Meet Our Team
Jennifer L.
Managing Admissions CounselorJennifer has over 15 years of experience counseling high school and college students. She is a UCLA certified college admissions counselor with extensive experience guiding high school students through all elements of the career planning and college admissions counseling process. She has successfully mentored IvyBoost students who have matriculated to highly selective colleges including the Ivy League schools and top UCs. She is warm, patient, responsible and favored by students and parents. Jennifer started her career with higher education administration experience at Barnard College, and then established her leadership by serving as the Associate Director of Academic Advising in the Study Abroad Office at UNC Chapel Hill, as well as an academic advisor and program director at the Undergraduate College at the Stern School of Business of NYU. Jennifer holds a Master in Higher Education Administration from the University of Tennessee, She was a student- athlete and earned her degree in Economics from the University of Puget Sound. She also studied abroad at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She grew up in the Bay Area and has lived in the Mountain View/Los Altos area for over 17 years. She has three children in college and high school. During her free time, Jennifer enjoys running, hiking, traveling, visiting family and friends, as well as spending time with her children.
Lindsay F.
Admissions CounselorWith over a decade of experience in the education field, Lindsay brings experience, versatility and depth to her role as an independent education consultant. She holds a certificate in college admissions counseling from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in counseling from CSU, Sacramento. Lindsay grew up in the SF Bay Area and graduated from the Mission San Jose High School. Lindsay is currently the director of college counseling for an independent school and previously served as a college counselor at a college preparatory school for young women in Silicon Valley. Lindsay brings experience in college admissions with her admissions roles for Stanford University summer programs and Washington State University. Lindsay enjoys building relationships with students and families while guiding them through the college application process. Her goal is to help students find the best college fit while making the college planning, application process and transition to college as smooth as possible.
Dr. Lydia C.
Admissions CounselorDr. Lydia is an engineering college professor at UT Austin with over 15 years of experience teaching, mentoring student researchers and coaching undergraduate and graduate students. She also has over 15 years of experience serving in admissions roles as well as in selection committees for prestigious student awards. While in her current roles and prior to them, she has also extensively worked with high school students to help them embrace the admissions process as a self-discovery journey of their strengths and lived experiences. Lydia graduated from a highly competitive high school in New York City and attended selective admissions Ivy League Schools (Princeton, Cornell), where she obtained chemical engineering degrees with specialization in biotechnology. She therefore understands firsthand the pressures and confusion that students and families feel while preparing for competitive academic processes and admissions. This is why she loves helping students strategize and holistically improve their preparation and self-presentation journeys.
Michelle P.
Admissions Counselor & Essay Mentor & AdministratorAs a previous student of Mission San Jose High School and as a college transfer herself, Michelle has over 6 years experience counseling students with the application process to guide students on freshmen, transfer and graduate applications. She has enjoyed working with students by reviewing their college applications and essays and helping them find the strongest ways to express their ideas. She looks forward to using her experiences to encourage and support many other students throughout their journey of college admissions! Michelle is bilingual in Chinese Cantonese. Michelle graduated from UC Berkeley, where she majored in English. Through volunteering with organizations such as WriterCoach Connection, in which she worked with high school students on improving their writing, she gained a greater awareness of students’ different approaches to essay-writing and a greater sense of respect for the students’ diversity of opinions on a single text or topic. She also has experience in reviewing and editing people’s writing through her time as a member of student-run campus publications like Berkeley Fiction Review and Imaginarium. Currently, she also enjoys proofreading pages of e-books to clean up errors in punctuation and spelling to help increase access to public domain books on the site Project Gutenberg. During her free time, Michelle enjoys reading and watching musicals.
Justin B.
Admissions CounselorJustin is a highly experienced and compassionate High School Counselor who brings a wealth of college knowledge with him to IvyBoost. As Head of College Advising Services at a top-performing New Jersey STEM Academy, Justin has counseled more than 500 students over the last 10 years on their journeys to the Ivy League, Accelerated BS/MD Programs and many other top institutions, including Duke, Johns Hopkins & Stanford. Whether it’s completing the Common Application, choosing a major or developing insightful personal statements, Justin is well-versed on navigating the complexities of the college application process. Justin holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers University – New Brunswick College of Arts & Sciences, spent a semester abroad at Leiden University in The Netherlands and has a Master’s of Education Degree in School Counseling from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). Justin is also a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and certificated through Columbia University’s College Advising Program (TC-CAP). Outside of the counseling office, Justin enjoys spending time with his family and friends at the Jersey Shore and never misses a New York Knicks or Las Vegas Raiders game.
