Karen Spencer

College Admissions Consultant She/Her/Hers

College Admissions Consultant

Former admissions officer Georgetown University

Former admissions officer Franklin & Marshall College

My Background

Like many admissions officers, I was introduced to this line of work after having been a tour guide at Valparaiso University. I went to graduate school to study counseling in higher education and, while working in the admissions office at UVA, realized that admissions was my passion. As an admissions officer at Franklin & Marshall, I read and made decisions on applications from NY, CA, and CO, was in charge of transfer admissions, and was the liaison to all coaches during the athletic recruiting process. Moving to Georgetown, I continued to oversee transfer admissions and reviewed applicants from the Midwest, reading up to 1800 applications each year. I also acted as the liaison for the soccer coach, and led one of the business school admissions committees. During my time in the admissions world, I particularly enjoyed meeting with students, helping student athletes decide if they really wanted to play a sport in college, helping transfer students find a better fit at a different college, and helping students and parents debunk the many myths that are out there regarding this process.

Karen was fabulous in helping my son create and remain on an agreed-upon timeline, and kept him focused.

Parent of a Princeton University student

Why I Joined College Coach

I went into admissions because I loved my college experience and wanted to help high school students find a school that would do for them what my alma mater did for me. I enjoy spending a lot of time with students developing their college list and stress the importance of finding schools that “fit.” In my role as an admissions officer, I spent too much time denying young, bright students because that was simply the nature of my role. I joined College Coach so that I could help parents and students navigate this often stressful process and come out on the other side with a list of wonderful colleges from which to pick.