A Successful Collaborative Approach

We are leading college and graduate school admissions consultants. Our expertise in problem solving, in project creation, and in writing and editing comes from our shared experience in business and education. Our CEO, Pierre, created the Yale Student Business Society, which now boasts one of the largest business communities in the Ivy League. He and his team have teaching and research experience at some of the top colleges in the nation. Most importantly, H&C’s college admissions consultants have helped students from around the world gain admission to the schools that best fit their interests by creating tailored roadmaps for success in academics, college applications, and beyond. Their insights on education and business have been featured by Forbes, U.S. News, CNN, The Washington Post, Reader’s Digest, ABC News, NBC News and elsewhere.

OUR ADMISSIONS EXPERTS

Pierre Huguet, Ph.D.
CEO & Founder

Pierre decided to create H&C Education after years of extensive experience in both education and entrepreneurship. He’s a leading college and graduate admissions expert whose advice has been featured on Forbes.com, U.S.News, CNN Business, the Washington Post, ABC News, Business Insider, and elsewhere. He has launched several successful for-profit and non-profit companies. In 2015, he started and managed his own real estate investment company. He is also the founding president of the Yale Student Business Society, now the largest non-profit organization focusing on entrepreneurship and management at Yale. He has served on the board of several business organizations in the Yale community. Pierre has taught literature to undergraduate students at Yale and has published articles in some of the most prestigious reviews in his field, such as Europe, and has received numerous grants, fellowships, and distinctions throughout his education.

He studied Comparative Literature, Philosophy and Political Science at the University of Montreal and earned his B.A. summa cum laude in Comparative Literature and Philosophy. He holds a master’s in Literature from McGill University, and M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University in French literature and cultural history.

Pierre is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

Angela Dunnham

Master Admissions Consultant
Former Assistant Director of Admission, Dartmouth College

Angela Dunnham is a graduate of Dartmouth College, where she majored in English Language and Literature. She is earning her master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy at Beijing Normal University in China. As an Assistant Director of Admissions at Dartmouth College, she traveled to schools around the country and read over 1000 applications.

Angela has considerable experience advising students and families throughout all stages of the college admissions process. She has worked with students living in the United States and China. She has hosted workshops for US high school guidance counselors and youth development organizations to deepen their understanding of the college admissions process.

Angela is passionate about using her skills to bring out the best in her students. She has helped students gain admission to Top 30 colleges and universities, including Yale University, Brown University, John Hopkins University, University of Michigan, and more. Angela is also specially prepared to help less competitive applicants improve their college admissions chances.

Angela helps students develop their narrative, fine-tune their leadership skills, and define their extracurricular profiles. In addition to a thorough understanding of the holistic college application review process used to evaluate students at highly-selective colleges and universities, Angela’s track record as a leader, community organizer, and educator allows her to connect and prepare students to be competitive in the college application process.

Racquel Bernard

Master Admissions Consultant
Former Assistant Director of Admission, Dartmouth College

Racquel Bernard graduated with a bachelor’s in African and African American Studies from Dartmouth College. After graduating, she served as an Assistant Director of Admissions at Dartmouth before completing a Master’s in Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. Racquel Bernard researches reggae and samba reggae, the ways women use these musical worlds to confront misogyny and racism. She is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Musicology at UCLA.

Racquel uses her extensive experience in the admission office and in storytelling to help her students craft impactful personal projects that will ultimately help them stand out in the admissions process: from writing novels, to setting up and scaling non-profit organizations. She’s passionate about helping students find projects at the intersection of their passions and talents.

She has worked with students to gain admission to Princeton, the University of Chicago, UCLA, NYU, Northeastern, Boston University, and more. Racquel has traveled internationally giving college admissions presentations, meeting with clients, and discussing important factors in the college application process. She uses her experience reading college applications as a college admissions officer to help students craft applications that stand out from the crowd.

John Klich

Master Admissions Consultant

John graduated cum laude from Yale University with a B.S in chemical engineering. Prior to joining H&C Education Consulting, John worked for two years as a college applications consultant at CollegeVine, helping clients to perfect powerful personal narratives and gain admissions to top 30 universities. His clients have also earned acceptance to top 10 programs in disciplines ranging from mechanical engineering to fine art. With an additional six years of independent tutoring experience, John has demonstrated a long-term commitment to teaching and mentorship.

