Shannon holds a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. With extensive experience in admissions and education, she served as an alumni interviewer at Harvard for over 14 years and sat on the admissions committee at St. John’s College, where she reviewed applications and conducted interviews with prospective candidates. Shannon has helped students gain admission to top universities, including Harvard, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Yale, UChicago, and others.

In addition to her work in admissions, Shannon has held several notable roles in academia, including serving as a Fulbright Program Officer and grant writer at the University of California, San Diego, a graduate student instructor at UC Berkeley, and an assistant professor at St. John’s College. She finds great fulfillment in helping students discover the ideal match between their interests and education or uncovering opportunities they never knew existed. 

As a coach, Shannon believes that crafting a coherent story about yourself as a student and learner is key to succeeding in the application process. Leveraging her experience and passion for writing and editing, she excels at helping students master the art of storytelling—a skill that will serve them throughout their lives. With her deep expertise, Shannon knows exactly how to guide applicants in writing personal narratives that not only help them gain admission to their top schools but also secure competitive external funding. She loves to help students find the perfect match when it comes to school selections and their unique interests, and enjoys shedding light on new and exciting opportunities. 

In her free time, Shannon enjoys crocheting, cooking, writing children's books, restoring old dollhouses, woodcarving, working on getting her pilot's license, and spending time with her six-year-old.

Shannon’s Pro Tip?

Ultimately, colleges are interested in what kind of student you'll be in the classroom and after you leave. It's crucial to use your application to demonstrate that you'll be intellectually curious, actively engaged, and committed to learning throughout your college years and in your post-grad life.

Spencer has a Bachelor of Science from UCLA, where he served on the Alumni Scholarship Admissions Committee, reviewing student applications for scholarship awards. Spencer has extensive experience as a college admissions consultant, university adjunct professor, and law school graduate. 

Spencer is driven by his passion for helping every student craft and convey their distinctive story. He firmly believes that comprehending their personal narrative is the key to unlocking success in the admissions process. He derives great satisfaction from inspiring applicants to communicate their message compellingly and coherently, enhancing their chances of admission to their dream college. 

Through his work with high school students, Spencer endeavors to identify and secure the ideal college that aligns with their aspirations and future objectives. By getting to know his students as individuals and understanding their unique perspectives, ideas, and personalities, Spencer skillfully connects the dots between their personal packages and the ideal institutions that will allow them to thrive.

Spencer’s greatest strength as a coach is attentive listening and skillfully using the nuances of an individual's narrative to construct a compelling overall story. He recognizes the overwhelming nature of applications and prefers to help applicants approach everything in manageable steps that lead to success.

Applicants Spencer has recently coached have gained acceptance into the country’s top universities, including Harvard, MIT, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, UC Berkeley, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, and NYU.

When Spencer isn’t coaching, you can find him racing with his sailing team in San Diego.

Sue has a Bachelor's degree from Cornell University, where she served on the admissions team. She has tutored over 50 students, assisting them with college admissions essays, rhetorical writing, SAT prep, English speaking and listening, and general academic guidance. Professionally, Sue has over 15 years of experience as a tutor, essay coach, and academic success counselor.

Sue is passionate about helping college applicants gain admission to their dream schools. As a first-generation immigrant and the first person in her family to attend college in the United States, she fully understands how overwhelming and lost students can feel when beginning their college admission journey. Sue feels the proudest and happy when she can demystify the admission process and help students effectively showcase their unique personal narratives. 

As a coach, Sue uses her expertise to take a holistic approach tailored to each individual. She provides step-by-step guidance and organized schedules to manage deadlines and reduce anxiety. She is passionate about forming strong bonds and creating a calm, warm, and encouraging environment. 

Sue has learned that a student's self-perceived shortcomings or "failures" are often the source of their greatest personal development story, which makes for a great personal essay topic. She also encourages her applicants to understand that the college admission application is not just about grades, test scores, or what's written on the resume – it is a beautiful opportunity to self-reflect and proudly exhibit your unique persona.

Sue has helped applicants gain acceptance into the country's top universities, such as Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, and the University of Michigan. 

When Sue isn't coaching, she likes writing about Korean film and literature, crocheting, watching documentaries, and being a couch potato with her dog Oliver.

