We know how the college admissions process works, and we’ve personally visited thousands of campuses across the nation. Let us put our expertise to work for your family and the college search journey.
College Solutions is a team of counselors with a remarkable amount of college admission knowledge. They’ve seen over 800 colleges and universities and worked as admission professionals at Northwestern, the University of Virginia, the University of Southern California, the University of California system, Stanford, the Claremont Colleges, Swarthmore, and American University. Each counselor brings his or her own wealth of knowledge from a background full of admission, athletic, and academic accomplishments.
Margaret Bolton Baudinet is the owner and Chief Executive Officer of College Solutions. She also serves as the Scholarship Specialist to College Solutions clients.
Margaret graduated from the University of Virginia with the highest distinction with a political and literary thought degree, finishing her academic tenure with research at Oxford University.
Margaret holds five years of admission experience from the University of Virginia, specializing in legacy admissions. Margaret has served on the selection committee for the Coca-Cola Scholarship Program and the University of Virginia’s Jefferson Scholarship.
At College Solutions, Margaret has been a Writing Coach, a Counselor, an Application Editor, a Managing Director, and now the CEO of College Solutions. She is the proud mother of seven-year-old quintuplets and a new baby girl.
As a mother and a college advisor, she strives to see the whole person — motivations, fears, blind spots, and goals.
Favorite college course: The Political Novel
Lee Ann Cornell has seven years of experience working as a Director of Admissions at several California colleges. She also brings experience in student orientation, academic advising, and student leadership programs. Lee Ann earned a master’s degree from UCLA in counseling in student affairs and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Southern California.
Favorite college courses: Education and Law, Children's Literature, and Globalization
Patrick Zylka spent 15 years working in college admissions, most recently at Northwestern University. During this time, he read more than 10,000 applications and gave presentations to prospective college applicants throughout the United States, China, Indonesia, and Singapore. Patrick works with students interested in pursuing all majors in college, especially those interested in admission to highly selective schools. Patrick earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his master’s degree from the University of Michigan. When not helping students and families navigate the college admissions process, you can find him training for marathons and ultramarathons.
Favorite college course: Literature Across the Curriculum
Maggie Leahy is the Vice President of Operations for College Solutions. She leads our team in streamlining the client experience and reviewing process efficiencies. She graduated from The University of Richmond with a degree in Business Administration and Marketing. She most enjoys our collaborative work environment and the genuine desire of everyone on the College Solutions team to coach high school students and help them grow through the college application process.
Favorite college courses: Business Strategy and Leadership Studies
Stephanie has over 10 years of experience with college admissions and secondary education. Having grown up in Tidewater, VA, and Atlanta, GA, she attended the University of Virginia, where she earned a B.A. in History and Italian Studies. After graduating, she spent several years working in UVa's Office of Undergraduate Admission, guiding high school students through the admissions process and reading applications. She received her Master’s in Medieval History from the Catholic University of America and continued to teach Latin and History at a private school in northern Virginia while coaching students on crafting college essays.
Stephanie specializes in helping develop each student’s strengths and hobbies into a more engaged and focused set of interests and skills and looks forward to the brainstorming and essay-creating process each year with her seniors. With every client, she engages in discussions of study habits and executive functioning processes. She currently lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she spends her time running, gardening, and chasing around her 4 kids.
Favorite college courses: Dante’s Inferno, Greek and Roman Warfare, History of Espionage, History of Vietnam, Women in Italian Drama, Medieval Art, History of Christianity
Terry is a seasoned college counselor who holds a Master of Science Degree in College Student Personnel. She has worked in college admissions and new student and family orientation at several institutions, with most of her time spent at American University and, most recently, at the University of Central Florida.
A committed educator for over 25 years, Terry's goal is to encourage and empower students as they prepare for college. Her favorite part about being a counselor is building connections with students, helping them realize their potential, and assisting them to achieve their personal, academic, and career aspirations.
Terry has two sons who recently graduated from the University of Michigan and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, so she can personally relate to families as they navigate the competitive college admissions process.