John’s other work experiences have shaped his approach to working with students as a college admissions consultant. In 2020, he was recognized by the Yale College Dean’s Office for his dedication to his undergraduate research and his positive impact on the Yale community. He has also interned at Purdue’s Birck Nanotechnology Center and at Novartis, and he is now pursuing a Ph.D. at Stanford University in the Schools of Engineering and Medicine. As an engineer by degree and a scientist in training, John’s experience enables him to find creative solutions to unique problems. He is ecstatic about the opportunity to impart this approach to clients, empowering them to discover their voices and pursue their passions.

Melissa Lucia Sarmiento

Master Admissions Consultant

Melissa Lucia Sarmiento graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor of Arts in history and minors in German and Latin American studies. After graduation, Melissa taught in Tokyo, Japan through the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. Upon returning to the US, she pursued a Master of Arts in Teaching at Brown University, and currently teaches high school social studies.

Melissa has extensive experience as a writing tutor and applications essay counselor. As an undergrad she worked for Cornell’s Knight Writing Center, where she discovered how much she enjoyed helping others find their voice through prose. Since then, she has continued to work with students as they craft application essays that are representative of their whole selves. Melissa’s previous students have earned admission to competitive programs including Harvard Law, William & Mary, Mt. Holyoke, and Wesleyan, among others.

A published researcher in the humanities, Melissa is familiar with every step of the investigative process. She cares passionately about DEI, and now works mentoring students as they pursue their own research in this area. Melissa has helped students conduct high-impact research projects focused on a variety of topics, including the evolution of pandemic responses, and the representation of Japanese history within the American history curriculum using an independent school in New York as a case study. Several of her projects were selected for presentation and publication by prestigious institutions like the International Young Researchers’ Conference.

A teacher at heart, Melissa has tutored multiple AP subjects ranging from World History to English Literature and composition, and has helped students increase their scores in SAT and ACT reading and writing, and SSAT reading.

When she is not teaching or writing, you can find Melissa doing yoga and taking care of way too many houseplants.

Mallory Ditchey
Writing Specialist

Mallory Ditchey is an essay coach and writing expert with 14 years of experience working across the college preparation industry. She was an admissions and financial aid reader for Loyola Marymount University from 2018 to 2021. She taught ACT test prep classes and ran a college application workshop at Areté Preparatory Academy in Los Angeles. She also founded Great Minds Education Consultants, LLC, an educational consulting company based in Los Angeles.

Mallory graduated from UCLA in 2008 with a B.A. in Archaeology. She received her M.A. in Assyriology from Yale University in 2012, and an M.A. in History from Columbia University in 2015, where she taught World History at the undergraduate level. Mallory has a proven track record of assisting students in crafting successful top-tier college application essays and improving their writing skills and reading comprehension.

Adrianne Owings

Principal Admissions Consultant

Adrianne graduated from Yale University in 2020 with a B.A. in Theater & Performance Studies. Originally hailing from Little Rock, Arkansas, her own college applications earned her admission to four Ivy League schools in her senior year of high school. She began her career in educational consulting at CollegeVine as an Essay & Applications Specialist in her first year at Yale. She has since worked with GPS Education and College Planning Source as an Essay Specialist where she helped high school students around the world create their own successful college application essays. She has also worked with the Yale Undergraduate Admissions Office as a Tour Guide, Yale Ambassador, and Alumni Interviewer.

Although her academic studies have largely focused on acting over the past four years, Adrianne has also honed her writing skills until the tutelage of Yale professors such as Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies and journalist Margaret Spillane. Outside of the classroom, she was the Opinion Editor and a staff writer at The Yale Politic, an undergraduate cultural and political journal, and has been published in The Yale Daily News. She also served as the Business Manager and International Tour Manager of her a cappella group, Redhot & Blue, and as the Director of the Leading Ladies Gala, a 200-person event held annually by the Women’s Leadership Initiative at Yale. She has also been heavily involved in the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up campaign for several years.

She uses her experience in multiple disciplines to help students achieve their personal and academic goals, and she believes there is nothing as rewarding as watching a student gain confidence in their skills and succeeding in the college admissions process.

