Welcome to Campanile College Admissions Counseling

Our Services

Admissions Counseling

College admissions counseling for students of all abilities.  From high school students to transfer students and prospective law students, we are committed to helping students throughout the application process and entry into a terrific college.

College
Tours

Custom tours - one family at a time.  We provide the complete itinerary for self-guided tours including all travel logistics and campus experiences. We take you far beyond a "walk around the quad." 

Test Prep &
Tutoring

At this time, it is unclear if students should take standardized tests. Campanile has prepared self-study videos created by our test prep experts and self-prep materials for our students wishing to explore the option of testing. We provide all of our students with a Writing Assessment to gain early information on their preparation for writing college admissions essays.

Workshops & Training

We speak locally and across the country on topics important to your school, conference, or community program.  Our presentations are customized to the needs of your group. 


Recent Achievements: In 2023 ...

admitted to 109 different universities &

awarded more than $2.69 MILLION in merit scholarships

 
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Meet Our Executive Director, Dr. Elizabeth Stone

 

Executive Director, Dr Elizabeth Stone has been called “an expert in her field” by Dean Douglas Christiansen of Vanderbilt University. As author of the book, The Better College Essay:  Fitting In and Standing Out, Dr. Stone is considered a national leader in the field of college essay writing. Her newest book, The Better College Essay: From Start to Finish (co-authored with Meredith Charlson) was published in May 2021 by City Limits Publishing with a foreword written by Jonathan B. Williams, Vice President for Undergraduate Admissions at New York University. Dr. Stone speaks at national conferences and training programs including the Independent Educational Consultants Association. She taught several terms inthe UC Berkeley, Extension Certificate Program in College Admissions and Career Planning.  

Director of Speaking and Communication:  Dr. Doria Charlson earned her PhD at Brown University in Theatre Arts and Performance Studies. At Campanile, Dr. Charlson coaches Campanile students for admission and scholarship interviews and meetings with professors. Dr. Charlson is a Visiting Professor at UC Davis in the Department of Theatre & Dance and teaches in the Executive Master’s Degree program at Brown University where she also taught Brown undergraduate courses in Persuasive Communication. In 2022-2023, Dr. Charlson taught at Northeastern University at Mills College in the Department of Communications. Dr. Charlson provides group and individual public speaking coaching to business executives, clergy, and political candidates and at Wellesley College at the Madeline Albright Institute. She has been a Research Fellow at Mills College and has taught in the MFA program in Dance was a lecturer at University of California, San Diego in the Department of Theatre & Dance.  Dr. Charlson has a BA in History from Stanford University and was a Fulbright Scholar in Strasbourg, France in addition to receiving two Master's degrees from Brown.  In 2018, Dr. Charlson received the Archambault Award for Excellence in Teaching, School of Professional Studies at Brown University. In addition to her teaching and research, Dr. Charlson is a staff Chaplain at Marin Health and has a Certificate in Interfaith Chaplaincy from the Graduate Theological Union. She completed her chaplaincy residency at UCSF Hospital.

Director of Writing:  Meredith Charlson Donato graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford with a BA in Comparative Literature and a minor in Theater and Performance Studies.  Meredith has taught college essay writing to faculty in UC Berkeley’s International Pre-College Program and essay writing in UC Berkeley’s Extension Certificate Program in College Admissions and Career Counseling. At Stanford, Meredith supported both undergraduates and graduate students at the Hume Center for Writing and Speaking and was on staff of the Stanford Collegiate Summer Institute for high school students.  She is on the faculty for acting and choreography in the ACT Young Conservatory and has taught at the College of San Mateo. She has contributed her writing to three books, The Better College Essay:  Fitting In and Standing Out (Wintergreen Orchard House) and The Better College Essay: From Start to Finish (City Limits Publishing) - co-author and Helping Students With Disabilities Develop Social Skills, Academic Language and Literacy Through Stories (Charles C. Thomas).  She recently was published in The SDC Journal of Stage Directors and Choreographers.


 

Photo credit: Matthew R. Donato

 


 

 

 

 

 


 
 

Consultations are 80-minutes and are held by Zoom or in person in our San Mateo office. If you would like to schedule a 20-minute introductory phone call prior to scheduling a consultation, please fill out the CONTACT FORM which you will find on the header page of this website or call 650-436-2650. We will respond within one business day.