Dr. Jennifer B. Bernstein

Thank you Dr. Bernstein for helping my dream come true!!!! I can’t thank you enough for bringing out the best in me. As I struggled with introspection, your thought-provoking questions pushed me to think beyond the obvious and dig into the deeper layers of my experiences and motivations to think about what I am truly passionate about and why. I loved how you never let me settle for mediocracy and always challenged me to express myself in the most concise and true-to-myself way and enabled me to really shine through my essays. My heart is filled with gratitude as I reflect on how much I’ve grown as a writer, thinker, and individual throughout this process. I’m incredibly thankful for your guidance and am so excited to attend my dream school this fall. ♥️♥️

To say that we could not have done it without Dr. Bernstein might just be the understatement of the year. I am truly grateful for her dedication to my daughter’s college application process and for everything she did to ultimately help my daughter’s applications shine. 

What really sets Dr. Bernstein apart is everything she does before the first essay is written and before one word is put into the Common Application. She will take a deep dive into your child’s psyche – who they are, what sparks their intellectual curiosity, what brings them joy, and what makes them sparkle. She uses information gleaned from that deep dive to guide a multi-year process allowing for effective time management, optimal course selection, and targeted extracurricular engagement. She then works with your child to weave all of that into a cohesive story that ripples throughout the various components of a college application and ensures that your child’s applications stand apart from the rest. 

As my daughter ultimately worked her way through the application process in her senior year, Dr. Bernstein set a cohesive and very doable schedule and made sure that every word in every part of every application was meaningful and precise, while also acting as a much needed uplifter, cheerleader, and sounding board. We cannot recommend Dr. Bernstein highly enough.  

Dr. Bernstein has been such an incredible help throughout this entire process, and I could never begin to thank her enough. It’s clear how much time she puts into each of her students to understand their interests and guide them to excel in their extracurriculars and their essays. From 10–minute long videos with incredibly detailed feedback on supplements to individually tailored suggestions on summer programs, Dr. Bernstein puts more thought and care into her work than I ever could have imagined. Her everlasting positive attitude gave me the motivation to power through all of my applications, no matter how burnt out I was feeling. She was always available to help me tweak just one more sentence in my Common App essay, assuage my concerns about the college process, or even bond over our shared trauma of not getting Taylor Swift tickets. I hope that everyone who works with her in the future realizes just how lucky they are to have her.

Jennifer’s insights, guidance, honesty, and compassion proved extremely valuable. She spent many hours working with our son to put together a balanced college list, guiding him through his essay topics and listening to his concerns and aspirations. She applauded his hard work and genuinely cared about his college experience—not just academically, but socially and emotionally as well.  

Our son was accepted to a number of phenomenal schools, including several of his reach schools. This afforded him the ability to have some outstanding choices. Jennifer’s commitment continued after the school decisions came out by helping our son make his final choice for the best-fit school for him. She made our son’s college process manageable and less stressful with amazing results. 

Our son with be happily starting the University of Michigan College of Engineering in the fall! 

It’s true, college applications are a lot of work! But I realize how stress-free applying to college was for me thanks to her help. It was a pleasure working with Dr. Bernstein, and I genuinely enjoyed writing and editing my essays. She guided me through how to showcase my abilities and drive to their fullest potential and was instrumental in helping me coherently express my passions through words.

Dr. Bernstein has infinite patience and is thoroughly invested in your personal success. She never settles for ‘good enough’ and is fully engaged in working with you right up to the end. Her support and dedication allowed me to worry less about my college application, and I was extremely confident that my application was my absolute best work when I submitted it.

Dr. Bernstein is an extremely kind and caring individual who truly wants every single one of her students to succeed. Thanks to her, I was accepted early decision to the University of Pennsylvania’s extremely selective Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER)! I will be forever grateful for all of her work and I cannot praise her highly enough.

I am not sure how our family would have survived the college application process for our twin sons without Dr. Bernstein’s patient and persistent guidance. My only regret is that we did not hire her earlier in their high school career. As a mother of twins, I have become very attuned to identifying teachers and counselors who actually adjust their approach and style depending on the strengths, weaknesses, and personalities of the individual and Dr. Bernstein was masterful at motivating each of my sons, who are very different, to do his very best. 

What I am most grateful for is her refusal to let “good enough” suffice. Everyone – students and parents alike – will get to the point at least once where you just want that one supplemental essay to be finished regardless of how good it is. Luckily, Dr. Bernstein will not let that fly. Trust me, she will be the MVP of your college process team! 

Jennifer was absolutely invaluable in my son’s college application process — from suggestions she made for summer programs that strengthened his applications, to idea generation for essay topics, to her positive, insightful, encouraging approach to the entire process, to motivating my son to produce his best work. I do not know how we would have survived the past year without her, and my son definitely would not have had the same successful outcome without her help and guidance. There is no question that we will seek her counsel when our youngest son applies to college.

Jennifer is AMAZING!!! 

We started working with her when our daughter was in 11th grade, and I don’t know how we would have survived the process without her!  She helped our daughter find and apply to a life changing summer research opportunity…during the pandemic, refine her college list and organized the application process into manageable pieces. Not only did working with Jennifer help us avoid WWIII in our house, but also helped our daughter get into her dream school, Cornell.

She was so flexible, supportive, thoughtful, and easy to work with, and gave us and our daughter as much time as necessary to understand the process and work through any challenges. She set the deadlines and structure that our daughter needed, and knew exactly how to bring out the best in our daughter so that her essays could only have been written by her.  Although we know it will be a challenge, we can’t wait to go through the process again with Jennifer in a few years for our younger son.

