Amanda M. (she/they) is a veteran educator, writer, and storyteller, and expert in helping students reach their full creative potential. She is a professor of Performance Studies at California State University, Northridge, where she teaches students to find their committed, creative voice and to actively pursue their passions through writing and performance. As a tutor and college admissions coach she has worked with hundreds of high school students to tell their truest stories. Her students have been accepted to some of the country’s best schools, including Harvard, Duke, Rice, USC, UPenn, and dozens of other great schools. In her other life, she is an award-winning theater director and Artistic Director of Fugitive Kind Theater. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of California, Irvine, and a Fulbright scholar to New Zealand. She lives and creates in Los Angeles in a colorful house full of tiny interesting objects.

Elica (she/her) was born and raised in Southern California. She attended an arts high school, where she specialized in creative writing, and holds a BA from UCLA and an MA from CSULB (both in linguistics). While pursuing a PhD, she researched topics in the field of Writing Studies and taught academic writing at UC Santa Barbara. Beyond academics, Elica has been an essay coach and specialist for over seven years, working with students who were applying to four-year universities as well as various types of graduate school. She is committed to and passionate about helping students navigate the admissions essay genre while helping them gain confidence in their agency as young writers. You can find her (still) living in Southern California with her partner (+ two Italian greyhounds & lovebird), where she likes to spend her time reading, writing, and printmaking.

Emily S. (she/her) graduated with a B.A. in English and Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, before pursuing her M.A. in English from Wake Forest University. There, she tutored undergraduate and graduate students on all manner of academic, professional, and creative writing projects, before teaching first-year composition in Wake Forest’s English Department and working as an academic coach for student-athletes, tutoring public speaking, gender studies, and comparative literature. Over the past few years, Emily has begun working as an admissions essay coach to help students develop an awareness of their audience and purpose to curate authentic personal statements. Harnessing her background in university writing centers, she loves to help students find ease in their admissions experience by creating a personalized writing process to discover their style and voice. Emily is particularly passionate about supporting first-generation college students and neurodiverse writers in navigating higher education and believes that everyone has meaningful stories to share. When she is not coaching students, Emily is hard at work directing a writing center in Asheville, NC to support equity, accessibility, and inclusion in education. During her downtime, she can be found baking in pursuit of the perfect chocolate chip cookie, knitting, and spoiling her cat, Tyson.

Erika (she/her) is a California native who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Sociology. She has been tutoring and teaching test prep since 2008 and has been coaching college entrance essays since 2010. She has worked at several prestigious SAT and college prep academies, the most notable being College BluePrint and Elite Educational Institute, where she was awarded Teacher of the Year in 2013. She loves helping her students find their authentic voice during their college application journey. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, refurbishing furniture she finds on trash day and swing dancing.

Jacki (she/her) has spent her career telling stories and working with students to tell theirs. She’s an award-wining journalist who was with CNN for more than a decade before becoming a mom and shifting her focus from doing journalism to teaching it. Jacki has taught writing and communications courses at two- and four-year colleges, and in two New Jersey state prisons. Several years ago, she began assisting college-bound students with their application essays, helping them gain admission to a range of institutions. Jacki delights in helping students discover their voice, stretch their curiosity, and widen their relationship with the written word. Jacki received a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Political Science from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. Her first book, Dogland: A Journey to the Heart of America’s Dog Problem, earned several awards for journalism and investigative reporting. A dog lover who lives with two rescues, Jacki donates all proceeds to non-profit animal welfare organizations. She says her second book is a work in progress—however, she’s made little progress.

Jennifer (she/her) holds two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, a BA in East Asian Studies and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School. She worked as an analyst on Wall Street for eight years before leaving to focus on raising her two daughters. She began her work in college admissions consulting as a volunteer for ScholarMatch, an organization dedicated to helping high-achieving low-income students through the college admissions process. She also tutors students preparing for the ACT and SAT. Students she has worked with have received acceptances to Harvard, Williams, Yale, Brown, U Penn, Cornell, Dartmouth, and UVA, among others. Outside of work she is a member of the Board of Trustees of her local public school and a docent for school groups at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Cloisters location. She serves on the board of Graham Windham, a child welfare organization, and the Bronxville Historical Conservancy.

