Our Team

Sara DeSimone Scott

Sara DeSimone Scott brings 10 years of admissions experience to Admissions Advantage. Her experience includes working as an Admission Counselor at Brandeis University and as the Assistant Director of Admissions and the Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Lasell College. She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master of Arts in Communications Studies and Public Relations from Emerson College. Sara has recently returned to the Boston area after living in Milan, Italy for two years.

Michelle Lev

Michelle joined Admissions Advantage having spent eight years working as an admissions consultant for MBA candidates. She brings her well honed advising skills to the college application process. A cum laude graduate of Yale University, Michelle earned an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management where she was a student member of the admissions committee. Prior to becoming an admissions consultant, Michelle worked as an equity research analyst on Wall Street and as a brand strategy consultant supporting Fortune 500 companies. Her skill sets in writing, editing, and marketing make her an invaluable resource to students and families going through the admissions process.

Victoria Natale

Victoria Natale comes to Admissions Advantage with 15 years of college admission experience. She spent her career at Boston University where she managed the selection process for an incoming class of 4,200 undergraduate students shared between eleven undergraduate schools and colleges. She has worked intimately with public and independent school counselors, parents and students on a daily basis. She has spoken on numerous panels nationally and is a popular “admissions expert” at high school programs for students and parents beginning the college search process. Victoria holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wheaton College and a Master of Education from Boston University.

Jennifer McEnany

Jennifer McEnany comes to Admissions Advantage with experience in admissions and teaching. Jen has been in the field of education for 10 years, currently working as part of the admissions team at Northeastern University. Jen brings her years of experience as a high school English teacher and academic advisor to the team. During her time as a teacher, in addition to being recognized for her rigorous writing curriculum, she advised students on course selection and college admissions requirements. She was also awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study culture and education in Thailand and Vietnam. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts from Lehigh University and a Master of Arts in Education from University of California Berkeley.

Shannon Sardelli Smith

Shannon Smith worked in college admissions for 9 years before joining Admissions Advantage in 2011. She has a broad perspective on the admissions process having worked at three very different institutions of higher education. She served as an Associate Dean of Admission at Endicott College
before moving across the desk to college advising. Shannon focuses on every opportunity to guide and support students as they explore their potential, their future, and the possibilities that await them.

Shannon holds a BA from Bucknell University where she majored in English and Anthropology and a Masters degree in Higher Education from Boston College. She is an associate member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association.

Laura Hartnett

Laura Hartnett comes to Admissions Advantage with a background in admissions and career counseling. She has worked as an Admissions Reader for multiple programs at the MIT Sloan School of Management for the past 6 years. Prior to MIT, Laura worked at Babson College in both graduate and undergraduate career advising, as well as maintaining a career counseling practice focused on recent college graduates. Her knowledge of both admissions and career advising brings a unique perspective to the college search process. Laura has a BA from Bucknell University and an MBA from Babson College. She has also helped her two oldest children successfully navigate the college admissions process.

Kate Mikalaitis

Kate Mikalaitis joins Admissions Advantage with more than 12 years of experience teaching and advising students in both private and public schools in Boston. She currently works as a member of the admissions team at Northeastern University. Kaitlyn worked as an English teacher, department chair, and student advisor. While teaching, Kaitlyn designed and implemented a college readiness curriculum for juniors and seniors. Kaitlyn holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Writing and Literature from Emerson College, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Simmons College, and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Boston College.

Karla Gonzalez

Karla Gonzalez joins Admissions Advantage with experience in college and independent school admissions counseling, teaching, and nonprofit leadership. She has worked with countless students on personal development, career exploration, discovering passion through meaningful extracurriculars, and college and scholarship applications. She is an active volunteer at her alma mater and has served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations.

Karla holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from Stanford University and a Master of Arts in Education from Johns Hopkins University and is currently pursuing a Doctor in Education in Educational Leadership from UCLA.

Julia Peaslee

Julia Peaslee joins Admissions Advantage with a background in admissions and leadership development coaching. As a recruiter at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, she has a deep understanding of the comprehensive and holistic review standards of top-tier educational institutions.

Her coaching approach is grounded in positive psychology, strengths-based leadership, and storytelling. Every student has a compelling story to tell and with her partnership students will learn how to qualitatively demonstrate their authentic value in their admissions applications.

She holds a Master of Science in Communication from Northwestern University’s Medill School and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois.

Jamon Pulliam

Jamon joins Admissions Advantage with a host of experiences in college counseling and college admissions. Jamon worked in admissions as a student tour guide and student ambassador during undergrad before starting his admissions career at Morehouse College. Then he began advising students through the college process as the Associate Director of College Counseling at Drew School in San Francisco where he also advised the yearbook and coached swimming. Most recently, he serves as an Associate Director of College Counseling and Academic Advising at Viewpoint School while also advising many groups on campus and teaching 9th grade Human Development. Jamon has read / reviewed undergraduate and graduate applications for the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of San Francisco, and scholarship applications for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. He has also spent his summers advising low-income, high-achieving students through the college process at USC Bovard Scholars.

Jamon graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science from Tuskegee University with a focus on child clinical psychology. He spent a year at the University of Chicago taking coursework in psychology while doing research at Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Educational Leadership at UCLA.