This is a long overdue thank you for everything you did to help make our son’s college application process a huge success! I really do not know what we would have done without you!! Your sound counsel on everything from summer activities to essay topics to the college list to the final college choice was invaluable — and you were always available with your cheerful, positive and encouraging way to put our minds at ease during a really nerve wracking time and to inspire and direct our son to do his best work. We are so grateful! Thank you again for going above and beyond to help and support him — you are amazing and while the thought of starting this crazy process all over again with our younger son is daunting, I am EXTREMELY comforted in knowing we will have you guiding us!

I have no words to thank Jennifer for her guidance and support during our daughter’s college application process. Jennifer was instrumental in helping my daughter organize her ideas, activities, and volunteering experiences and find a way to express her interests and dreams.

She made my daughter work hard, dig deep, and reflect on the topics that were important to her. She challenged her with patience and detailed counseling. She kept us informed without intervening much, giving us the space to support our daughter without starting a war at home. Her methodology is organized and efficient, with videos with feedback addressed to the kids but available for parents to keep us in the loop. A big +!

Dr. Bernstein was a tremendous help in helping me secure admission to the University of Pennsylvania’s highly selective M&T program. As an international student, who had little knowledge about the US application process, I was super stressed about applying to colleges. In the span of just over a year, Dr. Bernstein helped me get a better sense of my interests, introduced me to extra-curricular activities and summer program opportunities that aligned with my interests, and helped me craft essays that showcased my personality perfectly. Because of her guidance, I will be attending my dream school in the fall!

Working with Dr. Bernstein was an invaluable experience. She always made herself available to me whether I was working through a difficult college decision or needed help writing an incredibly hard supplement with a deadline of only a few hours. She pushed me beyond what I thought was possible in my own expression of writing and it was evident throughout my essays. She works hard to understand and know you as a person before she even begins the process of writing, which allows her to provide incredible insight and analysis when you’re creating essays. Dr. Bernstein has been a phenomenal asset to me throughout my college admissions experience and has helped me be admitted to a college where I can pursue my dream of being a college athlete while studying at the perfect school for me. 

Jennifer was my daughter’s counselor from the middle of her junior year. Jennifer is extremely diligent and is keenly aware of the college admission process. She took the time with my daughter to get to know her as a person, understand her interests and her passions and worked with her to chart a path of coursework and extracurricular activities to get her ready to apply for the right colleges. This worked our very well and my daughter was admitted to all her first choice colleges.

As a parent, it was amazing to watch my daughter’s pathway to the college of her choice become increasingly clear and Jennifer left no stone unturned to guide my daughter’s applications to be as unique and compelling as possible. I am also extremely grateful to her for having dramatically eased our burden as parents throughout the college planning and application process and I recommend her strongly.

I cannot express how helpful working with Dr. Bernstein was throughout the application process. Not only did she keep me organized and on track throughout the process, but she played a major role in supporting me to develop and write my essays. She elevated many of my ideas and pieces of writing. Dr. Bernstein never let me settle for anything less than my best work, going back and forth on some essays over ten times. Most importantly, she helped me create a Common App essay that I couldn’t have imagined going into the college app process. In the end, I can confidently say that Dr. Bernstein allowed me to put my best foot forward on every single one of my applications.

We could not have hoped for a better overall experience and outcome! 

Dr. Bernstein’s positive, organized, and incredibly supportive approach was perfectly tailored to our daughter’s needs. She empowered her to delve deep in order to find her passion and strengths, and present herself in a way that was authentic and substantive.

She managed a very stressful and anxiety-producing process in a way which made goals achievable and allowed us to stand back and trust that the end result would help our daughter achieve her dreams.

We would unequivocally work with her again and highly recommend Dr. Bernstein to anyone looking for guidance with the college application process.

Jennifer has done so much more than give me college guidance in the 3-4 years that she’s worked with me. 

Jennifer has always given me excellent feedback on essays and perfect application advice. She introduced me to summer programs, language learning scholarships, and research opportunities that were instrumental to my growth. Furthermore, at the beginning of my senior year, she introduced me to a full-tuition merit-based scholarship opportunity and helped me with my application, allowing me to successfully earn full college tuition for all four years. With Jennifer walking me through every step of the college application cycle, I got into my dream school. 

Jennifer never did the work for me, but she gave me the guidance and tools I needed to successfully do my own future applications. Any time I had a conversation or meeting with Jennifer, I felt reassured and got excellent advice. She always encouraged me and checked in when progress slowed, and she got to know me, my interests, and my writing style extremely well. Working with Jennifer has empowered me to discover my own path and pursue my passions. 

I have absolutely loved working with Dr. Bernstein. Going into my senior year, I was super worried about the college application process. But after working with her, I actually enjoyed and felt more confident in the whole process. Dr. Bernstein helped me through the whole process from creating my college list to writing all of my essays. She learned my writing style and pushed me to always produce high quality essays. Within such a short period of time, Dr. Bernstein learned all about me and helped me communicate my passions.

One of the best things we have ever done for my daughter was to have Jennifer as her counselor for her college applications. She has provided tremendous support to my daughter through the process which greatly alleviated our anxiety. 

There are a few things that we are especially appreciative of. First, Jennifer gave us extremely valuable advice in choosing the schools to apply which was very important to us. Second, she helped my daughter in setting the tones of the essays and in particular, getting to the depth necessary for top schools. Third, she is incredibly devoted to the kids and this job. We will never forget how she worked with my daughter during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Knowing that she was there with us was such a comfort to us in those intense days. Therefore, we didn’t hesitate at all to put my younger kid in her hands as well.

