Meet #TeamPenguin Your Trusted College Admission Experts
Team Penguin
Independent College Counselors
Each of our college counselors is a college admissions professional with years of experience and membership in professional college counseling organizations.
Nicole Dorfler
San Fernando Valley College Counselor
Nicole excels in guiding students through the process of creating a balanced college list, crafting and revising personal statements, supplemental essay questions and the UC Personal Insight Questions. ...
Diana Hanson
Santa Monica College Counselor
Santa Monica-based college counselor Diana Hanson is committed to helping students and their families prepare for college. Her career as an independent college counselor began in 2005, and she has assisted students with every aspect of applying to college. From selecting a college to preparing a college application, Diana guides students through the entire process. Diana taught English...
Dana Klitzner
College Transfer Counselor
Dana Klitzner is Magellan’s Transfer Counselor. After guiding two of her own kids through transfers, one from a community college to a four-year, and one from one four-year college to another, she’s helped dozens of students through the transfer process. Dana loves working with young adults who have started their college journey and are now thoughtfully considering the next phase of their education.
Shelley Randles
Claremont College Counselor
Shelley Randles has spent her career working with students, the last 16 of them in college admission consulting. She began her work with a college access community based organization, Uncommon Good, as a coordinator of a mentoring program that guides first generation families and their students in the college process...
Michelle Silbernagel
Seattle College Counselor
Michelle considers it both an honor and a privilege to clarify college admissions for students and families in the greater Seattle area and beyond...
Melanie F. Tasoff
West Hills College Counselor
Melanie’s journey to college counseling developed from her own personal experience. Originally from Tucson, AZ, she graduated from UCLA with her Bachelor’s Degree. Later, Melanie returned to UCLA and completed her Certificate in College Counseling, with Honors. The mother of 3 sons, all with different college needs, Melanie’s initial path of working in business took a turn when she discovered the world of ...
Suzie Wynne
Encino College Counselor
After practicing law for many years, college counselor Suzie Wynne realized her passion was to help young adults find their educational path. Suzie became an independent college counselor, and enjoys helping students prepare for college. She believes it is critically important to understand each student’s learning style, needs, talents, values, and aspirations. Suzie helps students use this information to find and apply to ...
Evelyn Jerome-Alexander
Los Angeles College Counselor
College Counselor Evelyn Jerome-Alexander is passionate about helping students get into college. Her dedicated approach to guiding students on how to best present themselves and their accomplishments in college applications has resulted in her helping hundreds of students get into great colleges and universities all over the country. Evelyn founded Magellan College Counseling …
Caleb Fitzpatrick
San Diego College Counselor
Caleb is a uniquely qualified college counselor with more than 20 years of diverse professional experience in business and education. He spent the first part of his career working for various financial companies in Sydney, Australia in marketing and client services. Upon moving back to California in 2000, Caleb earned a teaching credential from Cal State San Marcos and worked as a substitute teacher in North San Diego ...
Cath Howard
Lake Tahoe College Counselor
Cath believes that the college admissions process is a journey of self reflection, and is especially qualified to help students who are interested in social justice, visual and performing arts, music, biological sciences, and collegiate athletics...
Debbie Liebert
Encino College Counselor
College counselor Debbie Liebert has always been passionate about college, the college experience, and helping students find the right college match. Debbie’s undergraduate experience at USC, where she met her husband of 35 years, changed her life, and she wants every student to have a great college experience like she did. That wonderful college experience starts with finding exactly the right college.
Chris Savage
Fort Collins College Counselor
Chris has been helping students from various backgrounds thrive in all areas of their lives as a public high school counselor since 2014, first in Los Angeles and now in Fort Collins, Colorado. Seeking additional capacity to help students prepare for college, Chris earned his College Counseling Certificate from UCLA. Chris believes that students know themselves better than anyone, and finds great satisfaction in helping his students learn ...
Sarah Switala
Colorado College Counselor
Working alongside students as they explore college, career, and scholarship opportunities is thrilling. Sarah builds strong working relationships with her students. She takes the time to get to know students and meets them where they are in the college exploration and application process.
