Margaret fell in love with language and learning at Phillips Academy, Andover, after which she earned an A.B. with honors in Political Theory from Princeton University; a J.D. from Virginia Law; and an M.F.A. in Poetry from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers. Her writing experience is expansive. She began her career writing commentary for CBS Sports/TennisChannel talent; she wrote copiously as a regulatory law associate in D.C.; and she has published legal non-fiction, flash-fiction, and poetry.
Her work has also appeared or is forthcoming in The Asheville Review, Consequence, The Jabberwock Review, Beyond Words Magazine, Quarter after Eight and Inside Higher Ed, among others. Her first full-length poetry collection is forthcoming from Four Way Books.
In recent years, Margaret has devoted herself to elite admissions strategy, application crafting, and essay crafting. With a poet’s attention to detail and craft, Margaret’s careful guidance on narrative architecture, voice-driven word choice, and sophisticated syntax facilitates wholly original, self-revelatory essays that shine. It tracks that her Ivy+ admissions record is flawless.
Margaret is based on a farm in Virginia with her shepherd dog, Huck.
Dr. Tyler Spencer holds a Ph.D. in Public Health and an M.Sc. in Evidence-Based Social Intervention from Oxford University, where he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. He is the founder and former Executive Director of Grassroots Health, a non-profit public health organization that recruits college athletes to teach mental, nutritional, and sexual health education in American public schools. Dr. Spencer studied at Georgetown University as an undergraduate before graduating with a B.A. in International Health and Sustainable Development from the University of Virginia. For his leadership at Grassroots Health, Dr. Spencer has been named a World Economic Forum Young Global Shaper, a Skoll Associate Fellow in Entrepreneurship, and a Senior Atlantic Fellow in Health Equity. He’s also been honored with a Clinton Global Initiative University Award and an MTV Staying Alive Award. He is an expert on service learning, entrepreneurship, public health, service-oriented travel, and responsible citizenship.
Beyond his academic and professional peaks, Dr. Spencer is experienced in the art of storytelling and persuasive writing. He has crafted multiple successful masters and doctoral dissertations and an avalanche of successful fellowship, scholarship, and grant applications. Tyler is a world-class essay specialist who offers rapt attention to detail and an intuitive understanding of how to write persuasively and authentically. His strategy is sharp and incisive; his editorial feedback is hyper-specific; and he is the only Rhodes Scholar from his hometown of Staunton, Virginia in the 122 years the scholarship has been around—a brilliant trailblazer.
Tyler is based in Mexico City and provides specialty Spanish support spanning Spanish I to AP Spanish.
Helen graduated from Deerfield Academy before studying at Vanderbilt University, where she graduate magna cum laude, with a B.A. in English. While at Vanderbilt, she was the Prose Editor of the Vanderbilt Review, and tutored English as a Second Language.
After graduating, Helen attended the Columbia Publishing Course at Columbia University in New York City before becoming an editorial assistant at a leading, global literary agency.
Helen is a laser-sharp editor, interested in helping exceptional candidates craft and sculpt exceptional stories. She devours literature across genres—including narrative nonfiction, literary fiction, memoir and speculative fiction—which contributes to the depth and dimension of her editorial guidance and vibrant feedback.
Evan holds a joint M.A. from MIT’s School of Engineering and MIT’s Sloan School of Management, where he was head coach of the rugby team. Before that, he earned his B.A. in Political Science and Business from Columbia University.
Evan is a systems engineer and expert in conducting in-depth needs analyses of complex environments in corporate and academic settings, including tech startups, neuroscience labs, and micro-finance ventures across the world, from Bangladesh to the Amazon. Since May 2022, Evan has been on the ground in Ukraine conducting frontlines research with Ukraine’s military intelligence and drone operations. He also leads a successful 501(c)(3) organization that coordinates and delivers targeted aid to Ukrainian civilians.
Evan is an avid world traveler with a special focus on adventure and service trips. He has run a marathon down Mount Everest, kayaked solo through the Amazon, backpacked across Northern Pakistan, and currently lives and works near the zero-line (forward operating bases ahead of the frontlines) in Ukraine. He advises on unconventional applicant paths, all-angles strategic positioning, elite technology-related admissions, and gap year planning.
Evan is based in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
Shannon Harrington holds a B.A. in Urban Studies from Stanford University, where she was captain of women's Varsity Squash. She has spent her career working in recruiting and human resources roles at venture capital firms and startups, beginning at Bain Capital Ventures, where she built a program, StartUp Academy, to help students find job opportunities within Bain’s portfolio companies. Shannon also ran new-hire onboarding at Twitter and rolled out the company's first Unconscious Bias Workshops globally.
Over the course of her career, Shannon has helped thousands of students find their first jobs and loves helping people tap into their authentic selves.
Shannon is our in-house interview specialist. She has conducted thousands of interviews over the course of her career, she knows what admissions teams are looking for, and she knows how to craft your personal brand to capture an interviewer’s attention. She is also a crackerjack career counselor with a wealth of experience helping students and professionals find direction and chart dream career-paths.
Shannon is based in London.
John graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a dual degree in Business Analytics and Industrial Design. He also competed all four years at the top of the varsity tennis team. He won the university’s Knute Rockne award for academic and athletic excellence.
Today, John works for Deloitte’s AI & data consulting practice, advising financial services and hospitality clients on data architecture, data modernization, and data operations. An insatiable tinkerer at heart, his passion is architecting software for start-ups in sports and media, all of which informs his focused, meticulous approach to application architecture!
John is our executive functioning wunderkind, specializing in helping students structure and systematize their academic, athletic, and personal lives. A hyper-organized performance-optimizer, and a wizard with Excel, John happily asserts he could teach a golden retriever basic data-tracking, organizational architecture, and personal systems integration—and we believe him. A true leader by example, John has developed 42 metrics of health, well-being, and efficiency to track daily , mindfully sustaining his balance and optimizing his performance. If you’re interested in learning more, he’ll happily light the way.
John is based in New York City.
Jane Waterfall graduated from Phillips Academy Andover, after which she studied at Cornell University before earning an B.A. in Psychology from Barnard College at Columbia University.
After college, Jane spent time in rural Colorado and Virginia where she worked in various community and shelter medicine roles at veterinary clinics and farms. Subsequently, she graduated from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Jane is now a small animal veterinarian with a focus on community and shelter medicine, and surgery. Over the course of her career, she’s also held positions at the Belize Wildlife and Referral Clinic, The New England Wildlife Center, The New England Aquarium and the Museum of Science.
Jane is Backcountry’s Veterinary Medicine and Eco-Service Learning Specialist. If you have the desire to volunteer in meaningful ways with organizations that protect wildlife and the environment, Jane is here to guide you there. Jane also took a vibrant, circuitous route to Veterinary Medicine and is a powerful pathfinder and walking empath—if you need help finding your direction, Jane’s ready to your compass.
Jane is based in Massachusetts and loves her Catahoula Leopard Dogs.
Cameron was a standout student-athlete at the University of Notre Dame, graduating cum laude with a degree in Finance as captain of the Varsity Women’s Tennis Team. At graduation, Cameron earned the most prestigious award for Notre Dame student-athletes, the Byron V. Kanaley Award, recognizing those who have been most exemplary as both students and leaders.
Cameron currently works as an Investment Banking Associate in the Financial Services Group at Piper Sandler. Additionally, Cameron completed Level I of the CFA in Spring 2023.
Cameron is an all-around performance specialist who can help you bring your academic game to the next level with targeted, performance-optimizing fitness and wellness routines; Cameron is also a D1 recruitment expert who can fill you in on all-angles of the process.
