As Seen On
Allen Koh founded Cardinal Education in 2006 with a straightforward conviction: that the families navigating elite admissions needed a consultant who understood both the mechanics of selective admissions and the individual student sitting across the table.
Allen graduated from Stanford University and spent years developing deep institutional knowledge of the admissions processes at the country’s most selective private schools, boarding schools, and universities. That knowledge of what Exeter looks for, how Andover reads an application, what distinguishes a compelling Yale essay from a merely good one, is what Cardinal Education is built on.
Over two decades, Allen has worked with students admitted to Phillips Exeter Academy, Andover, Hotchkiss, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and dozens of other highly selective institutions. He has also built a team of specialists who share his belief that admissions outcomes are the product of genuine student development, not application engineering.
Allen is regularly consulted by journalists and researchers covering elite admissions, educational equity, and the evolving landscape of college and private school selection. His perspective is grounded in what has worked and what has failed across thousands of student engagements over twenty years.
Every engagement at Cardinal Education is anchored in three principles that describe how we actually work with students and families.
Clarity
We tell families what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. That means honest assessments of a student’s academic profile, realistic school lists, and direct feedback on essays and applications. Families who work with us don’t encounter surprises late in the process because we’ve already had the crucial conversations early.
Character
The most consistently successful students we’ve worked with share a quality that doesn’t show up on a transcript: genuine self-awareness. They know who they are, what they care about, and can communicate it clearly. Developing that clarity through the college essay process, through interview preparation, through the discipline of academic coaching is the core of what we do. Admission is the outcome of that deeper work.
Confidence
Our students and families undergo preparation thorough enough that they can move through high-stakes decisions without second-guessing every step. We’ve guided families through thousands of application cycles. That experience is what we bring to each new one.
Most admissions firms operate as marketplaces with a large roster of consultants, variable quality, and high volume. Cardinal Education is structured differently. We maintain a limited client roster so that every family works directly with a senior consultant who knows their child in detail. Families who have worked with larger firms often describe the difference as immediately apparent.
Cardinal Education provides a fully integrated suite of services across the major transitions in a student’s academic journey. Families work with us on one service or several, depending on where they are and what they need.
Strategic guidance for families applying to selective independent day schools in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and nationally. We support the full process: school list development, application strategy, essay preparation, and interview coaching.
Specialized preparation for the most competitive boarding school applications in the country ? Exeter, Andover, Hotchkiss, Choate, Deerfield, and others. We bring deep institutional knowledge of what each school looks for and how to present a student’s profile compellingly.
Long-term college preparation as early as middle school and full-cycle college application support for juniors and seniors: college list development, Common App essay coaching, supplemental essays, recommendation strategy, interview preparation, and application review. We also support students through waitlist and deferral decisions.
One-on-one coaching for the ISEE, SSAT, HSPT, STAR, SAT, ACT, and Timed Writing Sample. Our test prep is built around each student’s specific profile and target schools, with a focus on mental endurance and strategic performance alongside content mastery.
Executive function support, study skills development, and one-on-one academic mentorship for students at demanding private and boarding schools. Our goal is to have students who can independently manage a complex workload.
Global Reach
Cardinal Education is headquartered in the Bay Area with offices in Burlingame, Woodside, Beverly Hills, Bellevue, and New York City. We possess deep institutional knowledge of the most competitive private schools and colleges in the U.S.
We also work with families internationally, including those navigating U.S. admissions from Singapore, Hong Kong, London, and beyond. For international families, we provide the same one-on-one consulting as we do for our domestic clients, along with specific guidance on how U.S. admissions committees evaluate IB and A-Level curricula and international academic profiles.
Families we have served come from Indonesia, Singapore, China, Oman, the UAE, India, the UK, Brazil, Russia, Nigeria, South Korea, Ghana, and Egypt. Every engagement, regardless of geography, is held to the same standard.
Multiple Ivy League Acceptances
“Cardinal Education provided the senior-level attention we were looking for. Their focus on our son’s character and personal growth was what ultimately made the difference in his applications.”
– Parent, Singapore
Admitted to Phillips Exeter Academy
“The team at Cardinal Education brought a sense of calm to our family during a very high-stakes college application. Our daughter is looking forward to college at Berkeley.”
– Parent, Silicon Valley
We take on a limited number of new families each enrollment cycle. If you’re considering working with us for private school admissions, boarding school, college applications, test prep, or academic coaching, the right first step is a conversation.
We’ll ask direct questions about your child’s profile and your goals. We’ll tell you what we think is realistic. And we’ll be straightforward about whether Cardinal Education is the right fit for your family.
