Testimonials

We are so grateful to Moxie and Jeff Knox for the invaluable guidance we received in [our son]’s college application process. Applying to colleges, especially more selective schools, has become an anxiety producing journey given the huge number of applicants and incredibly low admission rates. Thus, understanding the process, what schools are looking for, and honestly positioning your child to present themselves authentically and in the best way is essential – the expertise that Moxie offers. Jeff has a calming influence and great sense of humor. He gets it, and his advice resonated so well with Alexander, not just for his college application, but for life in general. His resume specialist, Elizabeth Smith, helped create a unified and appealing document. Andrew Borneman, [his college essay specialist] and an English teacher, was an invaluable guide in helping [our son] express himself in the myriad essays. [Andrew] made [him] a better writer. Most importantly, the process remained about [our son] and not his parents. Most Zoom calls were with Alexander alone, which is how it should be. We were all so happy when Alexander received early admission to his first-choice school, but having said that, we were all prepared for any outcome. We highly recommend Moxie without any reservations.

Henry Mulzac advised our family during the application process for private elementary school. Henry’s deep admissions experience in the DC area gave us strong insight into what admissions professionals are seeking in a given application and helped us zero-in on which schools would best fit our goals and needs for our children’s educational journey. His application support services were where Henry proved to be the most invaluable – pushing us to craft the most compelling and persuasive answers to the parent questionnaires as well as pinpointing specific changes that drastically improved the quality of our applications.  We were also appreciative of suggestions he made that gave our family small and easy ways to help our children’s applications stand out.

Overall, it was very reassuring to work with Henry, and we are grateful to have had him as a resource in this process.

What a year! It’s amazing and hard to believe, but our son’s admissions outcome still hasn’t sunk in yet. His hard work and patience definitely paid off to get into his top choice. Our son couldn’t have done it without Moxcc’s help and guidance over the years. While the process can sometimes feel unbearable, our son has grown in so many ways because of it, in part because of your one-on-one work with him; I can’t imagine going through it without your help. Thank you!!

Thanks to Henry Mulzac, my son was fully prepared for his admission interviews for private high schools. We were able to observe one of the interviews, and our son was doing most of the talking and had the interviewer fully engaged. Because of the preparation, no questions were a surprise. He was accepted at both schools that conducted interviews. Henry has a very lovely and welcoming manner that makes it easy for young people to work with him

We can’t say enough good things about our experience with Kim Heffernan and the Moxie team—and not merely because our daughter ended up with fantastic results.

Kim has a great balance of the personal and the professional. She built rapport quickly and easily with both parents and student, and was never formulaic or dogmatic about how the process should or would go. Rather, she was kind and candid, helping our daughter to select classes, think about extracurricular priorities, and navigate the many tough choices inherent in the application process. Kim shared insight and opinions at every turn, but never sought to “make decisions” for anyone else. She answered questions promptly and thoroughly. When we hit the inevitable speedbumps, she empathized genuinely and helpfully. All the while, however, she remained focused on the nuts and bolts of the process—the deadlines and “to do” list, etc.—and her experience, knowledge, and organization were reassuring for our “Type A” kid and her “pulled in many directions” parents.

We have no doubt that the college review and application process would have been much more stressful for our daughter and for us, and that we would have been “flying blind” in many areas we could not have anticipated in advance, without Kim’s experience, expertise, and steady presence. We recommend her emphatically and without reservation.

This was our third and youngest child going through the college application process. It was our first time working with Kim Heffernan and Moxie. We were very impressed with the attention she gave to our son and her professionalism throughout. He was very comfortable working with Kim, and to us, that was one of the most important things in working with a college counselor.

Working with Moxie and Kim Heffernan was a game-changer. Their personalized approach, deep expertise, and unwavering support ensured [our daughter] showcased her best self in every application. Thanks to their guidance, she gained acceptance to her dream schools and received very generous scholarships. We’re immensely grateful and highly recommend their services to any family navigating the college admissions journey.

Throughout the whole essay writing process, Erica Brown was critical in expanding my thinking and helping me be creative and highlight my true self and personality. I felt like my college essays were truly reflective of me, and that was because Erica listened to me, really got to know me, and understood what I wanted to get across to admissions representatives. She was so instrumental in helping me figure out how to make my writing my own. I sent her countless emails to bounce ideas off of her, and she was always willing to review my essays as many times as I wanted and answer any questions I had. Erica was such an important part in my college application process, and I highly recommend working with her!

