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Insightful College/Boarding School Advisory

SkyBridge Educational Partners is a boutique College and Boarding school (secondary) consulting firm which specializes in helping students reaching their dream schools.

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Our Vision & Mission

Our Vision

  • We aspire to be The chosen firm for parents and students in the college application process.
  • We aspire to be The chosen firm for parents and students in the Boarding school application process,
  • We aspire to be of service to parents and students in the college application process and the boarding school application process regardless of income/affordability.

Our Mission

To match the unique talents of each student with the offerings and features of institutions where each and every student can grow, thrive, and mature into a responsible, humble, passionate, caring and loving young adults who shall have a positive impact on the society

What Our Clients Say

"Sally provided me with tremendous support and insight during my college process. She helped me brainstorm ideas for essays that best captured who I am as a person, and provided valuable feedback to help direct my essay revisions. Sally was flexible with our meetings to best accommodate my schedule, and she was always extremely responsive to emails and text messages whenever I wanted to run something by her. During a process that can so easily become overwhelming, I felt very lucky to have Sally, who is so knowledgeable and experienced in college admissions, always one email, text, or call away to answer my questions and concerns. Coming from a large public high school, it was especially helpful to have access to such personalized attention tailored to my individual needs. With Sally’s guidance I was lucky enough to be admitted early to my top choice school. The encouragement and care Mrs. O’Rourke shows her students is truly exceptional, and I cannot recommend her enough. "
—Student N.P., University of Chicago
"I had the pleasure of having Sally as my college counselor while at boarding school, and my experience could not have been better. Thousands of miles from home, her clear wisdom and expertise put my family at ease, and her calm but ever-prepared demeanor made the process as stress-free as possible. I always felt comfortable with my decisions, as Sally made sure that I had all the resources and knowledge to ask the right questions and be informed. She clearly had relationships with so many of the schools that were available to me, and was more than willing to extend that network to schools that interested me. Her smaller, focused roster of students, combined with her commitment to offering us each one-on-one attention meant that my experience could be tailored to me. That is such an asset in today’s college application process. I was lucky enough to attend my favorite school, and I am sure that so much of that opportunity and so much of my experience was guided by Sally’s steady advice. I really appreciated having her as a counselor and mentor, both while at boarding school and beyond. Thanks Sally!"
—Student C.A., Stanford University
"Mr. Yuen was instrumental in helping my son, Henry got accepted by one of the top boarding schools, the St. Paul’s School, in Concord, New Hampshire. As a single mom with a rebellious teenager. I had limited knowledge about boarding schools in the USA. Through a mutual friend of ours, I was introduced to Mr. Yuen. Initially, Mr. Yuen was hesitating in taking my case on as he had a full-time job. After hearing my case and plight, he relented and guided Henry through the application process, free of charge. Mr. Yuen coached Henry with his admission interviews in multiple sessions. In addition, he reviewed and edited Henry’s essays. Even with a small blemish in Henry’s transcript, which we did not disclose to Mr. Yuen, Henry ultimately got accepted to one of the top boarding schools in the US. We are eternally grateful to Mr. Yuen for all his insightful guidance through this process. We are even more grateful to Mr. Yuen for his caring, love, and support even after Henry enrolled at St. Paul’s School. I give my full endorsement to Mr. Yuen and his professional colleagues at SkyBridge Educational Partners. "
-Mom, J. Liang
"Leslie got my son, Tyler accepted at 3 of the top 4 boarding schools in the US. These schools include, The Lawrenceville School, Phillips Academy--Andover & Phillips Exeter Academy. My husband and I are eternally grateful to Leslie for his guidance and coaching with our son. We give Leslie and his team at SkyBridge Educational Partners 110 percent endorsement. "
-Mom, J. Yang
"Mr. Yuen is a master strategist and an ultimate PRO at Interviews. With Mr. Yuen’s help, I was able to define the top three qualities which distinguish me from the rest of the applicant pool. He worked with me to define my story and led me to how to present my stories so to make an impactful impression. I learned so much from Mr. Yuen on interviews. I still use some of the interview skills I learned from Mr. Yuen with my on-campus interviews at University of Chicago. With Mr. Yuen’s help, I was admitted to three top boarding/day schools in the Princeton, NJ area. These schools include, The Lawrenceville School, The Peddie School, and the Princeton Day School. I am forever indebted to Mr. Yuen for all his help and guidance during my application process. I give Mr. Yuen full endorsement! He is the ultimate PRO at boarding school admissions. "
-Student, E. Zhu
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Our Team

A man in a suit and tie smiling for the camera.

