Gain Admission To Your Top College Choices!Crimson Education is a leading college admissions consultancy helping students gain admission to the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, Duke, UC Berkeley, UCLA and other top colleges at a rate that is 4.5x higher than the general applicant rate.
Crimson Education (crimsoneducation.org) has 409 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5.
Also known as
crimsoneducation.org
Website
crimsoneducation.org
Category
HR & Recruiting
Listed on Five Star Index
2026
About these reviews
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The company replied to 8% of reviews.
Latest
Most recent review: October 2026.
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Our experience with Crimson is horrible. Completely avoid them
Response from Crimson EducationJun 2, 2026
Hi DB - thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We have searched our records and unfortunately haven’t been able to locate a student or parent matching this name.
My team and I are fully committed to delivering the highest quality of support, so if you're open to sharing more details, I’d really appreciate the opportunity to better understand your experience and make this right. Please contact me (the COO) directly at [email protected]
BD
BDQueen
More Marketing Than Advising
I scheduled a free 15-minute consultation with Crimson because I was genuinely looking for guidance about my academic goals and future college plans. As a motivated student trying to be proactive, I expected at least a short conversation about my interests, direction, or how they work with students. That is not what happened.
When the call started, the consultant greeted me but immediately misspelled my name, which already made the interaction feel rushed and impersonal. He did not seem interested in building any kind of connection or understanding who I am as a student. His tone felt disengaged, almost like he was in a bad mood or just trying to get through the call. He asked me a couple of surface-level questions about school and what high school I was planning to attend. Before I could really explain my goals or ask any questions, he abruptly stopped the conversation and shifted the focus entirely away from me. He asked which parent is most involved in my college admissions, and then said my mom should schedule a separate appointment. Right after that, he ended the call. The entire interaction lasted only a few minutes and never became an actual consultation. There was no discussion of my interests, no attempt to understand my strengths or ambitions, no advice, no explanation of how they might help someone like me.
It felt like the “free consultation” was not meant to help students at all, but purely to move the conversation to parents as quickly as possible for sales purposes. As a student, that was extremely disappointing. I came in hoping for insight and left feeling dismissed and unheard. I understand that parents are involved in financial decisions, but completely cutting off a student mid-conversation makes the process feel impersonal and overly business-focused. Students looking for real guidance should know that this initial call may not be a consultation in the true sense. It may function more as a screening step to redirect you to a parent-focused sales conversation, rather than an opportunity to discuss your goals or receive advice.
I left feeling frustrated because I was ready to talk seriously about my future, but the conversation never got that chance to happen.
Response from Crimson EducationJul 6, 2026
Thank you for sharing your feedback Bineta, and we're sorry the consultation didn't meet your expectations, and we take all reviews seriously.
We do want to respectfully offer some context, as our recollection of the call differs quite significantly from what you've described. Our representative asked you a series of thoughtful questions and listened carefully to your responses, covering your interest in high school selection and preferences around top boarding schools, your extracurricular activities including speech and debate, your STEM related activities, and your summer program goals. The conversation lasted six minutes and was genuinely focused on understanding your situation.
Given that you're in 8th grade and navigating a significant transition, our representative also suggested including your mother, whom you mentioned as the best parent to speak with, in a follow-up call to build a personalized plan together. That next step was offered but we didn't hear back to schedule it.
Our COO, Arkesh, reached out to you personally via text on February 5th and again on February 6th to offer a one-on-one complimentary call and make things right -- we can see on our end that message was read, but we haven't heard back.
The offer absolutely still stands. We'd genuinely love the opportunity to support you with your high school journey and would be happy to connect whenever you're ready. Please reach out directly to our COO, [email protected] . We hope to hear from you.
KK
Kim K.
Unprofessional and sloppy
Tried three separate times to connect for initial consultations. David Linton set up a conference and then "forgot" about it. Tried again to connect at a later date, he took the call from his car and didn't follow up. I never received any communication past that. After reaching out several times to other people in management and being completely ignored, I took the hint. If you are not a sure bet at a good school or if you are at a highly competitive high school, they don't want you. I feel I dodged a bullet here. Have a great counselor for my son now and couldn't be happier. Parents, reach other to other parents and read all of the reviews before you make any choice for your student.
Response from Crimson EducationJul 6, 2026
Hi Kim, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We're genuinely sorry to hear about your experience and understand how frustrating these initial interactions with our team must have been - it's certainly not the standard we hold ourselves to.
We do want to respectfully provide some context. Following these initial interactions with our team, we made multiple attempts to reconnect with you via both email and phone to make things right. On October 28, 2025, one of our senior leaders, personally reached out to offer a meeting and to build a personalized plan for your son, but unfortunately we did not hear back from you at this point.
We recognize that doesn't undo the earlier experience, and we take the concerns you've raised seriously. Every family deserves a responsive, professional standard of care from our first interaction, and if for any reason we miss that mark, we do make sure to do everything we possibly can to make things right.
We wish you and your son every success in his college journey. If you ever wish to revisit things, our door always remains open, even if it's just for a quick second pair of eyes on his final application.
GC
Gary C.
Be Cautious
Signed up around Nov 2024 after paid 20k and terminated the service in March 2025, kid is 10th grade now. Could not stand Crimson’s careless and unpersonalized approach. I do believe this is due to Crimson’s the uncontrolled expansion. They need to clean some house to regain parents’ trust
Response from Crimson EducationApr 2, 2025
We always aim to deliver an amazing experience for all our families, and are so sorry that we missed the mark here. Thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention. Our COO, Arkesh, has reached out via text and email to ensure we can make this right for you and your daughter.
AR
Anna R.
Bad School
In our family’s experience with Crimson, the curriculum is out-dated and dull, the administration is both officious and unorganized, and I can’t believe they change people lots of money for this truly lame excuse for a school. it’s been a waste of time and resources. Un-engaging dry readings followed by badly worded basic multiple choice questions.
Response from Crimson EducationFeb 4, 2025
We are very concerned with the sentiments expressed in this comment as they are a striking departure from our student experience. We don't have any record of a student or parent by this name who has attended our online high school CGA. We have also requested customer verification via Trust Pilot and did not receive a response from you. Would you please reach out to us at [email protected] so we can hear directly and do our best to investigate this?
SL
Sunny L.
Pls be aware.. it’s a scam
RIP OFF.. BIG SCAM.. PLEASE BE AWARE.Don’t waste your money and time.. had a terrible experience ..they promise the best service when they sign you up but once they have your money there is no support..they keep changing mentors..they need to be reported to better business bureau so they can stop scamming kids who rely and lay trust on consultants to get into university. Pls pls pls don’t waste your money with Crimson.
Response from Crimson EducationSep 18, 2024
We always aim to deliver great student experiences and outcomes, and we take it quite seriously when we don’t meet expectations. Thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention. We’d love the opportunity to investigate and would be very grateful if you’re open to a call with us so we can further understand the issue. Would you please get in touch with us at [email protected] and we can take it from there?