Working with Kim Heffernan was the best decision for my college application process! I started working with her the summer before my junior year, and she was extremely helpful in all aspects of the college process. She helped me figure out a number of decisions: whether to take the SAT or ACT, determine what classes would be good for me to take that display my interests, compile a list of colleges to research and visit, and select a final list of schools to apply to, to name a few. She was responsive and set guidelines for me to follow so I wouldn’t get overwhelmed with all the applications. Compared to most of my friends, I was significantly less stressed and felt like the college application process was smooth sailing. I could email Kim with any questions I had, and she was always willing to hop on the phone to help me, too! I trusted Kim so much during this process, and I always felt like she really listened to me, got to know me, and cared so much about me, what I wanted, and what was important to me. She is phenomenal, and I’m so lucky and glad I got the chance to work with her! Kim is the best, and I highly recommend working with her!

I am so grateful that Kim Heffernan helped our daughter, and us, navigate the incredible journey of applying to college and selecting the right school for her future. Kim’s expert advice, counsel, and strategic planning equipped our daughter to work independently toward her goals, identify and focus on the criteria most important to her, and have ownership over the process. Kim’s approach reduced stress and created a process that was productive, positive and empowering and made our daughter feel valued and understood and enabled me, as a mom, to feel calm and confident. Her day-to-day, hands-on guidance, availability to answer questions, and management of deadlines and details gave me space to focus on the big picture and enjoy college visits and the beauty of senior year. I don’t know how we would have managed without Kim — I am tremendously grateful for being able to work with her and already look forward to working with her again for our next child!

As parents of a high school student with ADHD, we were dreading the college application process. Kim Heffernan and her team at Moxie made it straightforward. Kim broke it down into easily attainable steps. She worked directly with our son and provided us with updates after each milestone. Our son’s college applications were all submitted early in the Fall, and he was subsequently able to have a great senior year. He truly enjoyed working with Kim and the other professionals at Moxie. Thank you, Kim and Moxie!

This is our second child to enter college but our first experience with Moxie College Counseling. The depth of knowledge Ian brought to the table was invaluable. No detail was omitted—from stretch schools, to test scores, to admission rates, to financial aid, to school reputation. Coupled with outstanding essay help from Andrew Borneman, our family wholeheartedly recommends Moxie to any family, regardless of their personal experience with the college application process.

From day one, Dr. Ian Lekus embodied Moxie’s mission by helping our college-bound son thoughtfully map out his goals and create a plan to reach them. Ian was inclusive with us as parents when needed, empowering our son to discover his own path to college, and encouraging all of us throughout the process, which can be stressful at times.

We’ve been through two high school application processes, two high school careers, one pandemic, and two college application processes with Moxie and, quite simply, Jeff Knox and his team are amazing at what they do. Our daughters are very different individuals, and Jeff took the time to get to know each one – their academic strengths and weaknesses, their personalities and their goals. Having a resource that knew our daughters (and our daughters looked forward to talking to) made some extremely stressful times a lot less stressful. From guidance on testing and recommendations and strategies for applying to consolation on rejections and navigating acceptances, Jeff was personable, approachable, available and knowledgeable.

Whether you need a third party to be “the heavy” in managing a to-do list, an essay tutor, a test tutor, an outside party to navigate tricky family dynamics or all of the above, Jeff and his team should be your first (and early!) call.

Working with Kim Heffernan was the best decision for my college application process! I started working with her the summer before my junior year, and she was extremely helpful in all aspects of the college process. She helped me figure out a number of decisions: whether to take the SAT or ACT, determine what classes would be good for me to take that display my interests, compile a list of colleges to research and visit, and select a final list of schools to apply to, to name a few.

Kim was responsive and set guidelines for me to follow so I wouldn’t get overwhelmed with all the applications. Compared to most of my friends, I was significantly less stressed and felt like the college application process was smooth sailing. I could email Kim with any questions I had, and she was always willing to hop on the phone to help me, too! I trusted Kim so much during this process, and I always felt like she really listened to me, got to know me, and cared so much about me, what I wanted, and what was important to me. She is phenomenal, and I’m so lucky and glad I got the chance to work with her!

Kim is the best, and I highly recommend working with her!

