- Princeton Admit, 2012
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!
Robert Coffil at the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture
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.
- Stanford Admit, 2012
Dr. Bernstein was a tremendous help in the college application process. Her amazing advice helped me get into my dream school as well as every other school to which I applied.
Throughout the summer and fall, I struggled with my Common Application essay and felt like I was lagging behind in completing my application for the early action deadline.
When I met with Dr. Bernstein in October, she quickly pinpointed the problem. Through our conversations, I discovered how to restructure the scheme of my essay and add excitement without sacrificing my originality.
She also helped me revise all of my college supplements and even the application attachments. In particular, Dr. Bernstein helped me edit my resume in a way that highlighted my skills so that my best achievements jumped out at admissions officers.
Dr. Bernstein is flexible, versatile, and always ready to help students.
Unlike other college admissions counselors who tend to standardize students’ essays and emphasize generic and cliché characteristics, Dr. Bernstein takes an approach that is fully student-oriented. Throughout the process, I felt that Dr. Bernstein took time to understand me as a person and then used this information to help me see how to get my own voice and personality to come through.
Dr. Bernstein has an amazing level of experience in helping students get to the schools they want. Despite this, she is incredibly practical and is always ready to learn from the students she works with.
- Northwestern Admit, 2013
I was completely hopeless when I first started writing my college essays, and without Dr. Bernstein’s superb guidance, I would have continued floundering, completely clueless about the application process and never knowing how to present myself to the essay readers.
Dr. Bernstein genuinely cares about students, and her approach is a perfect mixture of easy-going and rigorous. She gave me a sense of direction as well as space to work on things on my own, which was perfect, since I sometimes needed the right incentive in order to get things done.
The online meetings were nice and informal, and we could discuss my application seriously while feeling comfortable in our own homes. She would read over what I worked on a day or so before, and thus during the meetings gave me specific feedback.
I was very lucky to have her expertise and guidance as I completed my application, and she is, without a doubt, one of the best mentors I’ve ever had.
- Yale Admit, 2013
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, helping 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!
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Admit, 2013
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.
- Syracuse University, 2013
Working with Dr. Bernstein was really an amazing experience for me.
She was very supportive throughout the entire college application process and takes both your ideas and writing very seriously. She helped me strengthen my writing without sacrificing my unique voice and made me feel comfortable and confident about my essays. She even took the time to get me prepared for interviews and taught me how to turn some of my weaknesses into strengths.
I also think Dr. Bernstein’s method really helps you develop as a person. She’s a wonderful mentor, who’ll encourage you to articulate your unique strengths.
I highly recommend her!
Sarah Stierwalt
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.
Marshall White, General Manager
Working with Jennifer was the shot in the arm I needed to help me focus on my goal of getting into the food and beverage industry. She challenged me to think creatively about how to present myself to potential employers while working alongside me. Her process was not a formula that I was plugged into; it was a process that evolved to fit my goals and to better prepare me to enter my field of choice. I highly recommend her and her services.
Yuliya Ilizarov, Junior Architect
Jennifer 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 Jennifer’s 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.
Marttin Periola, Army
Professor Bernstein was the best English professor I’ve ever had. When I was in college, I struggled to improve my writing. Every other English class was lackluster in terms of helping students perfect the art of writing. Professor Bernstein, however, was an extremely enthusiastic teacher who pushed all of her students—including me—to do their best work. I sought her mentorship and she pushed me to my limit. Her guidance propelled the quality of my writing ten-fold. As a result of her efforts, my paper was published.
Natasha Graveline
The insight Jennifer gave me is irreplaceable. Originally, I was planning on just writing an essay that provided a blow-by-blow account of why I want a place at the school, but she made me realize the importance of creating an essay that describes my work as part of a larger personal journey. Her genuine interest, passion, and expertise left me feeling rejuvenated, confident, and optimistic about my application. I am thankful for her honesty.
