Founder

 Julie Fulton began her career as an Admission Counselor at the highly selective Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Tufts University. There, she read thousands of applications for admission to the freshman class and served on the scholarship committee, for which she reviewed and recommended merit awards. Over the past two decades, Julie has consulted at Occidental College, reviewing tens of thousands of applications and rendering admission recommendations. She has also reviewed applications for the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In 2004, Julie created Admit 101, a service to guide Los Angeles-area high school students through the college admissions process and then, in 2007, co-founded the full-service admissions company, Mosaic College Prep. Julie has consulted students nationwide, has led workshops on college admissions for a variety of schools and organizations, and developed a pre-college program for View Park Prep charter school in Los Angeles. She also created the Mosaic Master Class, an experiential course designed to lead students through building uniquely effective college applications.

Julie graduated with honors from Tufts University, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Drama. She completed the UCLA Certificate Program in College Counseling and earned her Masters degree from UCLA, Anderson. She contributed the chapter “Coping with the College Admissions Process” for the critically acclaimed book The Parents’ Guide to Psychological First Aid published in 2011 by the Oxford Press, and has been a contributor to Planet Money’s The Indicator and NPR’s All Things Considered. She is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC).

Click here for an excerpt of Julie’s chapter “Coping with the College Admissions Process” 

 

Senior Counselors

 Karen Bowlin started with Mosaic College Prep in 2009 and has worked with many students on the college application process, as well as joined the Occidental College admissions staff reviewing applications and helping to create incoming classes through admission recommendations. Karen brings extensive experience in both communications and the art of self-marketing to her work with students and is currently completing the UCLA Certification Program in College Counseling. Karen earned her Bachelors degree in both English Literature and Psychology from Claremont McKenna College, graduating magna cum laude, and graduated from UCLA, Anderson MBA program in 2012. She is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and has worked as an admissions reader for both Occidental College and Reed College.

Focusing on marketing, Karen had the pleasure of working on projects with Toyota, Anheiser Busch and ThinkSmart Software and was awarded the Outstanding Student in Marketing Award. Transitioning from marketing to college applications was easy for Karen, as she explains that “the college application process is very similar to marketing from a business perspective; it’s about creating goals, determining your target audience, and promoting yourself in the most effective way possible.”

 

Sara Bildner has been working in college counseling for over 15 years and with Mosaic College Prep for six seasons. She began her career as a high school English teacher where she became especially adept at helping students tell their stories. In her role working with undergraduate applicants and as our lead transfer counselor, she has helped countless students identify their best college options and share their unique voices in the applications. At Mosaic, Sara helped to develop and co-leads our College Essay Writing Workshop. She has also contributed to Mosaic College Prep’s LA HIP internship run in collaboration with Children’s Hospital. Sara has a Bachelor’s in English from Scripps College, a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Walden University, and a Certificate in College Counseling from UCLA. She is a member of the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC).

 

Suzette DeGrange began her academic career at Stanford University, serving as Director of Upward Bound, a pre-college program for first-generation college-bound high school students. She also served as an advisor in the Haas Center for Public Service. Following her time at Stanford, Suzette worked as Senior Associate Director of Undergraduate Admission at the University of San Francisco for 17 years. In addition to visiting and recruiting at many schools and colleges, her favorite aspect of her work at USF was reading and evaluating applications for admission from San Francisco, Alameda, Los Angeles, and Orange County schools. Suzette has extensive experience partnering and volunteering with community-based organizations and is professionally certified in College Admissions and Career Planning from UC Berkeley. She completed a Bachelor of Public Administration-Business at Loyola University New Orleans and a Master of Education at the University of San Diego. She is a member of the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC), and the National Career Development Association (NCDA).

 

Whitney Worster has over 20 years of experience working in education, including positions as Admissions Counselor and Assistant Dean of Admissions at Occidental College, College Counselor at the Wildwood School, and a classroom  teacher in La Canada.  Her various roles have allowed her to work with thousands of students of all ages, forging partnerships and guiding them along their educational journey.

As a student herself, Whitney spent the first two years of her college career at Cornell University before transferring as a junior to Occidental College where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology.  She later received a Master’s degree from Pepperdine University in Curriculum and Instruction and a Master’s degree from Cal State Northridge in Educational Leadership.  Her experiences as a transfer student and attending a variety of institutions lends her an understanding of the importance of finding the “right fit”.