I worked with Jeff Knox at Moxie to help me prepare my applications, and ultimately, I was accepted to my first-choice university. Jeff helped me brainstorm extracurricular activities and summer programs, choose my classes, narrow the schools to which I would apply, provide guidance for standardized testing and AP classes and exams, and review my applications and essays. I had a great rapport with Jeff, and I trusted him every step of the way. I was thrilled with my results, and Jeff was thrilled for me. Thanks, Jeff!

Ian Lekus and the team at moxie were beyond helpful throughout my college process. I’m the oldest child so my family and I really went into the whole thing blind. He gave us so much piece of mind and I can’t imagine how stressful it would have been without his help. I have no regrets in my college decision and I’m optimistic in what the next 4 years hold, and I don’t think I’d been able to do it without his extensive knowledge and support. My parents are definitely using him for my brother in two years!

This was our third and youngest child going through the college application process. It was our first time working with Kim Heffernan and Moxie. We were very impressed with the attention she gave to our son and her professionalism throughout. He was very comfortable working with Kim, and to us, that was one of the most important things in working with a college counselor.

We can’t say enough good things about our experience with Kim Heffernan and the Moxie team—and not merely because our daughter ended up with fantastic results.

Kim has a great balance of the personal and the professional. She built rapport quickly and easily with both parents and student, and was never formulaic or dogmatic about how the process should or would go. Rather, she was kind and candid, helping our daughter to select classes, think about extracurricular priorities, and navigate the many tough choices inherent in the application process. Kim shared insight and opinions at every turn, but never sought to “make decisions” for anyone else. She answered questions promptly and thoroughly. When we hit the inevitable speedbumps, she empathized genuinely and helpfully. All the while, however, she remained focused on the nuts and bolts of the process—the deadlines and “to do” list, etc.—and her experience, knowledge, and organization were reassuring for our “Type A” kid and her “pulled in many directions” parents.

We have no doubt that the college review and application process would have been much more stressful for our daughter and for us, and that we would have been “flying blind” in many areas we could not have anticipated in advance, without Kim’s experience, expertise, and steady presence. We recommend her emphatically and without reservation.

Thanks to Henry Mulzac, my son was fully prepared for his admission interviews for private high schools. We were able to observe one of the interviews, and our son was doing most of the talking and had the interviewer fully engaged. Because of the preparation, no questions were a surprise. He was accepted at both schools that conducted interviews. Henry has a very lovely and welcoming manner that makes it easy for young people to work with him.

As parents of a high school student with ADHD, we were dreading the college application process. Kim Heffernan and her team at Moxie made it straightforward. Kim broke it down into easily attainable steps. She worked directly with our son and provided us with updates after each milestone. Our son’s college applications were all submitted early in the Fall, and he was subsequently able to have a great senior year. He truly enjoyed working with Kim and the other professionals at Moxie. Thank you, Kim and Moxie!

Working with Moxie and Kim Heffernan was a game-changer. Their personalized approach, deep expertise, and unwavering support ensured [our daughter] showcased her best self in every application. Thanks to their guidance, she gained acceptance to her dream schools and received very generous scholarships. We’re immensely grateful and highly recommend their services to any family navigating the college admissions journey.

What a year! It’s amazing and hard to believe, but our son’s admissions outcome still hasn’t sunk in yet. His hard work and patience definitely paid off to get into his top choice. Our son couldn’t have done it without the help of Moxie College Counseling’s help and guidance over the years. While the process can sometimes feel unbearable, our son has grown in so many ways because of it, in part because of your one-on-one work with him; I can’t imagine going through it without your help. Thank you!!!

Henry Mulzac advised our family during the application process for private elementary school. Henry’s deep admissions experience in the DC area gave us strong insight into what admissions professionals are seeking in a given application and helped us zero-in on which schools would best fit our goals and needs for our children’s educational journey.

His application support services were where Henry proved to be the most invaluable – pushing us to craft the most compelling and persuasive answers to the parent questionnaires as well as pinpointing specific changes that drastically improved the quality of our applications.  We were also appreciative of suggestions he made that gave our family small and easy ways to help our children’s applications stand out.

Overall, it was very reassuring to work with Henry, and we are grateful to have had him as a resource in this process.

We are so grateful to Moxie and Jeff Knox for the invaluable guidance we received in our son’s college application process. Applying to colleges, especially more selective schools, has become an anxiety producing journey given the huge number of applicants and incredibly low admission rates. Thus, understanding the process, what schools are looking for, and honestly positioning your child to present themselves authentically and in the best way is essential – the expertise that Moxie offers.