Ahmed Alsheikh

Student Ambassador

Ahmed is a first-year student at Harvard University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Government and International Relations. On Harvard’s campus, he is active with the Harvard University Foreign Policy Initiative, working with prominent government agencies and public officials to research policy and draft proposals pertaining to the United States’ relations with other regions of the world, particularly the Middle East. He’s also involved in his community and led a program in his hometown to provide virtual lessons to students affected by COVID-19 school closures over the summer before his freshman year in college.

A former H&C Education student, Ahmed is now excited to be the company’s first Brand Ambassador. Combining his passion for international relations and business development, he has been promoting and introducing H&C Education to international students interested in attending top universities in the U.S.

Marc-André Alexandre
Athletic Recruiting Specialist

Marc-André is the athletic recruiting specialist for H&C Education. He holds a B.A. in History of Science and Medicine from Yale University. An accomplished athlete during his college years and captain of the Varsity Track & Field Team in 2017, he believes in the complete development of young student-athletes, academically and physically. This last year, Marc-André worked as a Project Manager for Credo, a social impact consulting company, and spent substantial time working in education alongside teachers, professors, non-profit leaders and members of the Québec Ministry of Education.

His experience as a successful Ivy League student-athlete, his strategy, and decision-making skills and his passion for education and consulting explain his commitment to offering quality advisory services.

Arielle Ambra-Juarez

Law School Admissions Consultant

Arielle Ambra-Juarez graduated with Honors from the University of Chicago with degrees in Economics and Linguistics. Post graduation, she served with AmeriCorps, teaching 9th-grade algebra in Chicago, and is now a 3L at the University of Chicago Law School. Prior to joining H&C, she spent several years as an applications consultant and later manager at CollegeVine, working with clients to gain admission to their top choice schools.

Arielle’s expertise is in helping students brainstorm, organize, edit, and polish their personal statements and essays. She is passionate about bringing out and highlighting a student’s most compelling and unique stories to set their application apart. With a background in admissions and recent personal experience with successfully applying to law school, she is intimately familiar with applications process and is eager to guide prospective students through it.

Charly Kuecks

Tutor & Writing Specialist

Charly is passionate about demystifying the cutthroat college admissions process through rigorous, but fun, personalized tutoring. She got her start as a math tutor at the Waterford School, her alma mater, and Utah’s leading college preparatory K12 school. Since then, she’s expanded into running in-person and virtual courses and consulting for the SAT, ACT, and GRE. At Shmoop, she brought her editorial voice to the AP products, always with an eye to engaging high school students. She’s excited to help students increase their confidence, passion for learning, and knowledge of the standardized testing landscape through H&C Education.

Standardized tests:
SAT (all sections), ACT, ACT Writing, GRE.

AP:
English Language and English Literature, Calculus AB and B.C., Psychology, French, World History, European History, U.S. History, Biology, Chemistry, Psychology.

High school courses:
All levels of English literature, All levels of creative writing, Calculus, Statistics, Algebra, Trigonometry (all math), French, Honors/standard STEM (Chemistry, Bio, Physics), Test prep.

Special Needs Skills:
ADD/ADHD, Anxiety-specific needs, Behavioral disabilities, General learning disability, Gifted.

Meeraj Patel

Test Prep Instructor

For over 10 years, Meeraj has worked as a full-time tutor specializing in test prep. With a dual background in English and Engineering, Meeraj is uniquely equipped to assist students with all sections of the test. He graduated from the Rutgers School of Engineering Honors Program in 2010 with a Bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering and from the University of Denver in 2015 with a Master’s Degree, concentrating in Literature & Creative Writing. He also attended the MFA Program at Brooklyn College on a full ride as the sole recipient in his year of the Kimberly Phillips Boehm Fellowship.

As an instructor and educational consultant, Meeraj worked for multiple high-end test prep companies. He wrote curriculum, developed strategies, trained teachers, led full SAT/ACT classes and workshops, and tutored privately for the SAT, ACT, and GRE. He also tutored students for AP exams and SAT Subject tests in English Literature, Writing/Language Composition, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Algebra I & II, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Calculus and provided help with Essay writing for both high school English and College Admissions.

Many of his students have gone on to receive acceptances at such colleges and universities as Princeton, Columbia, UPenn, Cornell, NYU, John Hopkins, William & Mary, University of Michigan, Wesleyan, University of California-Berkeley, MIT, and more. His students typically improve 5-9 points on the ACT, 100-300 points on the SAT, and 6-20 points on the GRE.

WE CAN HELP. CONTACT US!