 

Pati Pineiro-Goodenberger has over 35 years of admission and financial aid experience at the college level. She has worked at institutions such as the University of Iowa, Scripps College, and Occidental College. She also served 6 years as the Director of Admissions at Vistamar School, a private college preparatory high school in Los Angeles County. Having received her B.B.A from the University of Iowa, where she was one of the first Opportunity at Iowa Scholars, Pati has focused her work on helping students understand how they fit into the various needs of different colleges and universities and how to showcase themselves in ways that authentically capture who they are and how they will thrive in each academic setting. Pati’s favorite part of the admissions process has always been working with students to find their unique voice within their personal essays and writing supplements. As a parent herself who has guided two daughters through the college application process, Pati knows this process can, at times, feel overwhelming, and she makes it a point to collaborate with families and understand their goals for their children. Pati has worked with students from all backgrounds, including first generation, international, transfer, and under-represented groups. Ultimately, Pati’s goal is to not only identify colleges that align with a student’s academic aspirations, but to also explore a range of institutions that the student could proudly call their alma mater.

 

Maria Furtado (she/her) has worked in college admissions for over twenty years, including 13 years as a Director of Admissions. Maria also served as the Executive Director for the non-profit organization Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL), championing the ideal of a student-centered approach to the college search process. Maria has 17 years experience working directly with students both as an independent college counselor and as the Associate Director of College Counseling at an independent high school in the Bay Area. Maria guides each student in creating a college list that is right for them, having personally visited nearly 150 colleges nationwide. As a “grammar nerd,” Maria loves working with students to fine-tune their essays to present their best, most authentic selves. A first-generation college graduate, Maria earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in criminal justice alongside a minor in philosophy from Stonehill College in Massachusetts. An avid reader, Maria will likely ask what you’re reading.

 

John “JP” Yates has worked for over 15 years in higher education with extensive experience in both domestic and international college admissions. JP earned his International College Advising Certificate from the University of Pennsylvania and has served as a university director of college admissions, a high school college counselor, and an independent college counselor. He has created educational programming for both students and their families to demystify the college admissions process and guide students to find their best fit higher education destination. In addition to his deep background in university admissions, JP brings humor and joy into the college application process. Whether his students have been admitted to the UCs or Oxford, JP’s philosophy is there are no “best” schools, only schools that are best for the individual student. JP holds a Master of Business Administration and is a member of both the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) and the International Association for College Admission Counseling.

 

Sarah Anderson has nearly 20 years of experience working in education, including 11 years mentoring high school students through the college application process and 9 years on the leadership team of the admissions and financial aid office at San Francisco University High School. In 2017, Sarah earned a professional certificate in college admissions and career planning from UC Berkeley. Since then, she has worked as a high school college counselor and independent college consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area. With her extensive knowledge of schools, Sarah excels in creating tailored college lists for students. Using an encouraging and calm approach, Sarah guides students through the essay writing process by making sure students feel heard, always taking their questions, goals, and dreams seriously. Sarah graduated with honors in German Language and Literature from Dartmouth College, received her Master of Liberal Arts from Stanford University, and was a Fulbright Scholar. She is a member of the Western Association for College Admission Counseling (WACAC) and the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA).

 

Senior Counselors, Community Programs

Cherry Cachero brings 15 years of experience to her role as a college counselor with Mosaic. Having served as an admissions officer at both her alma mater, Mount Holyoke College, as well as at Stanford University, her expertise is diverse and extensive. For the past eight years, Cherry has worked closely with students and families as a college counselor at international schools in South Korea, China, and her home state of Hawaii, with her students successfully admitted at institutions not only in the United States, but also in Canada, Japan, and Europe. Inspired by her own high school college counselor, Cherry is dedicated to helping students from all backgrounds in discovering the academic community that best fits their aspirations and needs. Cherry received a Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration from Boston College and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from Mount Holyoke College. When she is not guiding students through the college application process, she spends her time with friends exploring hiking trails at various national parks across the country.

 

Associate Counselors

Mariah Bess began tutoring through the Office of Disability Services during her time at Barnard College, Columbia University. In navigating her own academically rigorous journey as an ADD/LD student, she discovered tools that enabled her to adapt to the educational needs of individual students and provide strategies for success. After graduating cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English, Mariah returned to Los Angeles and started working with students from ages 6 to 56, empowering them to become confident writers, scholars of the humanities, and critical thinkers.