Jeff has a calming influence and great sense of humor. He gets it, and his advice resonated so well with our son, not just for his college application, but for life in general. His resume specialist, Elizabeth Smith, helped create a unified and appealing document. Andrew Borneman, [his college essay specialist] and an English teacher, was an invaluable guide in helping [our son] express himself in the myriad essays. [Andrew] made [him] a better writer.

Most importantly, the process remained about our son and not his parents. Most Zoom calls were with [our son] alone, which is how it should be. We were all so happy when he received early admission to his first-choice school, but having said that, we were all prepared for any outcome. We highly recommend Moxie without any reservations.

“Henry Mulzac has been invaluable in our high school search. Like many parents, we started the high school application process without much experience and quickly figured out we were behind the eight-ball.

After several family meetings, Henry quickly assessed the situation and helped us prioritize schools and develop a plan to complete all the applications and testing. He helped our son prep for interviews and helped guide his essay development. We got into a great school in Maryland and are grateful for Henry’s help.”

“Ian Lekus and the team at moxie were beyond helpful throughout my college process. I’m the oldest child so my family and I really went into the whole thing blind. He gave us so much piece of mind and I can’t imagine how stressful it would have been without his help. I have no regrets in my college decision and I’m optimistic in what the next 4 years hold, and I don’t think I’d been able to do it without his extensive knowledge and support. My parents are definitely using him for my brother in 2 years!”

“What we valued most about Jeff Knox was that he met each of our boys where they were, worked with them in very different ways to help guide them through high school course selection, extracurriculars and summer opportunities as well as the college application process. They applied to college in very different environments relative to COVID and had very different goals, personalities and college preferences.

Jeff treated them as individuals without value judgment on those differences and guided them each through the ups and downs of the process to the perfect respective schools. We are so appreciative of his time, energy, effort, understanding, and expertise.

“Thank you so much, with Elizabeth Smith’s help, my resume looks amazing! The formatting is perfect and looks incredibly professional. I learned a lot about resume development and really enjoyed working with you. I’m super excited to see where this takes me regarding my college admissions process.”

“We first called Jeff because he came highly recommended by a friend on the East Coast who had great experiences with him for her kids. We immediately liked him and thought that his style would be a good fit for our son. Our only concern was that being from California it would be difficult for Moxie to understand the special circumstances of a Bay Area-student, but Jeff quickly put those concerns to rest.

While not an easy process, Jeff helped our son get through it with as little pain as possible. He also did an amazing job helping us understand our role as parents and what would be beneficial (or not) during the process. When our son was rejected from his early decision “dream” school, he helped us understand the reasons and move on to submit many strong applications in the days to come.

Our son was accepted at many great institutions but waitlisted at the school he had come to love most. Jeff helped him handle the delicate dance of assuring the school that he was still very interested and motivated to attend without coming across too strong. Two days after decision day our son received a call from admissions at the school that waitlisted him. His screams and celebration when he hung up the phone as a an admitted student were worth all of the stress of the past year. We really could not have done it without Jeff and hope that he will consider helping our youngest navigate the process in two years.”

“Working with James Barringer to develop my ideas and essays to their fullest potential was a blast. He is kind, patient, detail-oriented, and the perfect partner to bring the best out of my writing. Jeff, James, and the whole team at Moxie guide you through every step of the process, providing invaluable experience and insights while bringing joy to an often joyless process.”

“Our son learned from you and the application process the value of self-exploration and the importance of deciding how he spends his time. That’s something he will need to continue practicing through his life. We are also very thankful for your excellent guidance. You are a master of establishing trust and communicating so effectively with teens, and we as parents tremendously benefited from your insights.”

“Henry Mulzac was invaluable. He ensured our kids researched the schools they were interested in and helped them think critically about what they wanted from high school. That exercise helped them focus their search and ensured they were prepared, authentic, and thoughtful in their interviews. He also helped keep our kids on track with the application process, which made the year much less stressful for our entire family. Finally, because Henry has direct experience as an admissions officer, he was able to help guide us as parents as we interacted with the schools, ensuring we did not inadvertently sabotage our kids’ prospects by being overly neurotic.”

