My son used college vine. I think they are a legitimate company, but you need to luck out with the consultant. My son did not get a good one.
Color me skeptical. Very.
I used CollegeVine for my applications this last year and I had a great experience! Of the four Ivies I applied to (three of which were HYP haha), I wasn’t accepted to any, but I still felt great about the essays I sent in. My consultant was amazing – she always gave me really thoughtful feedback, was an actual magician when it came to cutting essays down, and was super respectful of my creative vision. I had both my consultant and her supervisor to rely on (they both looked over every essay I wrote), and they were both helpful and efficient. I had friends who used local college consulting companies for their apps and were much less satisfied with their essay editing experiences, mostly because it cost more and their editing partners took ages to get to editing their essays, but since I think most consultants at CollegeVine have very few clients, you really do get an experience that’s focused on you. It was much more helpful than any of the feedback my friends could have given me, and without my consultant, I don’t think I could have written essays I was so confident in.
Regardless, I don’t think the stats on their website should mean anything to you. Like others here have said, no amount of essay help can get you in if you don’t have the right GPA/SAT/etc. And even then, you might not get in, and sometimes that’s just a matter of fit. I didn’t get into my dream schools (though I did get in somewhere fantastic that I’m super happy about), but if there’s one thing I’m certain of, the essays I submitted at least gave me a fair shot. 
I am thinking about enrolling my son at CollegeVine, but a little skeptical as I don’t see any reviews about their mentorship program. Most of the reviews are about College essays and SAT prep classes. My son still has 3 more years before he goes to college. Can someone help me decide if it would be a good investment? Thanks
“Their essay package includes “common app formatting, general admissions questions, interview coaching” and of course the essay editing, so I guess it’s similar to having a private advisor since they say I’ll be working 1 on 1 with an Ivy League essay specialist. Maybe it’s worth it then.”
Most private advisors do more than that, they actually help select a list of colleges based on your interests, gpa, scores etc. and take it from there. They typically start meeting junior year with maybe a meeting or two sophomore year to advise on courses. Good private advisors will have visited most of the top colleges in the country (you don’t need a private advisor for non-selective colleges). And based on that can tell you a little about the culture (greek life is big, some depts are cut throat, it’s in the middle of nowhere etc.). Now they charge more than $1K so it’s not totally an apples to apples comparison.
I participated in a free College Vine webinar about college admissions recently. Total waste of time. Not impressed at all with the 2 guys leading the call, who I believe were the founders of the company. I came away thinking, here’s two guys interested in making a quick buck, versus thinking it was a legitimate and useful resource. Honestly felt you could get better advice on CC, then you could get from Vine
What a pity to pay $1000 and be in the 26% that don’t get into an Ivy.
Are there any other opinions from someone who has used collegevine?
I also want to know if collegevine sat prep is worth the money and really improves scores for high scorers like 1400s to high 1500
/stvea349 what was your sat score before and after using collegevine for sat prep
what was your sat score before and after using collegevine for sat prep
What was your sat score before and after?
stvea349 What was your sat score increase after using collegevine? What was your initial score? Does it work for high scorers like 1400s?
Hey, I am planning to transfer with the help from collegevine. I have doubts about their peer mentor. Do they really have that expertise and guidance for us?
Really not worth it! I enrolled in their unlimited college package. The consultant’s time is limited. Once a week a meeting is the best you can get. Most of the time, 2-3 weeks a meeting. From July to November, the CollegeVine’s consultant only helped me to finish one early action school essay. I drafted the other 5 school essays, but by the end of November, the consultant just started reviewing two of them for the first time, far from the final version. Before I joined this program, there was an example of an edited essay on their website with detailed comments and updates. Don’t believe it! Once you tried it, you will know the reality is total different. I was very disappointed with the service. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
CollegeVine doesn’t write the essay for me. They just give limited comments. Anyway, I learned my lesson. Even my school counselor’s free service is much better!
This so called near-peer system is horrible imo. Just because students got into a selective college or two or ten does not mean that they know why they got in. They cannot specifically help you in your application. This is like getting ACT advice from someone that never studied and got a 36. Sure they are smart (duh) but that doesn’t mean they have any idea how to help you.
I got into my states GSP and the Windows on Williams program with a 15% acceptance rate. I don’t know exactly why either of those were. Maybe my course work helped, my submitted essay, my rec letters, maybe all of it. Just because I made it doesn’t make me an instant expert.
The best advice you can get for college apps is from former admissions officers, experienced teachers, etc. Not students.
In addition, these stats can be easily skewed. Would they really take a student with a 25 ACT trying to apply to an ivy? Of course not! So I imagine of the people they take the average ACT is already around the average of an ivy as is the GPA, EC’s, etc. I would estimate that these people had a 40% chance or so of getting in already. Though there is still an improvement, the things you learn from a coach can mostly be learned with a bit of work and online research. Unless you have $1,000 lying around, I don’t think its worth it.
Just my 2 cents.
Good Luck, a high school senior.
Could anyone tell me what the cost is for a year of Honors Mentorship Plus Program? Or any other year-long mentorship year program at College Vine?
Spent $4000 on the Junior Application Package which involved $1000 worth of guidance as a junior on extra curriculars (ECs) and $3000 worth of essay editing in the first 3 months as a senior.
Junior mentorship from them: Do more ECs.
Application Essays: Edit the essays written by my son by already accepted college students in their freshmen year. 3 students changed in the duration of 3 months as they got busy with their own schedules and these students kept changing and my son had to make fresh rapport with them. Any stranger could have edited his essays. The idea was they know him well so they can point out his strengths so he can focus on those while writing them.
BOTTOM LINE:
Well they knew that my son was already a 4.5 GPA and was only lacking in ECs so I paid $1000 to hear that he needs to do more ECs without any help regarding what to do based on his strengths. Didn’t we already know that and that was the reason to hire them. Then I paid $3000 to get 1 essay edited for UCs where he would have gotten accepted anyway due to very high GPA/SAT scores and a few short answers for Privates where he did NOT get accepted as they told him to apply to only highly selective colleges so that they can brag if he actually got into one. He is in a UC now.
Have extra money lying around, then you can do this charity. Expecting more in return other than sweet karma toffees they send at the end of the package is expecting too much from them. Better encourage your child to do his best with his own ability which is better in the long run anyway.
Agreed with thor9341. Did the mentorship program and quit in the middle to receive partial refund. They have no experience! Our mentor just got accepted into Ivy League, haven’t even started yet. They said they have a full network your mentor could consult, their communication is the worst! Absolutely not one single piece of useful advice (nothing we don’t already knew from school, internet, etc.) in three months. Google and you’ll find their ads to hire college students to work for them at $20/hour. One requirement I clearly remembered: Dont write at your level, it has to look like from a high schooler. Don’t waste your money!