College Admissions Counseling in San Francisco, East Bay, South Bay and North Bay

Selective Admissions provides private college counseling for students throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. As a firm led by former admissions officers from Harvard and Stanford, we offer strategic, one-on-one college admissions consulting for families navigating an increasingly competitive admissions landscape.

We work with a limited number of students each year, providing personalized strategy from early high school planning through final application submission.

Selective Admissions, a premier college advising firm led by a former Harvard Admissions Officer and Stanford Dean, provides personalized, one-on-one college consulting to students across the San Francisco and Bay area. Our expert college counselors guide students in developing compelling applications that highlight their unique strengths, maximizing their potential for admission to top colleges and universities.

Private College Counseling for Families in the San Francisco Bay Area

The Bay Area is home to some of the most competitive high schools in the nation, including top-tier private schools, nationally ranked public schools, and innovative charter schools. With a strong emphasis on academic excellence and extracurricular achievement, students in this area face an increasingly selective college admissions process.

In this environment, strong academics alone are not enough. We help students move beyond being “well qualified” and instead position themselves with clarity, depth, and strategic focus — especially amid a tech-driven academic culture where many peers are among some of the most talented candidates in the nation.

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How Students in the San Francisco Bay Area Stand Out

Our approach to college counseling centers on long-term strategy and thoughtful positioning. We guide students in:

• Designing rigorous but intentional academic pathways
• Building depth in extracurricular pursuits rather than résumé stacking
• Identifying authentic intellectual themes that connect across activities
• Leveraging regional opportunities in research, arts, public policy, technology, and entrepreneurship
• Presenting a cohesive narrative across essays, recommendations, and activities

We help students build applications that feel purposeful and internally consistent — not assembled at the last minute.

Why Work With Us

Families seeking a college admissions consultant want perspective from someone who has evaluated applications inside a selective admissions office.

Our firm is led by former admissions officers who understand how applications are read in context, how competitive high schools are evaluated regionally, and how committee discussions unfold.

We bring particular insight into the Bay Area landscape. Our founder, Justin Neiman, served as the Bay Area regional admissions officer during his time at Harvard. Our Senior Counselor, Valerie Ong, brings direct admissions experience at both Stanford and UC Berkeley. Together, this background provides a clear understanding of how students from San Francisco and the surrounding region are assessed in highly selective admissions processes.

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Serving San Francisco, South Bay, North Bay, and East Bay Communities

We work with students throughout the greater Bay Area, including:

San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Orinda, Marin County, Palo Alto, San Mateo, Mountain View, Los Altos, Cupertino, Los Gatos and many surrounding communities.

Schedule a Discovery Call

If you are exploring private college counseling, we invite you to schedule a discovery call. During this conversation, we will learn more about your student’s background and goals and determine whether our advising approach is the right fit.

We work with a limited number of families each year to ensure highly personalized guidance and strategic depth. If you would like to learn more about our program and next steps, please reach out to begin the conversation.

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