Before I started working with Jennifer halfway through my junior year, I was feeling really overwhelmed about the upcoming college application process. After a few meeting with Jennifer, however, I felt so much better about what I had to do and how to do it. 

She helped me set attainable deadlines for myself every step of the way, and the application process stopped seeming so daunting. In every aspect of my application, she helped me highlight my accomplishments and goals. Her advice allowed me to really dig deep into my writing, and she was instrumental in working with me to make my essays pop and stay true to who I am and my writing style. 

Jennifer was an absolutely amazing, knowledgeable, and patient mentor and always made herself available to answer any questions I had and to give advice and review all my writing until I was confident that my supplements and essays were the best they could be (and was so supportive and encouraging even when I was frustrated with myself and my own writing). 

I would be completely lost in the college process without her help and guidance, and because of it, I will be attending my dream school in the fall!

Thanks so much for helping me in my college applications this year! I cannot express how grateful I am for all the time you’ve put in–even on holidays–to help me with my essays and to essentially achieve my dreams. You are so kind, patient, and understanding, and I could not imagine another person who could help me more with these applications. 

Tears of joy in our house tonight! We can’t Thank you enough for all of your help and guidance

I want to thank you for your help in my application process – our conversations, and the advice you gave truly brought my application to life and allowed me to dig deep within me. I applied early action to Princeton and was admitted! I attribute this moment to the journey of the application process, in which I interacted with amazing people like you. Again, thank you so much!

Dr. Bernstein was an instrumental guiding figure in helping me navigate the college admissions process.

In my underclassmen years, Dr. B was there as I discovered my interests, and she encouraged me to pursue a variety of opportunities and summer programs that both deepened my knowledge and broadened my perspectives. As we brainstormed and revised essays, she always went the extra mile to help me find my voice and straighten out my thought process. Her advice and feedback were indispensable to my process of crafting essays that were genuine and holistic reflections of me. While I had thought that college admissions would be about self-expression, as I worked with Dr. B, I also realized and came to better understand who I am as a person and what gets me out of bed in the morning. 

Thanks to her unwavering support, I have great options to choose from for the fall!

I’ve been working with Jennifer for three years now, and she has done so much more for me than merely giving me feedback on a few essays (which she does VERY well).

Ever since our first meeting in ninth grade, Jennifer has revealed so many opportunities for developing my passion and inspired me to reflect critically about my strengths. It’s insane how many ideas and connections she has! Jennifer has introduced me to many professors, research opportunities, and summer programs that I never feel lost on what to do. Her endless supply of advice and knowledge has been such a huge help in making the whole high school process less intimidating. I feel safe when I am working with her.

I highly recommend starting in Jennifer’s program EARLY. She will not only offer amazing assistance with your applications, but she will also illuminate the way as you discover your own path through high school.

This student was admitted to the Summer Science Program (2016).

Dr. Bernstein knew exactly how to bring out the best from my daughter’s background to help with the admissions process. She is very ethical, direct and not one to give false hopes to parents or students to keep them grounded. She works extremely hard to showcase the kid’s abilities to shine in the best possible light. 

The whole idea of applying to a university for a student is not based on some abstract ranking but based on the fit between the university and the student based on the future educational interests of the student. Dr. Bernstein has in-depth knowledge of every college  and she took the time to know my daughter’s abilities, intellectual level, experience, background, and personality. This was instrumental in identifying the colleges in which my daughter will thrive in, and allowing her to pick the one university that my daughter was confident of applying for ED. 

All through this journey, Dr. Bernstein was very supportive and understood that kids take time to discover their passion. Having Dr. Bernstein to support us reduced the stress at home and strengthened my relationship with my daughter during this high-stress period.

I can’t put in words as to how amazing and helpful Dr. Bernstein is, but if I have to sum it up in one statement: “She is the Wharton of counselors.” 

After working with Dr. Bernstein for over two years, I can confidently say her individualized approach to college counseling is exactly what ANY student would benefit from. 

Before I met Dr. Bernstein, I struggled with my grades and was completely discouraged about getting into my dream Computer Science school, Carnegie Mellon. Dr. Bernstein not only boosted my confidence but also helped me showcase my best self on my applications. She made sure I was able to display my unique passions and personal projects that made me a great fit for the school. Her unlimited support (she helped me complete 20 very strong applications in under two months!) and positive attitude made the college application process a wonderful experience. I would have never thought that with a sub 3.5 GPA, I could even dream of attending such an amazing university, but Dr. Bernstein helped me illuminate the essence of my character in a compelling manner. 

Here are some more things I loved about Dr. Bernstein’s counseling service:  

DEDICATION: There have been numerous occasions in which Dr. Bernstein has worked through holidays and weekends to help me complete my application. For example, on my Common App Essay, which is only 650 words, we had approximately 50+ discussions, during which she paid a meticulous amount of attention to even the tiniest details: helping me eliminate cliches, enhance the tone, and ultimately ensure my personal vision—computer-oriented entrepreneur—shone through. Another example would be for the Carnegie Mellon supplement, where I remember working with her late into the night for nearly a week to ensure my entire application, from the essays to the additional information section, all worked together perfectly. Even as I was getting ready to submit my first few applications, I was able to quickly schedule a video meeting with Dr. Bernstein to make sure everything looked perfect. 