Tamar holds a Bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School. While at Vanderbilt, Tamar served as an Admissions Interviewer, conducting interviews and providing insightful recommendations to the admissions committee regarding applicants. This experience gives her invaluable insight into what admissions committees are looking for during the interview, and she looks forward to sharing her knowledge and expertise with Quad applicants. 

Tamar has a deep passion for working with students. Throughout her life, she has been involved in both tutoring and teaching. She finds immense satisfaction in offering one-on-one guidance, acting as a support system and cheerleader for students during the often stressful college admissions process. 

As a coach, Tamar prides herself on her meticulous attention to detail, making her exceptional at editing resumes and essays. Additionally, her organizational skills have proven to be an invaluable asset to students navigating the admissions journey.

Outside of her professional life, Tamar enjoys baking, indulging in a good book, and learning how to surf.

Tamara has a Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She has served as an Admissions Ambassador and Alumni Interviewer, interviewing candidates applying to Dartmouth. She has also spearheaded several recruiting efforts and is a master at crafting and analyzing resumes. 

Tamara understands that in today's world, where standardized testing is less emphasized and strong candidates often have similar academic credentials, it is vital to position a student effectively through their personal statement. Her extensive experience in different industries and diverse passions enables her to cater to various academic and extra-curricular interests a student may choose to write about. She aims to draw out the small moments emblematic of a student's personality, character, and strengths to put their best foot forward in the admissions process.

Tamara enjoys working with students to maximize their potential and help them achieve their educational goals. She firmly believes that strategy is the key to the college application process and draws on her years of consulting, marketing, and business development experience to maximize each student's chances. 

As a coach, Tamara is an expert at partnering with students to make the process clear and manageable. She enjoys helping candidates with school selection, activity lists, resumes, interview preparation, and essay review. Her greatest strength is identifying what makes each candidate unique and compellingly positioning them through their application materials. Tamara is also an excellent editor and storyteller and helps students craft balanced school lists based on historical data and expected outcomes. She is a stickler for project management, ensuring all materials are completed well before their deadlines.

Candidates that Tamara has recently coached have gained acceptance into some of the country's top universities, such as Columbia University, Dartmouth College, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Vanderbilt University.

Outside of coaching, Tamara is a classically trained chef. When she isn’t helping students get into college, she creates delicious meals and dreams up new recipes in the kitchen.

Terry has a Bachelor’s degree from Duke University and over three years of experience guiding students on their path to college. While at Duke, he served as an Admissions Assistant, where he learned that rigor, GPA, and test scores are only a piece of the equation for admissions success. 

Professionally, Terry has over a decade of teaching experience in middle and high school, where he taught various subjects, including math, science, social studies, and Spanish. Currently, he is co-writing a book on mastering the digital SAT and putting together videos on how to write a winning college essay. 

Terry is passionate about coaching college applicants because he has always enjoyed working with adolescents and feels tremendous accomplishment when they succeed. He also loves to see students learn and develop throughout the application process.

Terry’s greatest strength as a coach is his ability to build a strong rapport with students and motivate them to succeed. He also excels at guiding students toward highlighting unique, relevant experiences, ensuring they fill in all the pieces that make a well-rounded application. 

Students Terry has coached have gotten accepted into several top-tier institutions, including Duke University, Emory University, Yale University, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, Michigan University, University of Virginia, Rice University, Washington (St. Louis), and Georgetown University.

When he’s not working, Terry loves to sing, drum, write, compose, and hike. He also enjoys appearing on an occasional podcast or sketch comedy bit.

Toby has a Bachelor's degree from Tufts University and a Master's degree from Vanderbilt University. During his time at Tufts, he participated in the Tufts Alumni Admissions Program, interviewing candidates and writing detailed evaluations and admissions recommendations. His most significant learning from this experience is that admissions at the highest competitive level go far beyond numbers. Acceptances are not proffered as a reward for past achievements per se, but as the admissions committee's determination of the applicant's odds of success and ability to graduate from their undergraduate program. Professionally, Toby has been coaching and working with college applicants for over 25 years.

Toby's greatest strength as a coach is his ability to custom tailor his coaching to meet the needs of each applicant. Among the hundreds of students he has worked with in his career, he has never used the same approach twice. Every student is different, and thus every strategy must also be unique.

Applicants Toby has recently coached have gotten accepted at Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, UChicago, Cornell University, Oxford University, Northwestern University, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, UC Berkeley, and MIT.