Favorite college courses: Abnormal Psychology
Eric Simonelli has over 20 years of college admissions experience at collegiate and secondary education levels. He served as the Admission Advisor and Athletic Liaison at the University of Rhode Island for 13 years and, most recently, as the Director of College Counseling at La Salle Academy for 8 years. Eric has demonstrated a proven history of success in coaching and college advising students and parents on both sides of the desk.
As the Admission-Athletic Liaison, Eric has led the NCAA Eligibility Center requirements and related compliance matters for all student-athletes recruited to University NCAA Division I, II, and II Intercollegiate Athletic programs. As a former DIII collegiate basketball player, Hall of Fame Inductee, and 1,000-point scorer, Eric also understands the entire recruitment process, communication flow between prospective student-athletes and coaches, and advising coaches with their recruitment efforts to meet admission standards. He also has guided student-athletes with course selection when evaluating their high school record and has worked closely with the Dean of Admission on supporting student-athletes in the application and financial aid process.
Deeply invested in the college admissions and counseling profession, Eric is a National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) member. Eric grew up in Duxbury, Massachusetts, earning a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management from Endicott College and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Rhode Island. Currently, he directs Higher Learning Basketball, a youth skill development program, and is the President of the Warwick Youth Travel Basketball program. He has been married for 14 years and has two school-aged children.
Favorite college courses: Managerial Aspects of Leadership in Sport Organizations
Mattie grew up in Maui and received the Yale Book Award in secondary school, recognizing outstanding high school juniors for their character, leadership, scholarship, and intellectual promise. Although the accolade encourages students to apply to Yale, she did not do so. She fell in love with Pitzer College’s commitment to social justice after attending an information session at her high school, and four years later, she earned her Bachelor’s in English & World Literature: Creative Writing. While at Pitzer (one of the Claremont colleges), Mattie worked as a tour guide and found that she loved helping students find their college fit in the same way she found hers in high school.
After graduating, Mattie went on to work as an Admission Counselor for Pitzer. This set off a 10-year career in college admissions, where she read and evaluated more than 15,000 applications. Her time in admissions was dedicated to helping build diverse and talented classes as the head of the Diversity Fly-In Program and culminated at Colorado College with primary recruitment in New York, Southeast Asia, India, and Latin America. A passionate traveler, she has been to 22 countries and counting.
Students working with Mattie can expect a detail-oriented, highly organized, and empathetic counselor who will encourage them to push themselves to their highest potential. In her free time, Mattie is decoding Taylor Swift lyrics, doing yoga, and spending quality time with her husband, son, and two feisty cats.
Favorite College Courses: Mathematics in Many Cultures, Philosophy of Religion, Autobiography and Memoir
Anna has over 7 years of experience working in higher education in a variety of roles, most recently as an admissions reader at the University of Virginia and a writing coach at College Solutions. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, she graduated from UVA with a B.A. in English and an M.Ed. in Higher Education. Anna feels strongly about helping students find the right fit in the college admissions process, as she transferred after her freshman year. She currently lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she enjoys spending time with her three-year-old son and diving into a good book.
Favorite college course: Representations of Slavery in Literature
Sarah Southall is an enthusiastic, highly organized, detail-focused, people person with a strong background in technical project management. She has a liberal arts degree from BYU-I and truly believes in the value of lifelong learning. An entrepreneur at heart, early in her career, Sarah ran her own e-commerce business for 11 years so she brings a lot of small business operational experience to the table as well and loves being part of a small but powerful team. As an effective communicator and planner, she loves guiding the team through creating and building products and services that are impactful to our customer base. She is a champion of the needs of our clients to ensure positive experiences and the best possible product performance for them while supporting and nurturing our team.
Favorite college courses: Sociology, Interpersonal Communication, Communicative Listening, Self-Concept in Communications and Weight Training
We can’t wait to tell you more about how we can help your family on their college search and application journey. The first consultation is free and gives you a low-pressure opportunity to get to know our team, our approach, and what sets College Solutions apart.