KNOWLEDGE: Dr. Bernstein’s understanding of the college admission process was extremely helpful because she made sure I utilized each and every aspect of my application to show a different yet relevant side of my personality. She doesn’t look at each component individually — Common App Essay, Supplemental Essays, Activities, etc.— but rather helps them all work off one another, which allowed me to display my multitude of passions in a way that converged on my ultimate goal: entrepreneurship and technology. By taking notes about my varied interests and then asking me deep questions about WHY or WHAT I want to accomplish in college, and beyond, she made sure I could clearly convey anything and everything I wanted admissions officers to know about me. 

In a few years, my younger sibling will be applying to college, and I already know the perfect counselor to guide her along the way — Dr. Bernstein.

I’m really grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Bernstein. All of her help from choosing the essay topic to the final revisions enabled me to present myself in the best light. Having her there to guide me through the process really helped me stay on top of things. I also had a really weird transcript having had three different types of schooling during my high school career and she helped me turn what could appear as a negative into a positive.

Dr. Bernstein was essential in my college application process.

Throughout high school, I participated in a wide variety of activities, so I had no idea how to present myself when it came time to apply to college. Dr. Bernstein helped me choose which activities I should feature where and link everything I did into one coherent package. She was great at giving me suggestions that balanced what would make me stand out and what was truly meaningful to me.

Dr. Bernstein also helped me write essays that conveyed what I wanted to say. It was very important to me that I was showing who I was to college admissions officers through my essays. She guided me in refining my essays, so they were concise and conveyed the most impactful parts of my experience while staying true to myself. I can’t thank Dr. Bernstein for her help in presenting myself the best way possible while using my original ideas.

Applying to college is a daunting. I felt intimidated by the overwhelming amount of things to stay on top of – grades, extracurriculars, hobbies, not to mention the applications themselves. Without Dr. Bernstein’s help, I would’ve felt directionless, like a ship with no compass.

From helping me apply for competitive summer programs to helping me find my unique writing voice, Dr. Bernstein’s support was instrumental in bringing my seemingly ordinary experiences to life through my college essays. She always worked with me, not over me, allowing me to shine as an individual yet adding both a flair of professionality and personality to my application.

I may not have always been the best at keeping up with deadlines and time management, but I can safely say that working with Dr. Bernstein has been one of the most enjoyable long-term projects I’ve undertaken in my life.

I found Jennifer while searching for information about the American college admissions process, and after reading the testimonies about her, I decided to schedule an initial consultation for my son.

My son was immediately hooked with her. She gave very valuable feedback and helped my son to articulate his thoughts without losing his originality. She helped him to dig deeper into his true voice.

Moreover, she always respond promptly, which is certainly what my son needed and made his college application much less stressful. She was even there to help my son during Christmas week!! All of these things show that she really cares about her students. At first we were worried about time problems as we are in Asia time zone. But it turned out that was never a problem.

Dr. Bernstein is amazing! Unlike a typical college admissions coach, she doesn’t try to override a student’s voice with clichés or weigh down their essays and resumes with unnecessary information. Having worked at a college for many years, she knows how the system works and how to best present oneself to admissions officers. Sometimes, it’s not about what a person has, but how they present it.

Plus, without Dr. Bernstein, my curriculum vitae wouldn’t be nearly as strong as it is now. She helped me arrange it so it would stand out and also highlight my strongest points. Her subtle approach to “branding” and shaping an application was incredibly helpful. In addition, she’s extremely down-to-earth and knows how to relate to students. I highly recommend her to any student, even the more aggressive or independent ones. Dr. Bernstein’s advice is invaluable!

I’ve known Dr. Bernstein for three years and I can’t emphasize enough the important role that she has played in my personal growth and application process. It is said that a successful application profile is the consummation of one’s individual achievement and character growth during high school years, and only through her counseling have I come safely and confidently to be who I am, to achieve what I have achieved.

Over the past three years that I’ve worked with Dr. Bernstein, we exchanged 227 documents in the long arduous process of essay and creative writing revisions and hundreds more messages through which I sought her guidance during my troublesome times. Dr. Bernstein is professional college counselor, but her effects on me go so much beyond my 27 college applications and admission ticket to Middlebury College.

She has helped me tremendously with summer school applications, leadership applications in school, student body president election speeches, and even with my own creative writing. Dr. Bernstein is able to find the shining qualities of an individual and give recommendations on how to amplify those passions further by her recommendations of summer school or internship opportunities.

So long as you are willing to go further exploring yourself, she is willing to go further with you!

Working with Dr. Bernstein was invaluable towards finding my focus, not only as a writer but as a person.

With interests all over the map, I initially had no idea what I was going center my application around. Working with her allowed me to integrate my strengths in a way that translates impressively on paper. Starting from the summer before senior year, she helped me map out my CV, identifying how I was going to package all of these things that didn’t seem to fit together upon first glance. Through our conversations, I spent a large part of my summer mulling over what I wanted to be, what things I truly loved doing. By the end, I was able to pinpoint exactly how I would approach the application process, and this has been invaluable towards me in respects that extend beyond the college admissions process.

College application essays are extremely different from what I’d been accustomed to, and Dr. Bernstein’s dedication and flexibility has helped me adapt to this. However, she doesn’t tramp all over your voice as a writer, but rather works with it to show you how to make it stronger and more convincing. I cannot stress enough that at the end of the day and after all the editing and revising, the essay will still be yours and sound like you.

Dr. Bernstein’s help extends all the way from the small details in the activities and additional information section of the Common App to mastering alumni interviews. Her expertise is the most comprehensive kind that you’ll find out there, so that you can be confident in every single part of the application.

