College Planning Advisors “College Made Easy”

I read every book, blog and website regarding the college admissions, including hard-​to-​find internet books. While the books and sites helped educate me, they didn’t give me the precise strategy to help both of my two children’s unique situations. In my situation, I have one recruited athlete and two kids going to college almost the same time. The oldest, a College freshman now, applied to 9 schools and got into 8, including her dream reach school. This doesn’t mean that CME will get your C student get into Harvard: it means that College Made Easy will maximize your child’s chances of getting into the school that best fits your child’s needs. I am very thankful that CME’s matching system found me a lot of great schools. Right now, my college freshman is doing very well academically because CME taught me to not force your child to get into a school over their head. Some of my daughter’s other friends are having a very difficult time during their freshmen year because not enough time was placed in finding a good fit. In my situation, my freshman daughter was a good writer but she had a harder time with multiple choices because she would over-​analyze each answer. A college that grades on written essays, than multiple choice, was a better fit for my child.
By using College Made Easy, I also got financial aid, which I would not have received if it weren’t for them. The financial savings for one year of my freshmen exceeded the entire fees I paid to CME for both kids. This means that the projected financial savings on my freshman alone will be more than three time the fees I paid to CME.
One of my daughter’s friends utilized a private college counselor and he/​she paid more fees than my daughter without the financial aid advice. This was a typical package without the financial aid consultation. You can ask around as I did and you will find that the fees of most packages with limited hours ($ 200 — $ 400) per hour will exceed the package by CME. My CME package was an overall package which was not done by a hourly rate. This meant that I would have paid double or triple the fees somewhere else. They have an easy, non-​interest payment plan. They helped me throughout the process. In one instance, my daughter scored 600 points below the mid-​range SAT what she wanted for her dream school. Through private tutoring and Dr. Judy, my freshmen child made up 600 points on the SAT and 6 points on the ACT to make the dream of my freshman child come true. In another instance, she started off with a D in AP History and Pre-​calculus during the all-​important junior year (the junior year was very difficult for her). Yet, College Made Easy devised a strategy that got my freshman child through the junior year. When my freshman child graduated, she had a 3.8. G.P.A.
Sam worked with me to devise a personalized strategy that fit my personal concerns. When you get consultation, you get a Sam or Dr. Judy, not an assistant. I found that canned books and free advice (books, podcasts, blogs of private college consultants) could not help me devise a personal strategy from these sources alone. I would highly recommend these sources to become an educated consumer as a starting point if your child wants to get into a selective or highly selective college. You are paying CME for their experience and being a sounding board for any ideas you have. (I had plenty ideas — while some were good, a few were bad). I was an alumni interviewer for a prestigious college and I had an opportunity to watch the results of admissions decisions even though my «participation» in the process was limited. While I provided feedback to the admissions committee in writing, I did not make the decision to admit or deny. This alumni interviewer experience taught me what the average competitive student applying my school looked like: 3.7 — 3.8 G.P.A. with a participation in a Varsity sport and EC as an officer. The ones that got accepted tended to have a passion for something outside of school in addition to the G.P.A. and participation indicated above. Through this experience, I realized that I needed someone that has worked with helping students. (Questions such as should my child do a summer camp or do a summer education program got answered). I needed someone that has worked with helping students. Just sit a few minutes with Sam and you realize he is very passionate about helping kids realize their dreams When I talked with Sam, I realized that they helped lots of students and gained experience of what works and what doesn’t. Yes, I made some mistakes before I met Sam but we were able to fix most of them. For example, a Coverdale Account or 529 Plan are not always the best way to save for college — it depends on your circumstances. You are paying for that experience that would maximize helping your child finding and getting into the best (fit) school. I am so glad that I made the decision to use College Made Easy.

