What We Do

We offer college counseling to guide your student on their path to their best fit college by:

Our Mission and Philosophy

We have a single abiding philosophy in our college counseling practice: helping students find and apply to their best-fit dream colleges, while organizing and simplifying the process.

We know and understand high school students. Journey Ahead obtains a thorough understanding of each student’s unique talents, desires and future dreams. Our step-by-step approach brings organization to a confusing process, reduces student and parent stress, and brings joy to a process that produces far too much anxiety. We help build a customized college list based on each student’s unique needs and capabilities, provide organization and support with essays and applications, advise on testing strategies, address financial aid matters, and help navigate confusing acceptance offers. We are a full service college counseling service that puts your student and their needs at the center of the process, and pride ourselves on providing a unique solution to every student’s needs.

We offer a comprehensive package that includes complete support, and can begin at any time during high school, lasting until the end of the student’s senior year.

College Fit

We provide college counseling guidance so that students apply to colleges that are the best fit for their academic and intellectual capacity, social and emotional needs, and realities of the family's finances. With our help, your student will attend a college that is a great fit for their needs. 

Is your student an A, B or C student? Does he love the arts, athletics or the outdoors? Does she want to cheer for the home team? Is he looking to change the world? Is weather a factor? Big city, small town, or rural campus? We help your student find schools that meet their individual needs.

Why Journey Ahead?

• Experienced, professional guidance keeps students on time and on track.

• College choices that meet student’s academic and social needs, and family’s financial needs.

• Personalized, individualized application and essay support

• Reduction in family and student stress

• No more parent nagging - parents kept in the loop on progress

• Experience with California schools and those across the U.S.

About Us

Lisa Margolin started Journey Ahead to make a difference in the lives of students and families after her daughter became a student at the University of California, Berkeley. She noticed that the college application process has become more complicated than ever, and that the price of admission, both figuratively and literally, has skyrocketed.

Lisa graduated from Syracuse University, and has had experience as a journalist, non-profit board member, vice president of corporate communications at a Fortune 500 company, and a public relations and marketing consultant. Lisa’s marketing skills and know-how will help present your student for successful admission.

Lisa is an astute listener, distilling information from your student quickly to advise and counsel on their academic motivations, career and graduate school aspirations, and personal dreams, to direct them to colleges where they would thrive and should consider applying. We provide an organizational structure so students can stay on top of the demands of testing, essay writing and applying.

We value inclusiveness, integrity, honesty and professional ethical practices in the admissions process. We do not tolerate unlawful discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, height, weight, veteran status, relationship status, or handicap.

Lisa provides free college counseling services to low income and first generation students through ScholarMatch in San Francisco. 

Education: UCLA College Counseling Certificate, BS Syracuse University, Broadcast Journalism

Professional Affiliations: Independent Educational Consultants Association, Western Association for College Admission Counseling, and Higher Education Consultants Association.

Cecily Holcombe joined Journey Ahead in 2023. She has most recently been working as a math and science teacher and mentor at Fusion Academy, a private school serving 6th through 12th grade. As a mother of 3 teenagers as well as a teacher, she began supporting students through the college application process with her students at Fusion. Surprised and challenged by the intricacies and long-term planning that is required, she decided to join the college counseling field with the goal of helping students navigate this exciting and pivotal time of their lives.

Although she has enjoyed working in the field of education for many years, she especially loves the relationships and connections made when working with students and their families. She relishes the unique challenges of each individual case and is excited to be working with students to find their own personal paths. As someone who feels that she didn’t end up at the right college for her, she is highly motivated to seek the best fit schools for her students so that they feel supported and set up to thrive.

Cecily graduated from UCSD with a B.S. degree in physics. She continued her education at San Francisco State University, earning a teaching credential and teaching math and science in Bay Area high schools. She has also worked in software engineering and still enjoys tutoring students in math, science, and life skills. She completed her coursework to obtain a College Counseling Certificate from UCSD.