I have been meaning to reach out and thank you for providing proper guidance and assistance to my daughter prior and during the college application process.  As a (soon to be) junior at Binghamton University (BU) she is also on track to complete her masters in_____ (removed to maintain privacy) through BU’s 5 year program. Next summer she plans on accompanying one of the professors abroad and will extend her trip to travel independently. She is feeling success and she is right where she is supposed to be – so thank you!

Your knowledge of existing universities in addition to getting to know our daughter on a personal level provided a realistic school selection during the application process. I remember talking about BU with you and you stated the BU students you had met were all friendly, nice, and a humble group – you were spot-on.

With the spotlight on the recent college admissions scandal, I can’t stop thinking of course all parents want the best for their kids but as parents we need to understand the best quite possibly is a campus community that is welcoming; a college that offers a plethora of options for those who may not “feel a calling” yet; a campus community that does not add to the anxiety and stress many kids feel during this transitional phase of their lives. For many kids the first 4 years of college will not be the last years of their college or university studies. I am not sure where our daughter will end up but we do feel fortunate she started at BU.

I am sure you have guided many students like our daughter – the high school kid who doesn’t have a specific passion; who is a very good student but not the top of their class; who falls towards the introverted side of the spectrum and may not WOW admissions interviewers with their quiet personalities – let those kids and their parents know how you helped our daughter and she is soaring!

I just wanted to take the time to formally thank you for all you have done for me in the past two years. I am so excited to start my next four years at Penn and I truly would not have gotten in without all of your amazing help and advice. I really appreciate the immense patience you had when we were editing drafts of my essays and your advice on how to highlight and present my high school experience in a way that would set me up well for the schools to which I was applying was so critical to my application. Again thank you so so much!!

If I have to sum it up.. SHE IS GOLD…

We spoke with several counselors when searching for someone to help our son with the college applications process. We had a lot of questions about the process because we were raised outside the US and this was our first child applying to college. Most counselors offer a free 20 minute meeting to discuss their process, but Jennifer was the only one who spent as much time as we needed to make us comfortable with her process. As soon as we finished this first meeting, we knew she was the best counselor for our son.

We expected proofreading help and some guidance and advice on the process itself. What Jennifer delivered was much much more; true counseling. She understood the family dynamic and the stress involved and expertly navigated our distinct personalities and coached us. She is the reason we stayed sane through this process since she was able to resolve differences of opinion within the family and easily build consensus.

She provided the full service from vetting the college list, telling our son where to start and how, working patiently through literally tens of drafts, and accommodating the final deadline rush.

Having worked with her for the last several months, here are some other things we loved about her:

• She values the voice of the student and insists on it coming through. This authenticity was important for us.
• She was not rigid about how many reviews it took. The Common App Essay went through at least 15 reviews with her, while we did a similar number of reviews within our family.
• Her knowledge of the whole application process is spectacular.
• Towards the end of the process, my son was debating whether to apply to the University of Pennsylvania given that he’d already gotten accepted to UIUC and Georgia Tech and Penn was not as highly rated for engineering. Given that this is just extra work for her (because she does not charge per application), she could have as easily said it made sense not to apply. However, she convinced us to apply to Penn. This is highly illustrative of her character. She cares so much about the students and their future even if it means more work for her.

I have another son who will be applying to colleges in 8 years and I already know who his counselor will be – Jennifer.

I started this journey without much of a direction, but since we started working together in  junior year, Dr. Bernstein has been instrumental in helping me find my voice for my college essays. I had a multitude of extracurricular activities and she guided me in zoning in on those that had the most meaning to me. She also helped me set and meet deadlines without much stress.

Dr. Bernstein is worth every penny!  I can’t recommend her enough!!  She has great insight into the entire application process and made very good recommendations that I think made a difference in my son being accepted into his dream school, in addition to nine other schools, three of them with merit scholarships!  It was very comforting knowing that she was guiding my son with her expertise through this very stressful process.

Because of you, I had a direction of where I wanted to take my applications. You showed me how to utilize every vital part of the application, like essays, extracurriculars and their descriptions, and even the additional information section, which I hadn’t even thought about and that came in very handy! Even enhancing the simplest of things in my application really made what I put in stand out. While teaching me how to structure my applications to show every side of me to admissions offices, you also taught me how to intertwine my different interests into one package rather than have my interests scattered all over. I’ve also taken away the fact that not only can I pursue my passions just for personal satisfaction, but I can also dig deeper and discover how to apply my passions to the outside world. Thanks to you and the lessons you have taught me throughout this journey, I can finally call Charlottesville home for the next four years!

Dr. Bernstein is truly one-of-a-kind when it comes to guidance and mentorship throughout high school.

Over the three years I have worked with her, Jennifer has become to me not only a teacher and helper, but a trusted friend. I felt very comfortable talking to Jennifer and describing any doubts or insecurities I was having, because I knew she’d pay attention and give me valuable advice on what steps to take next, or present me opportunities that will push me in the right direction. I never felt forced to do anything, but rather was shown doors of opportunity that I would have never found myself.

She encouraged me to apply for programs of my interest that I didn’t believe I would get into, but I actually did. She helped me enrich my intellectual background by giving me reading lists and other convenient ways of exploring interests that weren’t taught at school.

I can also count on Jennifer to respond quickly, and never failed to get something polished up even when we only had a week to do so. Whenever I had any sort of academic question, she would always be there in a timely manner to answer. She has a fantastic balance of being professional, yet making you feel comfortable and at home.

