Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: from the first time the "C" word comes up at the dinner table, until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm-room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents’ Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges; and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post,  USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People, and Seventeen.

Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: as a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds, and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills, and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens, and Tel Aviv. Since joining forces with College Confidential in 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college-admissions maze.

Although Sally has been dispensing advice to anxious families for more than two decades, she only became a first-time mom herself 12 years ago, at the ripe old age of 45. Now, as her son heads off to middle school, she hopes that she can give the same guidance and comfort to others that she will soon need herself.