College Admissions Consultants in New York City, NY

Sena is a graduate of Columbia University and has been on the admissions teams at her alma mater, Columbia University and Barnard College. During her time in admissions, Sena was responsible for interviewing prospective students, participating in initiatives such as the Columbia admissions blog to promote the school’s thought leadership among prospective candidates, and being an admissions ambassador for Columbia. During this time, she evaluated candidates and made recommendations on who to admit.

Sena learned how admissions offices want to see passion reflected in applicants’ documents through her time in admissions. She also developed a solid understanding of how much each facet of the college application – test scores, written application documents, recommendation letters, and extracurricular activities – matters.

Sena has an extremely diverse background and can relate to students from different walks of life. In addition to her admissions experience, Sena has worked as a researcher at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC. Additionally, she is also a gifted writer. Sena has worked as a journalist at Hurriyet Newspaper of Turkey and has a publication that received a prize in fiction at New York Book Festival in 2011. In her free time, Sena enjoys reading, reformer pilates, writing, singing, traveling, taking drama classes, and acting in local film and TV productions.

Nia has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Columbia University. She graduated on the Dean’s List and is a Thompson-Muñoz Scholar. As a New York City native, Nia studied Molecular Biology on the pre-medical track with additional coursework in Literature, Writing, and Philosophy.

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Professionally, Nia has diverse and extensive experience coaching students through the admissions process to both independent schools and competitive colleges. Nia has also coached students through the Oliver Scholars program: a community-based organization that helps support selected high-achieving, low-income students of color and their families in the admission process to preparatory schools and top universities. As an alumna of the program, Nia is uniquely qualified to help students in this endeavor.

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Nia is passionate about college coaching because it allows her to witness and assist in this process of self-discovery. She loves getting to know a student's unique personality and using the mentor-mentee connection to support such a critical phase in a student’s academic journey.

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As a coach, some of Nia’s greatest strengths are: helping develop strong personal statements and written supplements, advising students and families on financial aid and scholarship opportunities, organizing application processes into manageable schedules, and creating personalized test-prep curriculums. Nia prioritizes building rapport with her students to develop a clear picture of their personalities. She connects with Quad applicants by creating a fun and welcoming learning environment where students are encouraged to speak their minds.

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Applicants Nia has recently coached have gotten accepted to various top colleges and universities, including John Hopkins University, Tufts University, and UPenn.

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Nia enjoys cooking, biking, gardening, learning new languages, and reading fantasy and non-fiction books in her spare time.

Allan graduated from Cornell University with Cum Laude honors in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering with a concentration in Energy and Economics. After completing his bachelor's degree, he received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Allan founded an admissions consulting program as the President of a national honor society at Cornell University. He also acted as an admissions mentor at a local high school. As an admissions ambassador, Allan provided feedback to the admissions board on the potential candidate's fit with the school. With over ten years of experience as an academic counselor, he has helped his students gain admission to Cornell University, the University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Texas, among many others.

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As a first-generation college student, Allan has first-hand experience with how challenging and confusing the admission process can be. This fuels his passion for supporting and guiding his students through the application process. As a coach, he takes a personalized approach–highlighting each applicant's strengths and individuality. He is adaptable and flexible when it comes to what his students need, regardless of what stage in the application process they're in. Allan excels in helping his students develop a robust applicant profile that speaks to what admissions officers are looking for in an ideal candidate beyond test scores and grades. He helps his students turn their shortcomings into strengths, allowing them to shine through.

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With his Quad students, Allan breaks down the application process into more manageable steps. He helps his students understand the rationale behind each aspect of their application–specifically, why the colleges ask specific questions and what they want to learn about the students. This, in turn, gives his students the opportunity to build a more meaningful and intentional application. Through coaching prospective college students, Allan hopes to pass on his knowledge and experience to ensure that his students can more easily manage the college application process. He finds great joy in seeing his students' and their families' happy faces and tears when they receive acceptance letters from their dream school. Allan ensures that his students feel confident in their application and works hard to get each of his students to that state of mind and having fun along the way.

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When Allan isn't coaching, he mentors high school students and young professionals on career and professional development. He also enjoys playing competitive badminton–and winning!

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Allan's Pro Tip?

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Students often think they need the perfect resume and breadth of experience to be a competitive candidate. While having these experiences under your belt can be an asset, you can always find strength in your application through your weaknesses and shortcomings, making you much more resilient and competitive throughout the application process.

Jacqueline graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts and an M.S.  Subsequently, she graduated with her second Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University.

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With extensive experience in higher education, Jacqueline has helped her students get into top universities such as Cornell University, Brown University, New York University, Pennsylvania State University, Boston College, and many more.

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Jacqueline is passionate about helping each of her students get into their perfect college. As someone who cherishes her time as a college student, she finds that being able to utilize her skills to help students find the right post-secondary paths highly rewarding. While pursuing a degree should be challenging and enjoyable, the process will look different for every student. Jacqueline believes that at the right school, students will experience a substantial amount of growth, not only in their academics but as individuals.

