Quad Education Partnerships Open More Doors to Higher Education Opportunities

Amanda has a Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a Master’s in Education. She has over 14 years of counseling experience, having coached her students at top universities such as Dartmouth College, Cornell University, and Georgetown University, among others. Amanda also holds a certificate from Columbia Business School’s Executive Education Developing Leader’s Program.

Amanda is a strong project manager; she meets every deadline and ensures it feels doable for her students and their families. She is also highly perceptive and can understand her students’ strengths and character to tell powerful stories that showcase these character traits. Amanda has applied these skills with her Quad students by helping them develop strong essays and resumes, coaching her students through interviews, and ensuring that their applications are impactful. Amanda knows how important getting into college is for her students; she hopes to honor the importance of this process through her work ethic, commitment, and follow-through.

Her passion for working with students and guiding them through the admissions process comes from her experience of getting into her dream school. Amanda has spent her entire career working in education because she knows how powerful education is as a tool for transformative change. Spending time with her students – hearing their stories, learning more about their skills and passions, and being part of their educational, professional, and civic journeys – is incredibly special to her. She is committed to her students and wants to see them have their moment in the sun when they receive their acceptance letters.

When Amanda isn’t coaching, she loves reading books, starting book clubs, volunteering, kayak, and playing trivia.

Amanda’s Pro Tip?

It’s most important to reveal who you uniquely are as a student. This will allow you to connect powerfully with admissions staff and build personalized strategies for each element of your application.

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.

Demi has a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science & Policy with a Minor in Political Science from Duke University. She has also earned a JD from The University of North Carolina School of Law. Professionally, Demi has worked closely with the Academic Advising office at Emory School of Law. Her most significant learning from this experience is that there is no perfect candidate alone; each candidate comes together with the incoming student body to form a great class. Some candidates had more experience while others had a better academic record, but the incoming class was always whole.

Demi's passion for coaching stemmed from the help she received when applying to college herself. Based on her environment and situation, she did not have the resources to go to college. However, she had mentors who helped her at every step; they encouraged her to participate in pre-college programs she wasn't sure she qualified for, and they encouraged her to sign up for competitions she never dreamed of. Most importantly, her mentors believed there was no limit to what she could do and were willing to get her where she needed to go. Demi understands the difficulties of applying to college, and her goal is to help applicants have options on where they go to college and beyond.

Demi's greatest strengths as a coach include helping Quad applicants look through their experiences in a non-intrusive way to see the best version of themselves and articulate it in their application materials. She is also a great listener and takes extra steps to ensure the entire family feels involved and comfortable during the process.

When Demi isn't coaching, she enjoys drinking international teas, gardening, hiking, and spending time with her husband and cat.