The best part about working with Jennifer was she never made me feel like I had to make certain choices, or apply to certain schools. She always had a world of suggestions and resources to offer me, but never pressured me to use any of the ones she showed me. She didn’t pile up activities for me to sign up for, or bogus, expensive honors programs to apply for. Instead, she would often check up on me and make sure that I felt satisfied at where I was at. I don’t think I could have written such beautiful essays without her help – I tend to be a wordy writer, with a penchant for using too much figurative language. She never wrote my essays for me, or changed the tone that I had originally set. Instead, she showed me how to take my words – the important ones – and weave them together to create a flowing piece of art. She was instrumental in my placing into the programs that I strived for and opened my mind to new worlds, and in my ED acceptance to my dream school. I can’t thank her enough for what she’s granted me over these three years.

The thing I liked the most about Jennifer’s work is how she took the time to really get to know our daughter.  She got a sense of who she was, what she liked, what she didn’t like, how she liked to communicate, areas she might need to be pushed a little.  Because of that, our daughter’s essay was personal, vibrant, uniquely her.  She had fun writing it and was essentially done before her senior year started, giving her time to enjoy her year and feel a little less pressure as she began the search for the right school for her.  It is my belief that her essay helped her stand out a little in the most accurate of ways, and that was a big reason she was accepted at six of the seven schools she applied to.

Dr. Bernstein’s exceptional knowledge of the entire college application process compares to no other. She showed me how to turn my ordinary high school resume into an exceptional curriculum vitae that focused on my talents and highlighted my strengths and passions in order to set myself apart from my peers. I was accepted to UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Georgia Tech, and ten other major universities. Dr. Bernstein truly “knows the ins and outs” of the college application process and worked with me – a true procrastinator – in order to develop a personal connection.  I am truly grateful to her for our many conversations, mentorship and professional insight as I navigated the waters of the college application process.

The most valuable part of working with Dr. Bernstein is that she always catches your original angle and works on that. She deepened my understanding of myself. For instance, when I had a lot of points I wanted to work on my essays, a chat with Dr. Bernstein helped me cut off the unnecessary parts and concentrate on the valuable ones. She is an intelligent listener. She gets to know not only your ideas and extra-curricular activities, but your person as a whole. By achieving this, she gets to understand your “shining point” (which I had a hard time finding, LOL) and helps you put that artistically into your application.

Because I am always careful and strict about how my personality is shown in my essays, I want to make sure I have a very personalized applying process so that my essays deliver the right message. Compared to normal “big agents” in my country, her one-on-one access via email or online meetings work efficiently. She works quickly and with high quality. She manages to help you out and tighten every sentence to make them clear and right. We finished about ten essays (each with about five versions) within 20 days.

I highly recommend you start early, chose the schools you like, and work with Dr. Bernstein even as early as your junior year in high school. Given the college admissions offers I get now, I know it is the right path.

P.S. I’m from an International Department of a normal high school in China with TOEFL score of 101 and SAT score of 1990.

I’m still somewhat delirious with our son’s results and phenomenal package. I really can’t believe it’s a reality! I can’t thank you enough.

You assisted our son in presenting his most favorable qualities and characteristics in a way that helped admissions officers see the real him while also satisfying all their criteria. He learned so much about himself throughout this process, and the confidence he gained will remain for years to come! When we began the process, we were nervous about whether he’d get accepted to any of the schools, much less be offered an $84,000 scholarship. I really just can’t thank you enough for all the assistance, guidance, and support you have provided to make this process as smooth as it was!!

Working with Dr. Bernstein was absolutely amazing. She sees the best of you and is very supportive throughout the entire process. She helped me strengthen all my essays so they flowed well. Her deep understanding of the whole college application process really helped me to overcome my fear of it. Working with her also helped me to explore my own abilities and potential. She is really awesome.

I honestly don’t know how I would have survived the college admissions process without Jennifer. Without any idea of where I wanted to apply, what to write about, and when to start, Jennifer patiently helped me figure out what in the world I was doing.

Not only did she help me through the struggle that is the Common App, but she also didn’t impose any directions for my writing and really pushed me to think deeper about who I am and who I want to be. Her feedback was essential to the core of my writing. Once I was able to get the hang of writing essays, I stopped feeling stressed.

Throughout the years I’ve worked with Jennifer, she’s always recommended books and articles to me that I absolutely loved and probably wouldn’t have read otherwise. To me, Jennifer is more than the person who helped me get into a college that I never would have dreamed I’d be able to get into, she’s a friend who has helped expand my interests and outlook for my future.

Jennifer can make any situation better and any person more productive. She transformed me from a nervous, underachieving malcontent into someone who sees a world of possibilities. Meeting and being involved with her was one of the best things to ever happen to me as an undergraduate.I will never forget the first time I met her. I was on my way to tell her that I could not participate in the internship program because it was simply too time consuming. When I got to her office, she convinced me the program would be a great experience. She was right. All the positive things that happened to me during my senior year happened because of Dr. Bernstein’s positive influence. Because of her internship program, I am a McNair Scholar and intern at the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture.

Dr. Bernstein helped me truly distinguish myself in my college applications.

When I first started writing my Common App essay, I was stuck in the typical high school essay mindset that comes off as rather un-engaging and superficial. Dr. Bernstein managed to pinpoint the key aspects of my essay and guided me through the process of sharing the emotions, justifications, thought process, and details that really reveal who I am and differentiate me from the thousands of other applicants. Working with her not only made my essays more focused and personal, it also caused me to learn more about myself.

As we moved on to supplements, I was amazed by her dedication and persistence. If a certain essay was still missing key components, we would continue working and revising until everything was there. Even though this took longer, she ensured that all of my essays would be top notch. During winter break, I would send her essays in the evening and she would reply with a dozens of comments and corrections the next morning, that’s how dedicated she was to my success.