Over the past eight years, Mariah has had tremendous success in helping her students gain admission to their dream schools. Nothing gives Mariah more joy than watching her students develop a deeper sense of identity, as well as an ownership of their accomplishments, as they learn to synthesize their achievements and personalities in their admissions essays. Mariah’s goal as a counselor is to eliminate any undue stress in an inherently stressful process, and to guide her students towards colleges that will ignite and inspire them intellectually, personally, and socially. She has spoken at various college admissions events at high schools in LA, facilitated college application workshops, and currently co-leads Mosaic’s College Essay Writing Workshop. She is a member of the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC).

 

 

Shelby Stewart graduated from Chapman University with a BS in Business Administration. Shelby strives to make the college application process as fun as possible and loves watching her students succeed. She has visited over 50 college campuses and takes pride in helping students find unique programs that fit their needs and future goals. Shelby has worked as a Seasonal Admissions Reader for Northeastern University since 2021, where she conducts full evaluations of student applications. Outside of work, she enjoys teaching Jazzercise. Shelby holds her certificate in College and Career Counseling from UCLA and is an Associate Member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), a Provisional Member of Higher Educational Consultants (HECA), and a member of Western Association for College Admission Counseling (WACAC) where she enjoys connecting with other counselors across the nation.

 

Peter Walton brings 8 years of college admission counseling experience to the table, including 7 years as Associate Director and Admission Counselor at Pepperdine University, his alma mater. He has read over 13,000 college essays and enjoys the glimpse into the diverse experiences of students from across the country. Describing his approach to supporting students through the essay writing process, he states, “I love asking questions to draw out each students’ story, and working together to illuminate their identity.” Peter has been described as having a calming “zen” presence for students navigating the college admission process. He has been involved in Community Based Organization (CBO) and first-generation partnerships, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within admissions. Peter has presented at the Western Association for College Admission Counseling (WACAC). He holds a B.A. in Integrated Marketing Communications and Hispanic Studies and an M.S. in Ministry.

 

Writing Specialists

Avra Maxwell has over 20 years of experience in the field of education. She began her career as a high school English teacher working in both traditional public and charter schools. After several years in the classroom, Avra began working at the administrative level with a focus on curriculum development and instruction. Avra has also worked for Kaplan and other test prep companies to help students with SAT/ACT prep as well as constructing their college essays.

Trained in Ruth Culham’s 6+1 Traits of Writing, Avra is an expert at breaking down the writing process into manageable components for her students. Her ultimate aim is to make the writing process as seamless and stress-free as possible, particularly in high stakes situations such as applying for college. Avra graduated with a B.A. in Theater Studies from DePaul University Theater Conservatory in Chicago where she focused on directing and playwriting. Avra’s talent for collaborative work combined with her passion for writing eventually led her to become a teacher – the role she is most proud of and that, to this day, brings her the most joy.

Miles Guggenheim graduated with honors from Brown University, where he studied Literary Arts. He has since worked as an academic tutor and teacher, using his own experience as a writer to help students hone their voices. As a writing specialist, Miles adapts strategies of creative writing to guide students through the college essay process. He hopes to make the personal essay a fun and enlightening experience, where students have the freedom and confidence to tell the stories they want to express.

 

 

Justin Sullivan graduated from Tufts University, majoring in History and minoring in English. After tutoring high school students for four years in New York City, he began working at The New York Times as a news assistant and freelance contributor. During his tenure there, he earned his Master’s in Journalism from NYU. After moving to Los Angeles, he began writing for the LA Times and a number of other publications. Throughout his career, Justin has continued to dedicate time to tutoring students, and he is passionate about helping students express themselves through their writing. Additionally, drawing on his experience as a touring and recording musician, Justin brings a sense of creativity and collaboration to tutoring sessions, believing that students learn best when they are empowered to use their own voice.

 

Test Prep Tutors

Robert Otey has been teaching, tutoring, and mentoring students for over 20 years in ACT and SAT prep, English, Theater, and Speech and Debate. He has taught internationally in Tokyo, Oxford, and London, and is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where he majored in Political Science. He also earned an MFA in Acting at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater. His ability to break down the seemingly most challenging material into understandable concepts helps students of all abilities greatly improve their academic performance. In addition to tutoring, he also writes prep material for renowned test prep companies, helping him maintain a leading edge in prepping his students.