The CEG Parent Community

Tom Campbell (he/him) 

Tom offers extensive experience in highly selective admissions and college counseling. Before joining College Essay Guy as our inaugural Community Manager, he worked as a College Counselor at Lakeside School (WA) and an Assistant Dean/Director of Admissions at Pomona College and the College of the Holy Cross.

After graduating from Holy Cross (BA, Architectural Studies and History), Tom completed a year of postgraduate service through Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest (an AmeriCorps affiliate). He was placed at a family services program called CAPA (Childbirth and Parenting Assistance), which bolstered his passions for equity, mentorship and confidence-boosting (and taught him a lot about the parallels between toddler and teenage angst)! Upon his return to Holy Cross as an Admissions Officer, Tom continued to find ways he could live out his values, playing an active role in leading the school’s diversity fly-in programs and LGBTQ+ Staff Mentor Program.

At Pomona, Tom was a member of the team that restructured the application review process to account for test-optional admissions. He has spent four summers working as a faculty member at College Horizons, an organization that mentors and guides Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students through the college process. He was also nominated to join the Board of Directors for the Northeast Consortium Bridging Access to College (an organization that works to increase college access to low-income and first-generation students) and has presented and engaged with various higher education professional organizations, including the National Association of College Admissions Counseling, the Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools, and the Western Association for College Admissions Counseling.

The son of an inner city schoolteacher and the director of a nonprofit that runs tuition-free schools in Haiti, Tom has long recognized the transformative power of education. He credits his own Catholic and Jesuit education for further opening his eyes to the privileges unjustly afforded to me through systemic racism and for shaping his own social justice consciousness. He hopes to bring expertise, energy and empathy to the CEG Parent Community— and some alliteration, assonance, and amusement along the way!

Ask Tom about: highly selective admissions, test-optional admissions, small liberal arts colleges, resources for underrepresented students, the LGBTQ+ college experience, college affordability, interview preparation and relating to Gen Z (or at least trying to).

Ethan Sawyer (he/him)

Ethan has been eating/sleeping/breathing college essays for most of his waking hours since 2003. He is an internationally recognized college essay and admissions expert and the author of the Amazon bestsellers College Essay Essentials and College Admission Essentials. Each year he and his team reach more than one million students and counselors through the College Essay Guy blog, online pay-what-you-can courses, workshops, books, and one-on-one work.

Receiving his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in Performance Studies, an MFA in Acting from UC Irvine, and two counseling certificates, Ethan’s educational experiences, reading, and training have informed his deep interest in storytelling as a vehicle for personal development and growth, which in turn inspired Ethan to start College Essay Guy.

Raised in Spain, Ecuador, and Colombia, Ethan is dedicated to serving diverse communities. With a passion for access and equity, Ethan has provided quality resources for students, families and professional communities alike. Through his work he has supported, advised and counseled thousands of students through the complicated college search and application process, all while staying true to his core values of providing ease, purpose and joy in the process.

Ask Ethan about: writing outstanding college essays, first generation to college students, the University of California personal insight questions, effective methods for college list building, applying to theater programs, snacks, and games.

Morgan Phillips (she/her)

J Cole (he/him) 

J is a college counseling expert, speaker, and author. He has worked in public and independent schools around the globe for two decades, counseling thousands of students - including his own seven children!

J believes that a college degree can be transformative, and that there is a school out there for every student (even if they don’t always see that for themselves).     

Throughout his career he has designed and conducted college information sessions, workshops, panel discussions, college fairs, and campus tours. J authored a college planning guide titled, Get ‘Em Out, Help Your Teen Discover A Successful Path To College to be a resource for students and their family.  

J has lived in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and visited over thirty countries - but nowhere fills his cup like the DMV (not the Dept of Motor Vehicles… it’s what the cool kids call the District of Columbia, Maryland, and VIrginia). While living in Jordan he learned the Arabic word “tamam”  which means “ok, alright” to reassure his students and families.

J prays every day (and not just for the Georgetown’s men’s basketball team to win), loves going for walks outdoors in nature, and devouring large quantities of butter pecan ice cream.