“Throughout the college application process, doubt and anxiety can run through one’s mind. Not only have Jeff and the team at Moxie been instrumental in helping me find and gain acceptance to the perfect school for me, but they have removed much of the stress from the process and highlighted what really matters in finding a school: not rank or perceived prestige, but a place where you know you will feel at home and a place where you can thrive. I am incredibly grateful to the Moxie team for their dedication and unrelenting support, and I wholeheartedly recommend Moxie to anyone starting their college journey.”

“Working with Moxie immensely transformed my college search and application process. Kim Heffernan’s guidance was honestly what got me through this past fall; I went from an overly stressed student to a relaxed, prepared applicant. Kim helped me plan out when I would complete each part of my application, and without her organization, I’m not sure if I would’ve finished everything on time! The routine check-ins, through Zoom or email, kept me on the right track and eventually saved me from drowning in work at the beginning of January. Overall, her support and expertise made this experience significantly better than I ever could’ve imagined. I’ll never forget how sweet and genuinely excited the message she sent me was when I got into one of my top choices. Thank you, Kim!”

“Want to thank you and the team. [Our son] was accepted to every school where he competed his application including a special opportunity [to study in Ireland for his first semester]. Until he met with you and the team, he didn’t believe he would be accepted based on the intense competition in our area. It was working with your team that he built excitement and inspiration. We are thrilled that he had choices based on great coaching.”

“Thank you again for everything you’ve done to help us over the last couple years. It really has been that long, which is nuts. I’m humbled that [our son] gets to go to such a great school. We are very lucky to have benefitted from your experience and knowledge. I have no doubt he is at [his first choice college] because of the Moxie team, especially Jonny Malks!”

“Henry Mulzac has been invaluable in our high school search. Like many parents, we started the high school application process without much experience and quickly figured out we were behind the eight-ball. After several family meetings, Henry quickly assessed the situation and helped us prioritize schools and develop a plan to complete all the applications and testing. He helped our son prep for interviews and helped guide his essay development. We got into a great school in Maryland and are grateful for Henry’s help.”

“Henry Mulzac was a great resource for applying to private school. He knows the admissions process inside and out since he has sat on both sides of the table. He provided excellent answers to our questions, making us feel as comfortable as we could going through the process. Henry also did a wonderful job preparing our child for the interview.”

“If you are seeking a college consultant, Jeff Knox is extraordinary. He has worked with all three of our children in the college application process, across a five-year period. He helped each of our children – different in temperament, interests, strengths, and goals for college – obtain admission to one or more of their top schools. Jeff’s unique expertise in the college consulting area, coupled with his extremely high emotional intelligence, including his ability to get to know and understand each one of our children in depth, has made each of our three experiences excellent ones. Moreover, Jeff’s responsiveness, good humor, direct approach, and his ability to motivate (especially in the times of high stress) were noteworthy and added to the extremely positive experiences we had!”

“One of the best referrals I have received in a long time was the referral to Moxie College Counseling and Jeff Knox. Figuring out where to apply and the admissions process can be overwhelming. Jeff was there with us throughout the journey. He helped connect us with a great tutoring company that helped raise my daughter’s ACT score. Jeff helped my daughter think through what was important to her and the factors to determine which colleges to apply to. Jeff gave us honest and helpful feedback on what schools were a healthy reach and which were probably just a long shot. We identified working with him 8 great colleges she has applied to.

Jeff set up a project plan for our daughter and managed her through it while also keeping my husband and me involved, answering all our questions. He also helped my daughter fine tune her essay themes and gave her feedback after she wrote them. He also helped keep my daughter’s enthusiasm up and build her excitement for her next phase of the life journey. Jeff’s support has been amazing and such an asset to our family. Thanks again for everything you have done to make this process more exciting, less stressful and help achieve great outcomes as we hoped!”

“The help Moxie provided me was critical throughout my college process. Jeff Knox kept me organized and made sure I was aware of every single requirement and when I needed to complete it. He and his team provided me with constant and incredible support on each of my essays and made themselves available to me as much as I needed.

I cycled through four different school guidance counselors my senior year, making Jeff’s personalized support that much more integral to me. Finally, Jeff helped instill the confidence I needed in myself and showed me time and time again he truly cared about me and my aspirations.

I cannot overstate how important Moxie was in helping me get to my future home.”

“Any family that is lucky enough to work with you as their child begins the journey of applying to college will immediately be grateful. Your ability to embrace each child and help them to map out own unique journey is an invaluable gift.”