PLAN WELL • CHOOSE WELL • APPLY WELL 

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“Working with Jona and JJ College Advising was an absolute privilege, and I would most certainly use Jona as my college counselor again. From the very first Skype call, I immediately felt a new sense of calm and an excitement for the application process. This was a common feeling throughout — Jona made it her priority to keep my stress to a minimum, and my excitement to a maximum.

Jona is encouraging, positive, calming, knowledgeable, and organized. She has a vast amount of knowledge — from which colleges require SAT Subject Tests to whether a certain college "looks down upon" additional recommendations. She has insider tips in addition to all of the knowledge an exceptional college counselor can provide. 

Jona also tailors her services to each client individually, so that if you are a more untraditional applicant (such as a homeschooler, as I was), she will make sure to extensively research your specific circumstances and apply that knowledge to all charts, dashboard pages, and Skype calls. For example, on my college dashboard, Jona included extra information about specific homeschool requirements for each of the 18 colleges to which I was applying. 

I truly could not have applied to the number of colleges I did — and with such attention to detail and time spent on my essays — without Jona's guidance. She kept me on task all year, breaking up deliverables for me each week and reminding me of upcoming deadlines. For example, during a week in November, Jona reminded me to study for my upcoming Math SAT II that I needed to apply to certain colleges, gave me feedback on a draft of my Vassar essay, helped me compile a list of all of the secondary schools from which I needed to request transcripts, researched art supplement requirements for all of my colleges, helped me brainstorm which mentors to ask for an additional recommendation, informed me of a merit scholarship I could apply for at one of the colleges I was applying to, and answered my questions about how to fill out a specific Common App section. She helped me as much as I needed with absolutely every part of the process, and was quick to return my emails or texts within an hour with an answer to a question.

Jona thoroughly read over each of my essays, from my Common App Essay to my answers to the personality questions ("What is your favorite movie?"), and provided extensive feedback on all drafts until I reached a final product. She created a timeline that was invaluable in completing my essays, and which allowed me to stay on task. The timeline relieved a large amount of (often inevitable) essay-writing stress. 

In addition, Jona Skyped with me for hours, pouring over every inch of my Common Application; I shared my screen and we went through it question by question together. When I pressed "Submit" on each of my applications, I felt relief knowing that my spelling and grammar were correct and that there were zero errors.

Although both Jona and I have acknowledged throughout the process that college admissions can be a roll of the dice, with Jona's help, I was accepted to many of my "dream" and reach schools, including Williams College, Pomona College, and Harvard University.

Jona is truly an exceptional college counselor and mentor. I know that my other three siblings will be turning to her when it is their turn to crack open the Fiske Guide and sign up for their Common Application accounts.” 

 

— Student, Harvard University

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