Christine Rose has taught courses in gender and sexuality, history of medicine, and postcolonial theory at Mills, Macalester, and UC-Davis. A graduate school admissions consultant for the past 15 years, she holds degrees in Literature from Smith and the University of Toronto, and a PhD in the History of Consciousness, an interdisciplinary doctoral program at UCSC. As a professor, she served on faculty admissions committees and gained extensive knowledge about the behind-the-scenes world of graduate school admissions. She learned important patterns regarding which applications make it through to the final round and which ones--often for surprising reasons--are eliminated. After reading hundreds of applications, she learned a variety of techniques applicants can use to make their file competitive. She maintains a wide network of colleagues in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, as well as professional degree programs including law and business. She has lectured nationally and internationally at institutions including Stanford, Oxford University, and MIT.

Barbara Fishleder (she/her) has dedicated her career to helping people tell their stories in powerful, organized, and timely ways. Her extensive experience as an essay coach, career adviser, magazine editor, and litigation lawyer has refined her ability to transform even the most scattered thoughts into a fluent and coherent personal statement. Her approach with students is to help them experience the ease, joy, confidence, and sense of direction that come with writing from the heart and folding their work into an effective structure. Barbara has over twenty years of experience as a teacher, counselor, editor, explorer, story weaver, and dot connector. She enjoys using these skills to inspire students to conceive, believe in, and achieve unique and exceptional college application essays. Barbara received a JD from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Carlos A (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and a first-generation college graduate. He holds a BA in Political Science from Washington State University, a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Oregon State University, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Davis. After his doctoral studies, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship as a legislative staffer in the U.S. Senate. His academic research agenda focuses on the nature of electoral accountability and representation in the United States. Much of his research publications takes the form of active collaborations with graduate students from the procurement of scholarly idea to eventual conference presentation and writing peer review publications. Perhaps the best part of the job, Carlos enjoys learning from students and collaboratively developing students’ ability to communicate written narratives and voice effectively for various audiences. In addition, he has taught undergraduate, masters and PhD level courses in American politics and statistical methodology while also having experience serving on admissions and student award committees across multiple university settings. In his spare time, he enjoys following professional baseball and college football teams, which take the form of the Seattle Mariners and Washington State Cougars. He also enjoys exploring the outdoors throughout the west coast and enjoying water sports in Southern California.

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.

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, UPenn, 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.

Kathy (she/her) is a PhD student at Harvard University in Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering. She focuses on creating new materials that are inspired by nature and can advance human health and society. She completed her B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering at Stanford, working on skin-inspired electronics (think stretchy, biodegradable, and/or self-healing). After graduating, she moved to the Netherlands on a Fulbright research fellowship to research molecular motors (which won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2016!). Currently, she's working on soft robotics and biocompatible materials that can help surgeons. Outside of the lab, she loves dancing, concerts, curating Spotify playlists, and exploring new places with friends. No matter where she is, she's passionate about storytelling, community, mentoring, and empowering others.

Kristie (she/her) is a Gateless Method Writing facilitator, was a Fulbright Exchange teacher to England, participated in the National Writing Project, and is a graduate of Smith College (Psychology/English) and Harvard University (M.Ed). She has coached college and graduate school essays for two decades. Formerly a public high school English teacher, she taught AP English Language and Composition and UCONN's Seminar in Academic Writing. The only member of her family to attend and live on-campus at a private four year college, her students have been accepted to the Ivy League, competitive colleges, and a range of art, business, environmental, and theater programs. Kristie often uses humor as a teaching tool and believes the personal statement is a showcase for student voice and revealing personality. A writing consultant currently training to be a certified Author Accelerator™ book coach, Kristie lives in CT with her cat, Luigi "Lui" Macaroni, is an accomplished flute player trained at Tanglewood, and an avid gardener. Her interests include reading, musical theater, movies and great TV (let’s face it, storytelling regardless of medium), American Sign Language, and travel, to date 18 countries.

Kristin (she/her) has spent more than two decades educating and empowering changemakers. She specializes in Social Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Business at the University of Florida, where she co-founded and directs the Social Impact & Sustainability Initiative. Some of her favorite courses to teach include Business for Good Lab, Social Entrepreneurship, and Careers for Changemakers. A pioneer in the field of Social Entrepreneurship education, Kristin has been a college admissions & career consultant since 2002 and has helped thousands of students gain admissions to their top choice graduate programs. As former Director of Admissions & Honors Advisor at the University of Florida, Kristin has helped hundreds of seniors apply to graduate school & professional programs. She has a PhD in Social Psychology, a Post Doc in Management in Marketing, graduate degrees in Social Entrepreneurship (INSEAD & Stanford), and a certificate in Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard Business School. Kristin finds joy in collecting & sharing information & resources about how we can all make more conscientious choices about our consumption & live more sustainably.

Neetu (she/her) earned concurrent Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and International Studies from the University of California, Irvine before earning a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Michigan. She has served in various roles in higher education and in the non-profit sector including: Program Coordinator for the Student Activities Office at UC Irvine; Facilitator for the Diversity and Empowerment Program at UC Irvine; Intern at the US Department of Education; Peer Advisor at the University of Michigan; and Community Engagement Manager for a nonprofit organization serving the Southern California South Asian community. Grounded in her own experience as a first-generation student, Neetu’s professional interests lie in education policy, specifically addressing issues of equity and access for first-generation students of color. Her personal interests include cooking and hiking.

Aliya (she/her) holds a PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia University and an honors BS in Physics (with distinction) from the University of Toronto. Her academic expertise includes machine learning, exploratory data analysis, statistical analysis, and alternative data. She has worked with Morgan Stanley as a quantitative strategist and as the lead data scientist for a top Canadian medical research clinic. While at Columbia, she taught Python and Data Analytics and offered specialized training dedicated to writing in the sciences. Before joining College Essay Guy, she gained extensive experience working with students applying to graduate school as an educational consultant and as a graduate mentor at the University of Central Asia. In her spare time (!), she is working toward an MBA at Oxford University and is a faculty advisor at Scholar Reach, where she teaches a class on designing AI models to predict the stock market.