Meet Our Staff

...I couldn't be happier with Great Expectations...My son feels very fortunate to be attending the perfect school for him, a school that was actually recommended by Nicole in one of their first online meetings. Everyone at Great Expectations was knowledgeable, and on top of their game, and I feel very fortunate that my son was matched with Nicole throughout this process.

Brooks R. (parent), Los Angeles, CA

A huge thank you to Ryan S, my son's ACT test prep tutor. He was kind, patient, extremely helpful, and very attentive to helping my son prepare for the ACT. He challenged him and was always available to answer any questions or concerns that either of us had. I have used GE test prep in the past for my daughter and highly recommended them. Jen and her team are outstanding and I couldn’t be more happy.

Kelly M. (parent), Garden Grove

Great Expectations College Prep is an amazing, hands on company. They care so much about their clients, offering services of general tutoring, ACT and SAT prep, as well as guiding students all the way through the college admissions process in a professional and experienced manner. Their owner, Jen, is a caring, intelligent, wonderful role model! Her staff is the best of the best, namely Chelese who works with transfer students, and helped me to achieve admission to my dream school. Highly recommend!

Isabella M. (student), Pacific Palisades

I had Jeannie as a tutor, and she was great! With her help, my ACT score when up 6 points. She tailored our sessions to spend the perfect amount of time on both review and practice, and she was super reasonable with how much homework/practice I had to do on my own time. Her explanations were always very concise, and she would give me testing strategies that were fitting to my own strengths/weaknesses. I struggled with timing on the reading section, and she helped me plan the order of the passages and which ones I should skim to save the most amount of time. My reading score improved by 12 points! I had a super good experience with Great Expectations, and as you can tell, my tutor too!

Elle M. (student), Hermosa Beach

Worked with Nicole with both of my daughters - I can't speak highly enough. She is thoughtful, consistent, diligent. Great access, great relationship with our daughters -- great results!

Joan K. (parent), Santa Monica

Meghan made the process infinitely easier! The sense of calm. The creativity. The sense of humor. The knowledge of the schools. Her valuable suggestions vis-à-vis the essays. I cannot begin to do Meghan justice in my words. Thank you! Thank you!

Karin O. (parent), Pacific Palisades

Our tutor really understood how to help my daughter prepare for the SAT. He was able to identify early on the specific areas where she needed to improve, and most importantly, what type of preparation she needed to do in order to make those gains. Thanks to a 510-point improvement, my daughter will be attending Stanford University in the fall. Thank you!

Susan H. (parent), Santa Monica

Great Expectations matched me with the best tutor I’ve ever worked with. For someone who cannot take a standardized test to save my life, my tutor helped me truly grasp the concepts and different approaches to each section. Not only did my score improve more than 300 points, but the time flew and it never felt like tutoring. She was a joy to be around and an amazing motivator.

Clara C. (student), Santa Monica

Knowledgable, caring counselors who are dedicated to helping your children with the college submission process. Jennifer and her team can help set manageable expectations and take the scary out of the college admission process.

Shirley B. (parent), Pacific Palisades

Between the SAT/ACT prep and the college planning process sending my two daughters off to college was pretty easy and stress free. Jen and her handpicked staff are excellent! I've always been contacted to make sure that the tutor and my child are a good fit and the progress being made (I love the follow-up emails after each tutor session keeping me updated). Most importantly I feel Jen and her tutors communicate very well with my kids, which in turn gave confidence to my girls to take ownership of their own college process. I'll have daughter number 3 for them to guide in 2 more years!

Hanna O. (parent), Manhattan Beach

Education	Earned a B.A. in Communication from UC Santa Barbara and an M.A. in Criticism and Publishing from The New School
Hobbies	Avid surfer, published author in various literary and academic magazines, podcast series host addressing the intersection of education, inequality, and labor
Test Prep	SAT (Reading and Writing, Math), ACT (English, Math, Reading, Science, Writing)
Academic Subjects	Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, American Literature, British Literature, World Literature, Composition, Creative Writing, Journalism, AP English Language & Composition, AP English Literature & Composition, US History & Government, AP US Government/Politics, Microeconomics, Western Philosophy, Psychology
General Strengths	Elementary education, academic writing, organizational skills, managing test anxiety, speed reading skills, creative writing, study skills, reading comprehension, standardized test advisement, literary analysis, students with learning differences, test-taking psychology, college-level coursework, students with ASD
Related Experience	Assistant professor at the college level, teaching courses in social history, literature, writing composition, English grammar; experience with writing test prep and academic curriculum; background in tutor management and training

Education	Earned a B.S. in Psychology (concentration in Neuropsychology) and a Minor in Spanish from Tufts University; earned a Certificate of College Counseling at UC San Diego
Hobbies	Horseback riding and fishing with my sons, yoga, jewelry making (gold/silver smithing), hiking, traveling, reading, family and friend time, leatherworking, learning to surf, loving animals, coaching baseball for kids with special needs
General Strengths	Academic writing, organizational skills, managing test anxiety, creative writing, study skills, standardized test advisement, students with learning differences, test-taking psychology, summer enrichment planning, major advisement/selection, editing and proofreading college essays, social science programs, resume review/evaluation, course selection for high school, UC specialization, college research and advisement, humanities programs, college list building, highly selective colleges/universities specialization, high school selection, transcript analysis, extracurricular/resume development, application review, personal statement brainstorming and composition, liberal arts school specialization, interview skills, career assessment tools
Related Experience	Strength in developing supportive, encouraging, and mentoring relationships with students; 4 years experience with the college admissions process, school list building, essay development, coaching, and editing; skilled in helping students identify goals, interests, and what makes them unique; seasoned accountability partner with students during the entire college application process; strength in identifying meaningful extracurricular involvement; experience working with high school and college students with learning differences and accessing resources and supports; experienced alumni interviewer for prospective students at Tufts University; active member of WACAC and IECA

Nevada R.

Nina R.M.