You know how at tax time you hire an accountant to do your taxes because he’s the guy that is always up on the changes, the laws and the benefits? And it’s his job to know all that stuff? And you don’t have to mess with it and he always gets you the best possible deal? And you pay him to do this because it means you’ll pay far less to the IRS? Well, that’s what this place is, but for college planning.
Sam and his team know everything a person needs to know about grants, scholarships, loans, financial aid, etc etc. and about a million other little tiny details that always come into play when preparing for college. He will also tell you — after looking at everything — and I mean everything — if you need his services (not everyone does).
Now, your accountant/​tax guy might know a little of this stuff, but his job is preparing your tax forms, not getting your kids into college. I have an excellent accountant that I have used since 2002, and I *still* send parents to Sam when their kids start talking about higher learning and university-​necessary careers. (And some free advice here: the sooner the better — don’t wait until your kid is in 11^th or 12^th grade to start «planning» for college, get on the ball when they turn 14.)
My accountant tells me that the IRS collects millions of dollars more than they should every year when people do their taxes themselves. Same thing when it comes to college. The benefits and breaks are out there if you have someone to show you how to get them!

Sam called and we were able to figure out something in regards to closing up my file.

I went to one of his seminars held at a local city hall. The presentation was far different from the many I went to for my college bound children. It was not a sales pitch. It was the information I needed to figure out the money part of sending kids to college. Sam was very informative and professional regarding what not to do when applying for financial aid or grants. Sam stayed for a short one on one chat with each of participants and he was very sincere with whether I needed his service or if I could do this on my own. He even offered to consult me on how to do my own financial aid if my case was a «no-​brainer». I highly recommend his service as he is sincere and really can save us money!

«I want to thank Sam for his honesty and follow through. My husband and I met with him which we found helpful. Though we eventually decided not to move forward, I know of other clients that were very happy with their results, so I would strongly recommend Sam and College Made Easy.

My family friend recommended this place and I’m so glad he did because if it weren’t for College Made Easy I would not have received as much college information and financial support as I did. They not only informed me of important deadlines, they also helped me complete my college applications and perfect my personal statement. Anytime I had questions or needed help, they were just a call away and guided me with step by step instructions to ensure that everything was done right. Their expertise helped me find the colleges that suited my needs and interests and also provided information on how likely I was to be accepted and get financial aid. I strongly recommend this program to any parent or student who needs college guidance. They are truly the best at what they do and if it weren’t for College Made Easy, I wouldn’t have been accepted into all six of the schools I applied to, especially my dream school UCLA.

The best decision we ever made was going with Sam, he’s the best at what he does; he helped us through the whole process of applying for financial aid. I would definitely recommend this to anyone.

Full disclosure: We were never customers. We did, however, have a consultation with Sam in his office after attending an information session at a Public Library. He looked over our student’s grades/​SAT scores and our (required) detailed financial statement. He said «I can’t help you».
After reviewing the schools our student intended to apply to, he highlighted the ‘C’s’ on our student’s report card and told us she should enroll in a Community College to get her grades up because she wasn’t likely to get into a 4 year college. We suspected the main reason he wouldn’t work with us was because of a lack of cash savings. He never discloses fees («Not cheap, but worth it.») so once he determined we didn’t have enough liquid money, he simply let us go.
Bottom line: Our student was accepted at 7 of the 12 schools she applied to, including her top 3 target schools. She qualified for 2 academic scholarships over $ 10,000, and one $ 14,000 grant. Sam trades on parents’ fears that the financial aid forms are too difficult for the average person to manage and you risk not getting into the school of choice without college planning advisors help. In our case, apparently, he was wrong.

I am so glad I enrolled my daughter into this program. Starting from Sam to the Advisors they are wonderful to work with. They go above and beyond to help you no MATTER WHAT. They want to see your student succeed and they do exactly that. I recommend them to anyone looking for college advisors and help with the whole college planning process. I could not ask for better people to work with their advisors are so very helpful no matter what. I can’t say enough good things about them it’s just a positive experience all the way around. Thank you Sam and to your staff for doing an outstanding job in taking care of your clients. Pleasure to be a client.

I created a Unilocal account just to write a review for Sam. Thank you very much for getting us through the college process. We had no idea where to begin or what to do but the guys at College Planning Advisors helped us through the whole process and saved us more than I could ever imagine. They’re definitely the professionals in the industry! Thanks again!