline to allow our daughter to submit high quality applications to top universities.
P.G. family, Berlin

What a pleasure it has been to have you in our lives this year! Your kindness and concern for our son has made you more than just a college advisor in our eyes. Because our son will be the first from our family to attend college, we have all had many questions and concerns and you have taken the time to answer them with patience and sincerity. We greatly appreciate all of the support and encouragement you have shared with him. We know he was apprehensive when this process began, and we are grateful that you made such great effort to be available to help him whenever he needed you. He has grown a lot this year and we are proud of all that he has accomplished. Thank you so much!
C., R., and A. G. family, Hawaii

It is with great pleasure that I recommend College Goals and the guidance services of consultant Cindy Montgomery. We were introduced to College Goals after our son had received rejection letters from all of the colleges on his list. Having worked diligently at a prestigious four-year "ivy" boarding high school he was more than disheartened. Though the budget was tight, we bit the bullet and threw our fate into the hands of Cindy Montgomery at College Goals. She welcomed the challenge with understanding, diligence, thoroughness and common sense. She listened to our son and encouraged him to move on. She listened to my concerns as a parent and provided a clear list of objectives. She did research into college that were still seeking qualified candidates. Essays were written, edited and sent forth. The ending was a happy, fruitful one. The school that accepted my son was the perfect choice for him! Cindy Montgomery was our rock... our light at the end of the tunnel. My son believed in her because she believed in him. She was armed with the right information and she imparted it with an ease and calmness that made us feel all was going to be fine no matter what the outcome. She found a silver lining with each option-- A, B and C! The money we spent was a pittance compared to the support and success we experienced with Cindy Montgomery at College Goals.
N.G., New York

The hiring of Joyce Reed as a college coach, essentially a professional consultant with extraordinary knowledge, up-to-the minute experience, excellent contacts and strong professional skills, helped to guide us peacefully through a process that can be filled with difficulty. We, as Mom and Dad, did not have to play the parent police role. We could respond to ideas with our child's best interest in mind rather than try to originate all on our own.
Dr. P.B., Florida

I stayed away from the process because I wanted and, more importantly, my daughter wanted to feel she owned it. Joyce was key to her feeling that way. I only saw her application after all was over and the acceptance was in her hands. For my daughter, working with Joyce was a huge help in refining her voice in her essays and guiding her to consider different university options and their personalities.
A.S., London

First of all, I wanted to thank you for being always so patient, attentive, responsive, available and TRULY genuinely kind, yet always challenging. You have treated our son as a grown up and it was also an experience for us to see how well you interacted directly with him, making him blossom while managing the parents' anxiety...(us....). He took ownership of this process and reacted with maturity, enjoying talking to you and taking your advice. We really appreciated your professionalism and yet, your ability to build this personal bond, you being so part of our lives for the past few months, so supportive and encouraging throughout the process.
D. S., Paris

It was only half a year ago that we had no idea about having a College Advisor. Joyce was truly a blessing and pleasure. I can't put into words how wonderful and rewarding it has been for all of us to work together with Joyce. I feel like she is an old, dear friend, available almost 24 hours a day to answer any questions we had, and preparing us for the requirements for admittance to a compatible University that would easily adapt to our daughter's lifestyle and needs. It's truly been an honour and joy to work with Joyce, and I would recommend College Goals with the highest esteem.
C., M. and D. B. family, Bali, Indonesia

College Goals has been an invaluable asset to our family, and the attentiveness and responsiveness to our every question and concern has been lifesaving during this stressful period. Our consultant has taken the time to really get to know our son and to guide him (us) towards colleges that deeply reflect her understanding of who he is. She is extremely knowledgeable about every aspect of the college application process, and we have greatly benefitted from her wisdom.
R.M., Boston

There's a lot of joy in Joyce Reed, and enthusiasm, wisdom and warmth. Inside her tiny, graceful frame is a dynamo ready to guide a bewildered student and her parents through the labyrinth of college choices, tirelessly providing encouragement and support. Her help has been priceless.
D. C., Paris

I'll forever be grateful to the two women who told me about Dean Joyce Reed. My daughter, though American, was born and grew up in Italy, and went to the public schools there. When she decided she would like to go to college in the United States, we devised a plan, but we had no idea how to go about researching colleges and how to approach the application process.