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Jacqueline loves helping her students showcase their voices. She excels in finding her students’ strengths and differentiators, adding value and authenticity to their personal statements, resumes, and overall applications. She is a great listener and is passionate about helping each of her students through every step of the application process. Jacqueline is exceptionally detail-oriented and understands how the application process can sometimes feel overwhelming. She has helped her Quad students and their families develop management strategies throughout the college application process to help them more easily take on the challenges that come along.

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When Jacqueline is not coaching, she loves to spend time with her family, friends, and dogs. She also loves playing soccer, running, biking, yoga, and travelling.

James has a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, a Master’s from Northwestern University, and a PhD from Columbia University. While studying at Cornell, James worked with the Undergraduate Admissions Office while mentoring and counseling over 70 students applying for selective high schools and college programs through to the PhD level. Since then, he has mentored undergraduate students at Columbia and within his research lab, helping them apply to their postgraduate programs. 

James is passionate about coaching students as he enjoys witnessing tremendous intellectual growth in students while helping them achieve their goals. It is particularly important for him to cultivate relationships with students so they feel welcome to come to him with any question or idea. James has found that one-on-one conversations with students have tremendously beneficial “ripple effects” in all parts of the learning process.

James' greatest strengths as a coach include working with students on high-level activities such as brainstorming and getting "in the weeds" with them when helping them craft stand-out essays. He firmly believes in providing students with copious amounts of detailed feedback and excels at helping them realize that they can hone in on their unique toolkits to actualize their goals. 

As an educator and mentor, James strives to bring about enthusiasm for learning to help students see that they are capable of more than they have imagined. He feels that it is essential to cultivate meaningful relationships with students and aims to provide students with a safe space to share their ideas, encouraging open discourse and positively affirming their capabilities.

When James isn’t coaching Quad applicants, he works as a Behavioral Scientist at a Fortune 500 company in the healthcare sector. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Psychology for a private university in Chicago, IL. 

Gabriel has a Bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and a Master’s from New York University. With over a decade of experience as a counselor, he has helped over 3,000 students navigate the college application process, receiving acceptances from the country’s top universities, including Cornell, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Duke, and Stanford. 

As a coach, Gabriel leaves no stone unturned in the process. He is incredibly passionate about working with students and their families students to develop and execute their college application strategy. His experience working in college recruitment sparked his mission to work directly with students and families throughout the application process. He is deeply inspired by watching students grow as they find their best fit and gain acceptance to their dream schools. 

Gabriel’s greatest strength as a coach is his ability to help students and their families understand the application process and help them manage expectations. He understands that navigating this process with care and understanding can make or break the application process for families. Gabriel also excels at helping Quad students create well-balanced college lists and present themselves as ideal candidates through essay building, editing, and polishing. 

When Gabriel isn’t coaching, he enjoys spending time with his family, working out, and working on home projects.

Parth has a JD from Columbia Law School and has served as an Alumni Interviewer at UT Austin. In this role, he was responsible for interviewing candidates and providing feedback to the admissions team.

Parth is passionate about coaching college applicants as it allows him to impact students’ lives positively. His greatest strength is helping students reflect on their background (personal, professional, academic, extracurricular, etc.) to help them select impactful experiences and stories to describe in their college applications. He believes that each student can portray unique value as part of the admissions process and that the best approach is to reflect on one's strengths and play to those. He strives to put students first and enjoys answering all questions, no matter how small they seem.

Students Parth has recently coached have been accepted to prestigious institutions such as Dartmouth College, Duke University, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan, the University of Southern California, the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, and Vanderbilt University.

In his spare time, Parth enjoys working out, attending concerts and standup comedy shows, watching movies, and trying new restaurants.

Lena has a Masters from the New York Institute of Technology. She has a wealth of admissions experience, serving as an Application Reader at New York University, the University of San Francisco, and the University of California, San Diego. She has read thousands of applications throughout her career and has participated in or contributed to Diversity Committees at colleges such as Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, and NYU.

As a proud first-generation college graduate, Lena is passionate about guiding students through this transformative journey. Recognizing that many students are navigating higher education with newfound autonomy, she finds joy in helping them make informed decisions about their future. Lena is known for her empathetic listening skills and adept problem-solving qualities, making her an invaluable resource for students and their families.

Lena's executive functioning skills ensure a seamless flow of work throughout the college application process, a critical element for success in this complex endeavor. Her mediation style has been commended for its effectiveness in navigating diverse stakeholder relationships. Having reviewed thousands of applications throughout her career, Lena has honed her ability to discern students' unique strengths and provide nuanced guidance for crafting standout applications.

Lena's track record speaks volumes about her effectiveness as a college admissions coach. Students Lena has recently coached have been accepted into several top-25 universities, liberal arts colleges, and the University of Cambridge.

In her free time, Lena is an avid runner and yogi and loves running her small business.