Dr. Abby G.
Admissions CounselorAbby brings a unique blend of real-world and academic mentoring experience to her role as a college and career counselor, with over five years of experience guiding students through their academic and career choices. As a scientist at a local biotech and pharmaceutical company, Abby is involved in pioneering drug development to engineer life-saving therapies. Her academic journey took her from Princeton University, where she studied Chemical Engineering for undergraduate degree, to Stanford University, where she earned her PhD developing biomaterials for drug delivery applications. During her PhD, Abby’s passion for mentoring shone as she guided numerous high school and undergraduate students towards achieving their academic goals. Abby aspires to inspire students to realize their full potential and carve their own unique paths. In her free time, Abby enjoys taking ballet classes (former child performer) and practicing yoga.
Tony T.
Admissions Counselor, FounderTony is passionate about education and has 30 years’ experience in teaching, mentoring, working and counseling. He has mentored many students from the Bay Area and all over the nation, as well as other countries to get into top colleges including Ivy League schools, top UCs and most selective liberal arts colleges. He taught at Fudan University and was a TA in Oregon’s graduate program in his early career. He expanded his interest in technology when he lived in Silicon Valley and studied web development & relational database along business management, which helped him work in Webex Communications and Cisco Systems, and his own Web 2.0 start-up before IvyBoost Education. Tony is certified in Career Planning and College Admissions Counseling by UC Berkeley. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Fudan University and Master’s degree from the University of Oregon. Tony is currently a member of WACAC (Western Association for College Admission Counseling) and NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling). Tony developed a six-module planning curriculum for college admissions, which includes a lot of his learning, research and experience over secondary and college curriculums, standardized tests, extra-curriculums, career planning and college financing. He has visited many colleges and secondary schools in the US and abroad. Tony is bilingual in Mandarin Chinese. In his spare time, Tony likes jogging, biking, skiing and traveling. He is a fan of college football and NBA.
Lilly G.
Admissions CounselorKnown for being responsible, approachable, and enthusiastic about education, Lilly is passionate about helping students explore their strengths and make informed academic and career decisions. Building on her experience as a college coach and career advisor, she enjoys guiding students through the college admissions process with empathy, clarity, and strategic insight. With over ten years of professional experience as a CPA, Financial Consultant, and Analytics Consultant in both manufacturing and banking industries, Lilly understands how different academic paths translate into real-world careers. This allows her adopting future-oriented guidance to align each student’s academic interest with their long-term goals. Lilly is bilingual in Mandarin Chinese. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Fudan University, a Master’s degree in Economics from Tongji University, and a Master’s degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is also a Certified Independent Educational Consultant through the University of California,Irvine.
Jennifer H.
Strategic Admissions Reviewer & CounselorJennifer has over seven years of experience in academic administration, admissions, and enrollment management. In her work, she has led admission, enrollment and accreditation strategy across multiple higher education academic programs. In addition, Jennifer has contributed to the review more than 20,000 applications annually at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate level at a top 20 US university. Jennifer holds two Master’s degrees from New York University, in Higher Education & Student Affairs and in Financial Planning, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, along with a Single Subject Teaching Credential in Chemistry.
Jon M.
Admissions CounselorWith more than a decade of experience in college admissions and enrollment management, Jon holds a B.A. in Public Health from the University of South Carolina and an M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from Northeastern University. His passion for college admissions began during his own undergraduate experience, where working in the admissions office inspired him to pursue a career helping students discover colleges where they can thrive. Throughout his career, Jon has worked with students and families across a wide range of educational settings, including highly selective universities, nationally recognized art and design institutions, liberal arts colleges, technical colleges, and public universities. Most recently, he served as an Assistant Dean of Admissions at Wake Forest University and previously spent five years at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), where he helped students explore their academic interests and navigate the admissions process with confidence. He is committed to making the admissions journey feel approachable, personalized, and empowering.
Kadie J.