Without exaggerating, I'd say we would have been lost without Joyce Reed. She guided us through the whole process, trying never to overwhelm us (because this process is overwhelming, at least for me.) She nudged us along through each step and deadline and helped us make the right decisions. She is so open and approachable and she made herself accessible to both my daughter and me.
S. P., Venice

The following two complete recommendations are included to offer different perspectives on a relationship with College Goals:

We are based abroad, and the idea of sending our son to school in the States seemed like a faraway dream until we contacted Joyce Reed & College Goals.

Because of his lackluster high school history, a US college education seemed risky. Plus public universities are free where we are based. Still, his local university options would have been traced out: the prospect of following a single subject degree without the benefit of liberal arts distribution requirements seemed limiting.

Joyce listened to our concerns, set up the tools and communication to properly understand my child's strengths & understand his passions. (She also took the time to get to know our child, who is naturally reserved, by having him fill out a profile questionnaire and scheduling some follow up one-on-one conversations. She also sent one to us, which allowed her to get the full picture on our son and his special talents and personality.)

After each call, she would send an encouraging email, summing up the points discussed, and leaving the dialogue open, so they could work as a team. She also followed up, making sure that deadlines (tests scheduled, common application) were on track. We also received monthly newsletters describing trends in the admissions process. In tandem would be the best way to describe how Joyce worked: she would suggest some leads, have our son look into them and then follow up with him, striving to find the best fit. We especially appreciated how Joyce sought to 'market' our son as he is and highlighted the features that make him stand out from the crowd. Because he did, but we didn't realize it! Knowing that he was special also served to improve his confidence level when meeting with college personnel during the summer campus visits.

When it came time to write the college essay, our son naturally gravitated towards speaking about his special talent by describing his initial difficulties and how he overcame them. We think that his college essay was instrumental to the success of his college application and it helped define him in a way that his grades did not.

Joyce also suggested applying to colleges that we had overlooked, simply because of their size and location. Today, our son will be attending one of these colleges, and with a decent scholarship. This is more than he (and we) ever dreamed of.

We can't say enough about Joyce's work supporting our son's application process: with our son starting college in a month, we are very happy where this process has led to - he has options. Thank you, Joyce!
M.D., Paris

I will never forget our meeting with Joyce Reed one Sunday morning here in Paris, when I made an appointment with her along with our daughter, towards the beginning of our 'journey towards college in the US"! Our daughter had long wanted to go to university in America and had worked hard at school, but we hadn't realized the complexities of the application system. Panic was setting in, but the moment we talked to Joyce, her confidence levels soared again. In her wonderfully gentle voice, Joyce asked her about her dreams and aims and, while stressing that it would involve a lot of hard work, commitment and discipline, told our daughter she found her ideas interesting and would be happy to help her achieve her college dreams. What we loved so, and what really reassured us was the wonderful way Joyce combines a very kind and human approach with an extremely professional, clear and knowledgeable method. Joyce REALLY knows and understands the US college application system.

Our daughter regularly received kind and encouraging phone calls from Joyce reminding her to make sure she was eating well and getting enough sleep, while making sure that she made all the SAT, ACT and TOEFL application deadlines, not to mention those for the Common Application and all the individual essays for the separate colleges. Joyce guided her (and us) through to her final list of colleges, having suggested along the way lots of colleges that we hadn't thought of ourselves. The important thing was that Joyce was always very accessible and sent her a lot of information so that we never felt we were alone struggling with a system that, to be honest, was all completely new to us. We also so appreciated Joyce's kindness and support to my husband and me. I always felt able to call or mail her with questions and we felt very involved in the whole process. However, we loved the way that the main focus was definitely our daughter as that gave her enormous confidence being in the driving seat. There were moments when our daughter felt tired and demoralized, trying to keep up with her regular schoolwork while meeting college application/test deadlines, and Joyce really helped her in those times with her gentle but firm encouragement. She always emerged from her room glowing and ready to get going again, after one of Joyce's calls! What a relief for us!

We really cannot emphasize enough the importance of Joyce's role in our daughter's successful search for college admission. She is now a very happy freshman in Connecticut and is loving her new campus life. I would, and do, recommend Joyce to any family starting out on the complicated but very rewarding journey towards college in the States. We will be following the same route with our second daughter who also wants to study in America and I know Joyce will do as fantastic a job with her as she did with our first daughter. We now regard Joyce as a family friend and I know we will always keep in touch with her.
S. & C. B., France