Lesa Kinnear Weber
Austin College Counselor
Dr. Lesa Weber has spent her adult life empowering others. Previously as the Dental Prevention Officer for Oklahoma and Kansas Public Health Services, and most recently as a mentor and volunteer college counselor for High Tech High in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, Lesa provides experienced guidance for students who are interested in pursuing STEM-related careers. As a college counselor ...
Diane Bidna
Agoura Hills College Counselor
With over 7 years as a college counselor and 20+ years in corporate meeting and event planning, college counselor Diane Bidna has a keen eye for details. She has worked as a counselor both in a high school setting as well as independently, and has advised students of all levels including IB, AP and college prep. Diane strives to help students create a diverse list of schools that are a good fit for each student ...
Sheri Greenbaum
Mill Valley College Counselor
Sheri helps students discover and develop their passions, working with them to find meaningful extracurricular experiences. Similarly, she helps students find their voice and effectively share their stories in their essays. Sheri’s client-centric, highly personalized college counseling approach employs the research, writing, advocacy, oral communication and listening skills ...
Kathy Kelleher
Chicago College Counselor
Kathy Kelleher has a true knack for the college planning process. After single-handedly directing the college application process of her four kids, all of whom were admitted to top colleges around the country, Kathy became a trusted resource for college admissions information within the community, particularly at soccer games, dance competitions, tennis matches, women’s groups and carpool lines. Combining her marketing and research skills ...
Marissa Margosian
Baltimore College Counselor
Marissa has been a college counselor and English teacher in public, independent day, and boarding schools in New York, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Maryland over the last 25 years. Marissa is active in the National Association for College Admission Counseling, several regional associations ...
Sheryl Schreiber
Studio City College Counselor
Sheryl has worked in leadership positions in academia throughout her career at both the high school and college level. She has consistently found that just as no two colleges are alike, each student has a unique set of priorities for their college experience, so she helps each student focus on finding the colleges that fit them best.
Fay Taragan
Calabasas College Counselor
In working with students and parents, Calabasas college counselor Fay Taragan utilizes skills honed during her tenure in the corporate and later, the non-profit world, to now guide her clients as they navigate their path to college. Fay is committed to empowering high school students by providing them with the tools, techniques and thought processes to move from exploration to application to acceptance.
Donna White
San Fernando Valley College Counselor
Donna White is a lifelong learner, and her non-traditional educational path informs her work in guiding students to the right college. Donna started Berkshire Community College at age 24, earning her associate’s degree in marketing. After moving to California with her husband and 18 month old daughter, Donna completed her BS at Pepperdine in business administration, and went on to earn an MBA.
Our College Counseling Team
Getting into the right college is becoming a more difficult challenge every year. College costs are rising; competition at top schools has increased; and in general, the process is much more complicated than it was when most of today's parents applied to college. That’s why Magellan College Counseling has twelve independent college counselors to serve parents and students nationwide.
Although our college counselors are located in specific cities, we work with many of our clients remotely via video conferences and telephones and and can serve you and your child no matter where you are. Find our independent college counselors in:
- Los Angeles, CA
- San Diego, CA
- Bay Area / Lake Tahoe, CA
- Fort Collins, CO
- Chicago, IL
- Baltimore, MD
- Austin, TX
- Seattle, WA
At Magellan, we help students and families navigate the college search process. Our goal is to make finding and getting into the right college easier, less stressful, more successful, more fun and often, less expensive. Each of our college counselors is a college admissions professional with years of experience and membership in professional college counseling organizations.
Hank helps us take the stress out of the college admission process. He's been known to snuggle with clients who visit Evelyn's office.
Chloe is the "Gatekeeper of Grammar." She'll make sure your essays are grammatically flawless!
Get In Touch
We offer both local in-person college counseling as well as remote college counseling. Find out which of our independent college counselors is the best for you and your student.
Reach out via our contact form or call us at 877-5-MAGGIE (877-562-4443).