Dr. Bernstein’s help and advice proved invaluable and I highly recommend her to everyone.

Professor Bernstein has this great quality that enables her to effortlessly discern and respond to the very individual qualities of each person, allowing the relationship that forms to be both productive and fondly memorable, as it has been for me. As the freshman year advisor at the Macaulay Honors College, she had an amazing ability to instantly engender a feeling of trust and camaraderie between herself and the students she served.

As one of those students, I looked forward to stopping by her office each day, knowing that she would always make herself available to listen with genuine interest and enthusiasm to all of my maladjustments and aspirations. I soon came to regard her as both a friend and confidant.

She eased the awkwardness of the first months of college with a balanced dose of listening and guidance. Her warmth allowed for candid and comfortable conversations, where she openly shared stories of her own college and life experiences, pacifying any worries I may have had.

When I first began my application for COSMOS (California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science), I was lost.

Dr. Bernstein guided me and showed me how to look through the eyes of the admission officers. She would probe me with questions, that initially I thought would not be useful for my essay, but became the basis for them. As students, we have the information about ourselves that programs love to hear.Dr. Bernstein knows how to find that information and assist students in putting the ideas down on a piece of paper.

She really helped me make my essays go from mediocre to phenomenal! With her advice, I not only immensely improved my application essays, but my writing in general is now better because she taught me a few tricks and tips that indefinitely improved my writing. Working with Dr. Bernstein feels like working with a friend on something enjoyable. It transformed the drudgery of writing essays into something I began to look forward to. I was very lucky to work with her!

I wish I discovered Jennifer’s website a few years earlier. She gave me informative, insightful and practical advice in what I considered to be an overwhelming college application process for a homeschooling parent.

I was feeling unsure as how to best highlight my senior’s achievements and how to write an impactful letter as his guidance counselor. Jennifer took the time to review my initial letter and evaluation and gave me suggestions as to how to make it more powerful and stand out from other applicants.

Although I didn’t think my son had a “hook,” Jennifer listened to everything I was trying to convey and explained to me what she said his “hook” was. I would have overlooked it, but instead with her help I was able to expound on it and make it a key element of who he was. I was able to show his passion, initiative, and talent so the admission counselors knew what he could offer their college as a future student. She also explained the importance of telling his story of how and why he chose the homeschool path.

Summer was here, but I still had no idea how to apply for college.

Thinking about all my interests made me dizzy, and I had absolutely no idea how to fill out college applications. Dr. Bernstein acted as a sort of stabilizer for me. She helped me solidify just what I wanted to share with admissions officers. With her help, I felt like I really wrote something that gave them a taste of who I am.

Another great skill she taught me was how to create a curriculum vitae. Skip the boring list of activities or resume–a CV (course of life) is something that illustrates where you’ve been and where you might be headed. Learning how to make one is an invaluable skill that I will be using for the rest of my life.

Dr. Bernstein is also an editing machine, showing you what you need to improve and helping you refine your long list of supplemental essays quickly and efficiently.

It is always beneficial to have an extra set of eyes on an essay, especially if they’re Dr. Bernstein’s.

The online sessions felt personable and extremely productive, and without them it’s unlikely someone as unorganized as me could have put together such a comprehensive application!

Working with Dr. Bernstein is just great.

As a high school student in China, I knew very little about liberal arts colleges in the United States. However, after talking with her, I realized that these were the best colleges for me. She provided me with a list of schools that seemed like a good fit for me, and after a serious talk with my parents, I chose my top schools, reach schools, and safety schools.

The experience of writing essays for different schools with Dr. Bernstein was also amazing. Before working with her, I was really nervous about the essays. There were so many things I wanted to tell admissions officers, but I didn’t know where to start or which ones were the best. However, Dr. Bernstein made this whole process easier, more relaxing, and more enjoyable.

Every time when we started a new essay, we would have a talk. This was not a serious and formal talk like you’d have in school. Instead, it was more like a free talk between friends. She encouraged me to share my thoughts, and I have to say that Dr. Bernstein is a terrific listener because she was always able to find out the shinning points during our long conversations. She would also ask me for more details about the points she thought valuable. After talking, she would send me feedback that helped me write the essays. My essays were always the real me.

I received acceptances to 8 colleges and am excited to study at my dream school!

Before I found Dr. Bernstein through her YouTube video on preparing for alumni interviews, I was feeling completely overwhelmed by my college applications and was receiving little help from my guidance counselor and teachers. I wasn’t sure if my essays showed my true interests and character and was stressed out by the whole college admissions process.

Dr. Bernstein was so helpful in relieving my stress and raising my confidence in my work. I had been struggling with my Common Application essay for months, but through our conversations, she gave me a clear direction for my essay and helped my authentic voice come through. She gives detailed, meaningful advice on how to improve every aspect of your main essay and supplemental essays. Her student-led approach is ideal for those who want to improve their writing for college applications and become more effective, engaging writers in general.

Our online sessions were productive and valuable. She helped me create a comprehensive application that allowed college admissions officers to get a true sense of myself. I feel very lucky to have come across Dr. Bernstein because my application is now as strong as it could possibly be.

My college applications would have been a nightmare without Dr. Bernstein. While perusing the Common Application prompts over the summer, I realized that I had no idea where to start. I felt like I didn’t have many experiences that I could use to make a good personal statement. After choosing a topic, she helped me find a direction that made me and my traits shine, without dictating what I should do next. My voice and personality were preserved in the essay, which she was able to help turn from a train wreck into good essay. When I was tasked with writing a supplemental essay (the classic “why here”), I was, again, without a clue with how to approach it. She helped me research the school and find things that I was able to link to myself to write a personalized “why here” essay. She truly taught me how to write a college application essay, and without her I have no doubt that I would not have gotten in to my schools.