Mr. Leslie Yuen

Co-Founder & Co-Managing Partner

Professional Background

  • Mr. Yuen is the co-founder and Co-Managing Partner of SkyBridge Educational Partners (SEP). In addition, he advices selective students in their search for boarding schools in the USA. Furthermore, he is passionate about student athletes recruiting.
  • Prior to co-founding SEP, Mr. Yuen spent 25 years working in the pharmaceutical industry in various roles in marketing, sales, operations and product development.
  • Mr. Yuen has been an admission representative for his alma-mater, Lafayette College for 8 years in the Princeton area. Annually, Mr. Yuen interviews between 30 to 50 high school applicants for the college.
  • Mr. Yuen has a stellar record of coaching and assisting middle school students to get into the most selective boarding schools in the US. Among his successes, his students have been admitted to Philips Academy, Philips Exeter Academy, The Lawrenceville School, Mercersburg Academy, St. Paul School, Peddie School, Blair Academy & St Andrews School, DE

 

Educational Background

  • MBA Marketing & Entrepreneurship Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ
  • BA, Economics, Lafayette College, Easton, PA

 

Languages spoken

  • Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese
  • English
A woman with glasses and a white shirt

Ms. Sally O’Rourke

Founding Partner & College and Boarding School Consultant

Professional Background

  • Ms. O’Rourke has over 25 years of college counseling experiences in both public schools and private schools.
  • Among her many roles, she was the former Director of College Counseling at Mercersburg Academy, where she implemented the new and innovative college counseling process.
  • Prior to joining forces at SEP, Ms. O’Rourke was the founder & Principal Counselor at Fresnel College Navigation. In addition, she has worked as a college counselor at Andover High School, Our Lady of Nazareth Academy and McLean High School.
  • Ms. O’Rourke has also been an application reader at two of the top universities, Bucknell University and Northeastern University

 

Educational Background

  • MA, Education (counseling), Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
  • BA, History & Religion, Tufts University, Boston, MA

 

Languages spoken

  • English
A man with short hair and a pink shirt.

Mr. W. Austin Curwen

Founding Partner & College and Boarding School Consultant

Professional Background

  • Mr. Curwen has had extensive experience in college counselling.  He has over 11 years of college counseling experience at both US boarding school, Mercersburg Academy and at a UK boarding school, KinghamHill School. 
  • Mr. Curwen has worked at several elite boarding schools in the US. These include Mercersburg Academy, PA and the ThacherSchool, CA. In addition, he worked for a decade as an Instructor for the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, ME. 
  • Mr. Curwen is a proud veteran of the US Army and other professional roles have included work as a volunteer firefighter and as a licensed USCG Captain.

 

Educational Background

  • MA, Maritime History and Archaeology 2009, University of Bristol (UK)
  • MA Educational Leadership 2007, Columbia University (Teachers College)
  • MED Secondary Teaching (Social Studies) 1997, University of Washington
  • BA Geography & History 1991, Syracuse University

 

Languages spoken

  • English
A man in glasses and a yellow shirt.

Mr. Steve Silver

Founding Partner & Admission Strategist & College Consultant

Professional Background

  • Mr. Silver is an admission strategist.  He has over 30 years of professional experience working in the admission office at some of the finest institutions in the USA. Namely, Dartmouth College, Lafayette College and Clarkson University.  
  • Former Roles.  Senior Director, International Students’ admission, Dartmouth College; Associate Director, International Students’ Admission, Lafayette College; Admission officer, Clarkson University 

 

Educational Background

  • MA, Education (College Student Development) George Washington University
  • BA, History, Colgate University

Language spoken

  • English
  • Ms. Carol Rowlands

Admission Master & Senior Advisor

Ms. Roland is a master expert at college admissions. She has 35 years of admission experience with Lafayette College. She has served one institution all her life. She is a graduate of Lafayette College. After getting her Masters degree in counseling, she joined the admission office at Lafayette College and has stayed there for 36 years. She retired from Lafayette College last June at the conclusion of the school year.

A man with glasses and a suit on.

Mr. David L. Marcus

Master Writer & Speaker, Founding Partner & College Consultant

Professional Background

  • David L. Marcus shared a Pulitzer Prize—the most prestigious prize for American journalism. 
  • Prior to joining forces with SkyBridge Educational Partners, Mr. Marcus has been an independent counselor and essay coach, Mr. Marcus has worked with scores of college applicants from around the world with a focus on students from Latin America. 
  • Mr. Marcus is author of a highly regarded book on college admissions, Acceptance: ​ A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids Find the Right Colleges – And Find Themselves (Penguin Books).
  • Mr. Marcus was the higher education writer for U.S. News, which publishes the annual U.S. News Best Colleges rankings. 
  • Mr. Marcus had a fellowship at Deerfield Academy (Deerfield, MA), where he taught writing.  

 

Educational Background

  • B.A. with Honors, American Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI
  • Nieman Fellowship, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

 

Languages Spoken

  • English
  • Spanish

SkyBridge Educational Partners is a boutique College and Boarding school (secondary) consulting firm which specializes in helping students reaching their dream schools.

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