Admissions CounselorKadie graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a minor in Chemical Engineering, before completing her Master’s in Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Professionally, she spent years working as a software engineer and lighting artist in the film industry, with experience on some of the most respected engineering and animation teams in the world, including Disneytoon Studios, Disney ABC Television Group, and Walt Disney Animation Studios. She also brings seven years of admissions consulting experience, having guided students toward acceptance at schools including Yale, Princeton, UChicago, UCLA, University of Michigan, and many more. Kadie’s passion for admissions counseling comes from a desire to pay forward the support she received throughout her own education and career. She knows firsthand how difficult the application process can be, and she loves to help students tell their story in a way that makes them stand out, working smarter rather than harder. Her years in the film industry deepened her love of storytelling and sharpened her instinct for what makes a story genuinely compelling, one of her greatest strengths as an admissions coach. She believes the ability to tell a personal story well is essential for differentiating an application from thousands of others. In her spare time, Kadie enjoys hiking, biking, snowboarding, paddleboarding, scuba diving, dancing, filmmaking and reading. She has also earned credits on films including Frozen II, Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, Wish, and Moana II.
Jessica C.
Admissions CounselorJessica graduated from the University of Southern California with both a Bachelor’s in Global Health and a Master’s in Global Medicine, completing both degrees within four years. With more than 6 years of experience in tutoring and mentorship, she has worked with over 300 high school students, providing personalized SAT/ACT preparation and comprehensive college counseling. Jessica has extensive experience mentoring students on crafting compelling Common Application personal statements and supplemental essays. Drawing from her own successful experience navigating the college admissions cycle, she guides students to build cohesive applications that reflect both academic excellence and personal identity. Her mentorship has helped students gain admission to some of the nation’s most selective universities, including Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Yale, and MIT.
Dr. Kathleen M.
Essay MentorKathleen is a retired English professor with over 20 years of experience teaching writing and literature courses to first year through Master’s level students. Her love of nineteenth-century British literature is offset by her interest in student writing and mentoring students on research projects from English to Communications. She loves helping students gather their thoughts, make a plan, and create a beautifully crafted essay. Kathleen holds a Ph.D in English from Purdue University, but started her education journey with a BA from UC Santa Barbara and an MA from CSU Long Beach. She is happy to have returned to California and is enjoying walking by the beach frequently. In her spare time, Kathleen enjoys baking cookies and reading detective novels.
Dr. Lan N.
Essay MentorLan brings over 10 years of experience in the field of education, including college admissions consulting, teaching, and academic research. She has taught writing in high school, university writing seminars, and after school programs. As a published author, Lan has co-written numerous academic journal articles and has contributed to edited volumes. Given her belief that everyone has a unique story to tell, she is driven to help students present themselves through their writing. She helped many students get into Ivy League/top ranked colleges. Lan holds a Ph.D. in Reading/Writing/Literacy from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Columbia University, and a BA in Economics from Stanford University.
Amy T.
Essay MentorAmy combines her academic background with real-world storytelling experience to help students find their authentic voices through college admissions writing. She holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Film and Literature Studies from UC Berkeley and an MFA in Cinema Production from USC Film School. Since graduating from USC, she has worked for over two decades in story analysis and content creation and has also crafted documentary, short film, and screenwriting works. She has more than five years of experience as an academic writing tutor, an SAT tutor, and a college admissions essay mentor and editor. She loves working in this role as a compassionate guide, helping students tell their stories while gaining personal insight that builds confidence. Many of her students have been admitted into top-tier universities, including Stanford, UPenn, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and USC. A self-proclaimed story junkie, Amy has continued to study narrative techniques through UCLA’s extension program. When she’s not working with students, she enjoys writing and spending time with her husband, two teenagers, and their impossibly fluffy corgi.
Deirdre H.
Essay MentorDeirdre graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a Bachelor of Arts in writing, subsequently earning a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University. She has taught academic writing and research skills at the University of Southern California (USC) and in the certificated program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and served as an editor at NORC at the University of Chicago. Furthermore, she was engaged as a writer and editor for the iPodia Program within the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC. An accomplished author, her publications include personal narratives and articles on education. She has been mentoring students on their college application essays for over 20 years. She has advised hundreds of students, facilitating their acceptance into top-tier American universities, including Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Georgetown, MIT, UPenn, and Stanford. Deirdre is aware of the creative skills needed to construct exceptional college application essays and can help students uncover their unique story that shows passion, curiosity, and values. It’s a process… but she believes it can also be fun!
If you are interested in supporting our students and posses the appropriate trainings and experiences, you are welcome to join our team!
Please send your resume to web[at]ivyboost.com
