College Counselling

Our Counsellors

Simon Lewis

Simon is a co-founder of UES and the Head of College Counselling. He divides his time between UES and Latymer Upper School, where he works as Head of International University Applications. He has previously worked at Wycombe Abbey in Buckinghamshire and oversaw the school's largest-ever cohort of US applications in 2019-20. He has worked in US applications for over a decade and has designed the college admissions programme at UES. Simon works closely with many of UES’s 40 school partners on their US applications provision and with the Fulbright Commission on their Sutton Trust US programme, which aims to widen access to US colleges. In partnership with the University Guy and Unifrog, he has set up international university discussion forums across the UK, shaping the national conversation around international applications. He brings an in-depth knowledge of the US applications process to the programme, including expertise in college counselling, standardised testing strategy, essay review, financial aid and scholarships, and application support. He has successfully supported students applying for a wide range of specialist majors, including architecture, contemporary and classical music, dance, and STEM subjects.

After graduating with a BA in Literature from Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2003, Simon qualified and worked as an English language teacher before working as a professional advisor and career mentor in the public and private sectors. His philosophy of advising is based on "fit", in that he strongly believes that students are most likely to be admitted and to be successful where they will be suited to the university's academic programme, extracurricular options, and campus culture.

Outside of UES he is a keen cellist and string arranger and has worked with Berklee College of Music’s Wadham Production Scholarship programme in the UK.

Martine Gagnon

Over the past four years, Martine has visited nearly 75 universities in Europe, the US, and Canada. She even managed to explore the campuses of two universities in Mexico, and one in Thailand. This year, she will be adding even more to this list. Martine has worked in international admissions for over ten years, and guides students through every step of the admissions process, from creating balanced college lists and drafting essays, to editing portfolios and researching financial aid. She is also the in-house College Counsellor at Wetherby Senior School and Charterhouse, where she oversees close to 100 international university applications per year.

Martine’s background may be rooted in Languages and the Humanities, but she has used her interdisciplinary interests to help students in all fields of study, from Engineering to Economics, and the Arts to Translation. She has also mentored graduates in their Masters, MBA and PhD applications. A native of Montreal, Canada, she was able to spend a year during her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, and during her postgraduate studies, she taught English and Translation at UCL and La Sorbonne in Paris. Her love of everything university-related and travel has allowed her to teach and work across three continents, in three different languages!

Sam Harris

Sam has a wealth of experience in advising British and international students on their applications to US universities. Formerly the Head of North American University Applications at Rugby School, Sam has mentored students through every stage of the application process, applying her knowledge of its intracacies to help students earn places at a range of top US universities including Brown, Penn, Columbia and Stanford. She is particularly fond of helping students discover their academic and co-curricular passions and develop their personal narratives through the application preparation process.

Sam is a native Vermonter who graduated summa cum laude from Saint Michael’s College as a classics major. As part of her undergraduate degree, she spent six months as a visiting scholar at Worcester College, Oxford, and in 2015 Sam returned to Oxford University to complete her Master of Studies in Latin and Ancient Greek languages and literature. Sam is now based in London.

Outside of work, Sam is an avid reader and is a keen spectator of sports. Her favorite ice hockey team is the New York Rangers.

Linda de Flavis

Until recently, Linda spent most of her working life in sunny climates overseas. As a university advisor at United World College in Singapore for 23 years, she supported international students with their applications to universities around the world, with the US consistently proving the most popular destination. She also taught IB English and enjoyed developing US essay-writing workshops for students and other counsellors. She has attended and delivered sessions at many international conferences for college counselors, sometimes co-presenting with admissions officers from elite universities from the US, UK, Canada and Netherlands.

In her earlier life, Linda pursued an academic career. Awarded a scholarship to complete her PhD at the University of Southern California, she subsequently taught at Stanford University for 6 years. That experience gave her insights that she brings to her current work with high school students, helping them to reveal the ‘college potential’ university admissions officers look for. Her goal is to guide students to universities that will genuinely match their strengths and aspirations, and empower them in the next stage of their journey. While she has placed students at all of the ‘top’ universities in the US, she is even more proud of those who have gone to less famous schools and proved equally successful. Growing up in rainy UK, Linda completed her first degree in English Literature at the University of Southampton and her Post Graduate Certificate in Education at Oxford University.

Giorgio Serci

Giorgio Serci is an award winning guitarist, composer, arranger and educator with international credentials. He is Senior Lecturer at ACM, visiting professor at Guildhall and Royal Holloway University and a columnist for Guitar Interactive Magazine. His compositions have been published by Trinity College for the new Acoustic guitar graded syllabus, and he has just recorded the brand new classical guitar graded syllabus commissioned by RSA, which feature two of his own compositions. He studied classical guitar and Jazz and has a Masters Degree in Composition from the University of Surrey, a Diploma in Jazz & Popular Music and a Postgraduate Certificate of Education. Co-founder of Bansangu Orchestra, specialising in original music featuring world-music and Jazz, which has been endorsed by the likes of Quincy Jones.

He has performed internationally and recorded with the likes of David Garrett, Ivan Lins, Basia, Kenny Wheeler, Martin Taylor, Sylvain Luc the BBC Concert Orchestra, Julian Lloyd Webber to name but a few. He has his own signature model guitar by Fibonacci and endorses Yamaha Classical guitars.