Melissa A. (she/her) believes that everyone has a story to tell. She helps students tell theirs by asking questions, promoting self-reflection, and helping students make connections between their past, present, and future. Melissa has over a decade of experience teaching, advising, and coaching high school and college students. She holds a BA from Brown University, where she double-concentrated in Anthropology and Old World Art & Archaeology. She has an M.Ed. in College Student Affairs from Rutgers University, where she worked as a Dean for Transfer Students and taught courses on mentoring and transitioning to college. She also worked as a college advisor for two nonprofits, an admissions reader for Princeton University, and an alumni interviewer for Brown University. Melissa in lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children. In her spare time, she teaches classes on ancient art history, designs and leads virtual escape rooms, and is learning to play the dulcimer.

Sofia (she/her) is committed to helping students making education count and living bigger lives. She has worked with hundreds of students, designed and led college application essay workshops and helped students write powerful stories to gain admission to the college of their dreams. Sofia is the author of Journeys to the Heart, a book about social entrepreneurs, failed ideas and change-makers in Indonesia. She has lived in Asia and Europe and has worked as a strategy consultant in Washington DC. Sofia graduated from Brown University majoring in international relations. She holds a masters in European political science from L’institute des Sciences Politiques and a Masters in diplomacy and international business from Georgetown University. She loves theater, any kind of science and politics, modern art, board games, painting, mindful practices, kickboxing, a good read, empowering conversations and her amazing family. She believes in the power of young people’s ideas and creativity to make positive impacts throughout their lives.

Adrienne (she/her) has over a decade of experience in selective college admissions, as both a college admissions counselor and a high school counselor. She previously served as a Senior Admissions Counselor at Vanderbilt University, where she evaluated thousands of applications while also being charged with various recruitment initiatives. Most recently, Adrienne has counseled high school students in a selective private school in Nashville, where she aims to help students and families navigate all aspects of the college search and application process. Before entering into college counseling, Adrienne earned a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Delaware and a M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from Peabody at Vanderbilt University. Outside of her work, Adrienne is a highly accomplished professional figure skater and coach, having toured and performed in various countries around the globe. She also loves running, writing and keeping up with her two daughters.

Scott brings extensive experience in university admissions and high school college counseling. He was an admission officer at Middlebury College in Vermont for eight years, handling all facets of both domestic and international admissions. Eager to experience the high school side of admissions and to live abroad, Scott moved overseas in 2014 and spent the following nine years working as a university counselor at independent schools in Hong Kong (five years) and Vancouver, Canada (four years). Scott has worked closely with American and international students and families, and has extensive knowledge of the admissions processes of the US, UK, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia and Europe. He believes strongly in the philosophy of "best fit" in university admission, and loves getting to know his students and their families to help make the university admissions process as positive, comfortable, and stress-free as possible for all involved. The father of two (now adult) children, Scott has an understanding of the process from both the parent and counselor perspective.

Born and raised in Maine, Scott earned a BA in social anthropology from Harvard University, and spent most of his adult life in Vermont before moving abroad. Scott’s interests include cycling, Nordic skiing, travel, food/wine/cooking, music, and good conversation. He currently splits time between Hong Kong and New England.

Susan (she/her) is a native New Yorker whose career in college admissions has spanned four decades. Following her graduation from St. Lawrence University with a BS in Psychology, Susan moved to New England where she worked at Bates College as Associate Dean of Admissions. She completed her Master’s degree in School Counseling at the University of Southern Maine. For the next 25 years, Susan served as the Director of College Counseling at a college prep day and boarding school near Philadelphia where she worked with students from around the world. Since stepping out of that role, Susan has evaluated applications for two selective research universities and is working as a consultant to schools, professional organizations, and families. A counselor at heart who loves helping students and parents launch their college searches, Susan finds time to be a writer, sports enthusiast, and mother of twins who are recent college graduates.