Working with Dr. Bernstein made the entire college application process incredibly easy to manage and relieved me of so much stress. I was one of those people who kind of put off the applications to the last minute (I had nothing in solid essay form until the middle of November), and yet Dr. Bernstein helped me get just about everything polished and submitted before we went off on Christmas vacation.

Her deep understanding of the application process and knowledge of what the admissions officers are looking for helped me direct my writing in a much more focused fashion and easily allowed me to put pen to paper, so to speak.

Her very approachable personality and supportive attitude were immensely helpful in getting me to share some of the more personal details of my life or poorly written essays. If you have an idea, she’s open to it, no matter how outlandish or far-fetched it sounds.

I would definitely recommend her program to any one going through the college application process.

One of the more difficult things about writing college application essays was figuring out what I was going to write about. Once I have a great idea, it’s not that hard to put it down on paper, but that initial pre-writing phase was a big obstacle for me. I had several ideas for my main Common Application essay, but Dr. Bernstein helped me narrow it down to just one by showing me how that one essay would fit into my entire “application package” better than the others.

After I decided on the topic, she worked with me to revise my essay to the point where I was sure that it was concise, comprehensive, and nearly perfect. Throughout the entire process, Dr. Bernstein was never overbearing or strict. Her comments were always calculated suggestions that were made with years of experience. Her constructive admonishments and reassuring commendations gave me a lot of confidence in my application because I knew that an expert had seen every word I had written.

Not only is Dr. Bernstein great at doing what she does, but she also is passionate about her work. It was late one night when I was revising a college supplement that I was going to submit the next day when I realized that there was still an essay question that I had not answered. With about 24 hours left to write and edit a complete essay, I was panicking. Even on such short notice, Dr. Bernstein was able to put aside her family and personal life for little while to help me. Together, we edited my essay until it was on par with the rest of my supplement. I was able to submit my application on time and with confidence.

Working with Dr. Bernstein is like learning from a teacher, collaborating with a friend, and talking to a parent all at the same time. She teaches you how to write effectively, she listens to your opinion while offering her own, and she shows you how to present yourself in the best possible way.

Jennifer represents the next wave of dynamic mentors and professors. From the minute I met her, she encouraged me to take risks and be creative. She also taught me how to use social media and helped me develop my blog. Plus, she introduced me to the world of publishing and editing. Because of her, I’m now a published writer.

All the people I know who’ve worked with her talk about how she always makes it easier for them to succeed in their endeavors. I’m no exception. Her guidance has changed my life.

We are so very appreciative for all your attention. You are amazing and can’t thank you enough. Your patience and acceptance along with your expertise with the writing and knowledge of the process was all so valuable. We would have torn each other apart having to do it ourselves, and we, of course, would not have known as much. This process opened her eyes to things she wouldn’t have otherwise.

Dr. Bernstein is really helpful. She guided me thoroughly throughout the college application process.I faced two big issues while writing my application essays.

First, I had trouble finding good topics to write about. To help me with this, Dr. Bernstein guided me through a process of discovering stories and anecdotes from my experiences that best reflected certain parts of my personality. She also pushed me to dig into details. For example, in my one of my essays, which described a teaching experience, she suggested that I add in vivid descriptions of what was going on in my mind. These details really showed who I am as a person.

Another one of my difficulties is the English language. As an international student, I still sometimes struggle with grammar rules and idiomatic expressions, but Dr. Bernstein helped me understand them and helped me improve my writing in general.

With Dr. Bernstein’s support, I believe I sent my best writing pieces to my colleges. I cannot imagine how I would have handled them without her.

I jumped into my application with a can-do attitude that quickly fizzled under the nature of the college prompts. Gone were the rubrics and assignment sheets to which I was accustomed (analyze this, make a connection to that, ten points off if you don’t cite correctly). I had almost too freedom. Because of some confusion, I started working with Dr. Bernstein a bit late in the application cycle, and I really appreciate the way she accommodated me into her already busy schedule (though I’d still recommend starting with her earlier).

The feedback that Dr. Bernstein provided throughout was extensive and truly helped a great deal in making my personal statement and supplementary essays much more effective. Rather than ripping apart entire drafts, she pointed out where my essays were weak and helped me come up with ways of making these points stronger.

Ultimately, the final product was my responsibility, but she provided me with invaluable advice and pointed me in the right direction. Additionally, she was really friendly and supportive; I never felt as if I were being judged or as if I couldn’t seek help or feedback. Dr. Bernstein was also extremely approachable, I was able to talk about my interests, goals and character freely, and in doing so we were able to pinpoint key elements to write about.

I have a tendency to want to push through everything by myself, but my essays would have been nowhere near as authentic or original without her guidance, and I would have definitely been much less informed about the subtle nuances of the college application process as a whole. It is clear how dedicated she is to each of her students, and how much she believes in their ability to succeed. I’m immeasurably grateful to have had the opportunity and honor of working with her!

With the daunting college application season approaching, I had a rough idea of how I wanted my personal statements and supplements to sound. However, Dr. Bernstein truly helped me highlight my accomplishments— she worked with me to teach me how to shine light on my best attributes to piece together my application. Her supportive nature and clear, concise, rapid feedback helped get me through the application process. By working to answer the questions she asked in the margins, I was able to write “my story.” Constantly knowing that Dr. Bernstein would be there to offer advice and support throughout the entire process helped ease my fears.