In his spare time, Toby enjoys racing motorcycles and variety streaming on Twitch.

Tori has a Bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley and a Master's from Yale University. She is currently pursuing her MBA at the University of Cambridge. Over the past three years, Tori has helped numerous students with their college applications, allowing them to secure acceptances to the country's top colleges. 

Tori understands that the higher education system can overwhelm students and families. Her passion for coaching stems from her desire to pay it forward by helping younger students achieve their dreams. She finds it personally rewarding and fulfilling to connect with students one-on-one and to support them along this often stressful journey. 

As a coach, Tori's greatest strengths include being a great listener, flexible, and compassionate. Tori is a great listener. Additionally, she can easily extrapolate winning themes to tie together a student's college application. Tori is skilled at taking a student's perceived weakness and working on it together to turn it into a favorable narrative. She loves connecting with students and getting to know them personally to help them craft individualized narratives. 

Tori's coaching philosophy is centered around a peer-to-peer approach that respects and empowers her students. While offering guidance, she expects self-motivation from her students, fostering a collaborative and empowering atmosphere. Tori meticulously plans each engagement with students to ensure they gain maximum value from their time together.

In her free time, Tori loves to go on walks, practice yoga or pilates, and catch up on the latest movies or shows.

Vanita holds a Bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley. With a portfolio of successful candidates accepted into prestigious institutions, including Columbia University, UC Berkeley, and UCLA, Vanita's accomplishments testify to her expertise and dedication to education. Professionally, Vanita has served in the TV and film production industry, holding positions at Pixar, Skydance, and Disney. 

Vanita is passionate about guiding individuals toward achieving their academic aspirations. Her genuine enthusiasm for fostering confidence and nurturing talents aligns seamlessly with her commitment to helping students uncover their voices and witness the tangible results of their diligent efforts through successful college acceptances.

As a coach, Vanita excels in customization, tailoring her strategies, communication style, and methodologies to suit each student's unique requirements. A strong believer in understanding her students' learning preferences, whether visual, tactile, auditory, or otherwise, she initiates conversations that delve into their values and preferences. This initial dialogue allows her to sculpt her approach, drawing out the best in each student by allowing them to highlight their individuality and needs.

Approachable and adaptable, Vanita prides herself on her open-minded approach to coaching. Her commitment to transparency and effective communication fosters an environment where clients can comfortably embrace the journey they are embarking upon. 

When she’s not coaching, Vanita enjoys writing passion projects, reading, watching movies, hiking, doing yoga, dancing, traveling, and spending time with her dog.

Varna received a Bachelor of Science in Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Biology and English from the University of Michigan. After her undergraduate degree, she pursued a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Analysis at Columbia University before attending the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. 

Varna was a member of the admissions team at Columbia University, conducting admissions interviews for prospective students. She has coached many students through medical school applications helping with resume and CV development, personal statement writing, and interviews. As a member of the admissions team at Columbia, Varna conducted over 200 interviews, working closely with the department to field questions from prospective applicants throughout the admissions process. 

Throughout her career, Varna has applied to undergraduate and top graduate school institutions, receiving acceptances from Yale, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, and Dartmouth. With years of experience, she has learned what makes a strong personal statement, what admissions officers look for, and what makes someone stand out as an applicant. As a coach, she has helped students gain admission into the country’s top schools, such as Yale, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Georgetown, and the University of Michigan, among others. 

Varna’s favorite part of coaching college applicants is learning about each student’s spark. She is passionate about helping her students identify their “why” and helping them articulate that. To Varna, coaching is a unique opportunity to provide applicants with the tools to identify their passions, likes, dislikes, and what they want to accomplish in the short and longer term. She excels in helping candidates communicate their strengths meaningfully and effectively–employing her skills as an English major and writer to extract the most essential pieces of information to develop an authentic and impactful narrative.  

When Varna is not coaching, she teaches yoga and enjoys writing about public health and medicine. She also loves cooking, exploring new restaurants, and going outdoors on long runs and hikes.  

Varna’s Pro Tip?

There’s more than one way to achieve your goals. Having spoken to applicants from all over the world, you realize that every applicant shared a unique story. As a prospective student, it’s essential to understand that colleges look for more than a “perfect” applicant; they look for mission-driven individuals with experiences that demonstrate resilience, leadership skills, and a willingness to grow and learn.