About

Born and raised in Germany, I moved to the United States in 1985 to attend college. My American college experience quite literally changed my life. 

After years of languishing in the German education system, I discovered my academic potential and began to thrive at Occidental College, a small liberal arts college in Los Angeles, where I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1988. Eager for more American academia, I went on to earn a law degree from Loyola Law School (J.D. 1991) and a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Southern California (M.A. Philosophy 2000). After working for a prominent law firm in downtown Los Angeles for several years, I started my own legal translation company, which I still operate today.

My love and respect for the unique American college and university experience drive my passion to help students and their families navigate the college admissions process.

Drawing on my background both as an attorney and small business owner, I bring a strategic, evidence-based, and cost-versus-benefit approach to the college application process:

• My recommended college application strategy, though not widely known among the general public, is actually the one recommended by many highly regarded college experts, such as the New York Times columnist and author Ron Lieber and the nationally recognized higher-ed author, journalist, and speaker Lynn O'Shaughnessy.

• My approach is firmly grounded in reality. It takes into account, and embraces, that the college landscape today is radically different from what it was only 5-10 years ago. The cost of college has skyrocketed and continues to gain altitude, and acceptance rates at highly popular institutions have plummeted to jaw-dropping lows. Ignoring this new reality is simply no longer an option, whether for students and their families or for college consultants.

• I carefully consider both the benefits and costs of a particular college. That may seem obvious, yet is not what typically happens when students apply to colleges. They tend to be laser-focused on gaining admission to the most prestigious institutions, which tends to result in a wave of rejection letters and/or excessive college debt. I will recommend a college only if the family can afford the tuition and the college is actually worth its tuition.

Finally, thanks to my background in philosophy, I look at the big picture. Admission to college is only the first chapter of a story that will continue to unfold long after graduation. Just as important, and in some ways even more important, is how the family will pay for college, what experiences and opportunities the student will have while in college, and what options will be available to the student after graduation. I also tend to question orthodoxy, look at problems from new perspectives, and try to come up with creative – outside-the-box – solutions. In a world where conventional wisdom on the college application process no longer produces reliable results, outside-the-box solutions may be just what you need.