We loved working with Mary! She developed a strong rapport with my son and held him accountable for the work, but kept me informed and checked in with me all the way through. Mary helped us navigate the entire college application process start to finish, (even calmly and cooly responding to my panicking texts!) and helped my son select a set of schools that he fell in love with. The best news, he has already gotten accepted to two of them. She was spot on in her recommendations and advice. I cannot recommend Mary highly enough.

—Parent, Berkeley, CA (2018)

I found Mary Finn through BPN in the summer before my son’s junior year at Berkeley High. Sometime in early winter she came to interview him and I could see that they clicked. She has a very easy payment plan which was a plus for me as a single mom. She somehow got him to apply and write essays for all the schools he picked. There were about 15. She created a very helpful spreadsheet showing each college and its good points, his chances of getting accepted, and why it would or would not be a good school for him with his particular interests. I highly recommend Mary. She works by teleconference directly with the students which made me skeptical at first but the kids are completely used to that.

—Parent, Berkeley High School, Berkeley, CA (2017)

I highly recommend Mary Finn as a counselor for the college selection and application process. Our daughter started working with Mary late in her junior year in 2016 and has just finished now that she’s been accepted to her school of first choice. Mary is great to talk to and works well with both parents and teens. She is very skilled at defusing the anxiety that all parties can bring to this process. I really appreciated being able to hand off all of the application and essay writing process to her. Mary came up with a detailed and achievable step-by-step schedule of the process and deadlines that greatly helped our daughter keep track of where she was in the process and meet her deadlines. Mary is also very skilled in helping a student identify colleges to apply to. She spends time at the outset getting to know the student, her/his interests and preferences and academic and life experiences, and then suggests colleges well suited to that student. Above and beyond all of this, Mary offered a very calm and reassuring perspective and, very importantly, is far more affordable than many other counselors.

-Parent, Berkeley High School, Berkeley, CA (2018)

It is no understatement to say that we could not have gotten through the college process–no less already with 4 acceptances in the bag–without Mary’s guidance and dedication. She helped us identify appropriate schools, created a game plan for our approach to the applications, was on the other end of the phone whenever we had a nervous question or crisis of confidence, and created a list of scholarship opportunities for my son to explore. Mary was really helpful as the mediator between the controlling mother (me) and her less-than-engaged son. Mary was able to motivate my son to take charge of the process in a way that I hadn’t been able to. We came to her late in the process and the only regret that I have is that we didn’t bring her on to the team when he was still a junior in high school.

-Parent, Patterson, NJ (2017)

Mary is an incredible college counselor. She is calm and her knowledge on the process of getting into college is such an incredible asset to anyone during the stressful times of applying to college. She always makes time for the people she works with and as someone who had the privilege of working one on one with Mary, I know that I could not have gotten into my dream school without her help. She edited every single one of my essays for all of my colleges and I will always appreciate her for helping me through one of the most important phases of my life and helping me represent myself the best way possible to all the colleges of my choice. Mary goes above and beyond and I would recommend her to any child applying to college.

-Student, Fort Lauderdale, FL (2020)

Mary was very helpful to me in regards to the application process, organization, and essay/writing prompt editing. She is adept at helping with writing yet making sure it is the student’s voice, not hers. She created a structured and efficient chart for me to manage my colleges, essays, and more. I really appreciated how she was able to refine my writing, help me choose the best prompts, and review my applications well.

-Student, Dublin, CA (2019)

Although my daughter says she wants to go to college, she’s also sick of (high) school, and showed no interest in the research, planning, and application process. It was great to have Mary, a third party, be in charge of steering her through the convoluted process. Mary was friendly, low-key, and stayed on my daughter without at the same time making her feel nagged or harassed. Although we are still in the application process and she has not heard from any colleges yet, I’m confident that with Mary’s help my daughter ended up choosing an appropriate selection of schools, any one of which would be a good fit for.

-Parent, Berkeley High School, Berkeley, CA (2017)

Mary is amazing! We have had many tutors over the years – both privately and through highly regarded companies – and none come anywhere close. She is way, way more experienced, capable, insightful, and responsive than anyone we have worked with. She was able to help my two kids substantively (English & History primarily) but also an organizational approach (across all subjects) and development of their skills to tackle assignments most effectively on their own. She was able to immediately understand my sons’ learning challenges and tailor her approach accordingly. She worked with them around self-advocacy as well. She is extremely flexible in scheduling (i.e. setting up last-minute sessions by phone if needed) and being responsive to our family’s needs. My sons love her and feel she helped them on a totally different level than other tutors have. The fact that she knows so much about the high school and the college planning process made her able to help my sons in multiple areas and in greater depth. I love how she frequently checks in with me, as the parent, and patiently listens to and is extremely responsive to concerns I raise regarding my kids’ challenges. Mary is truly exceptional! You will not find anyone like her.

-Parent of twins, San Francisco, CA (2018)

I was pretty lost about my goals for college and how to apply. It all felt overwhelming. I took a year off after high school and had no clue what to study or where to start. I knew I wanted to begin at Portland Community College but needed a game plan for what classes to take and how to make a plan for the right classes that would help prepare me most for a four year college. The Snap Academics counselors were awesome. They really got where I was coming from, and helped me figure out my strengths and what I needed to work on. They were super helpful with my essays too - writing isn’t my thing, especially after a year off school. They kept me on track with deadlines and made sure my applications were solid. Honestly, couldn't have done it without their help. Big thanks to Snap Academics for making this whole college planning and applications feel way less overwhelming.

-Student, Portland, Oregon (2023)

We want to recommend Mary Finn as a spectacular college advisor. My high-school twins worked with Mary last year and are headed this fall to colleges they love. Mary began by creating a system for identifying and evaluating schools that interested them, then explained the details of the application process and oversaw all the deadlines for submissions as well as managing a comprehensive checklist of other necessary tasks. She made the entire experience fun and rewarding rather than intimidating or onerous. She knows the technical details of online applications inside out (and how to fix seemingly intractable problems with forms and formats). Best of all, Mary is a very warm, empathic, perceptive, and genuine mentor and coach who challenges students to challenge themselves and encourages them every step of the way. We feel so lucky to have found her. Mary has an extensive background in education with a specialty in college prep.

-Parent of twins, Berkeley, CA (2017)

We are so grateful to have found Mary last summer (before senior year). She worked closely with our daughter to create a considered and balanced list of colleges, guided her through the detailed essay and application process, was a calm and reassuring voice in moments of high stress, and was very organized in her approach. Mary was always there and helpful when we had a question or needed advice. All of this was invaluable. Mary went above and beyond but was also measured in holding our daughter accountable and on track. Hands down, Mary was the best investment we made during the process. We highly recommend Mary to any family – and have already done so!

- Parent, Portland, Oregon (2022)

Mary did an amazing work with our daughter. As parents who’d attended college in the 1980s, we were completely lost as to how to approach the essay process – what topics were appropriate, expected word count, etc. Mary’s an expert on all things college essays and guided our daughter through applications at eight colleges. Our daughter found Mary really easy to work with. She’d post drafts to Google docs, Mary would review and suggest edits, and it all went as smooth as could be hoped for. The most important thing from our perspective is that Mary provided the kind of editorial guidance that enabled our daughter’s voice to shine through. Our daughter’s essays were all her ideas and her work, and it showed. We’ve suggested to Mary to friends who are going through the application process and will continue to do so.

-Parent, San Francisco, CA (2018)