Meet Our Consultants

Melissa Masland
Educational Consultant and Owner 

Melissa Masland founded her independent educational consulting business in 2010. Since this time she has worked with a wide variety of students, from those who were admitted to highly selective schools such as Carnegie Mellon and UCLA to those looking at schools that offer comprehensive support such as Lynn University and the University of Denver. Melissa also worked for two years as a college counselor at Orinda Academy in Orinda, California. Her focus has been working with students who want a highly individualized approach to the college application process.  Most years approximately half of her private practice is comprised of students with LD, anxiety, dyslexia, and other learning challenges. Melissa is a member of HECA (Higher Education Consultants Association) where she currently holds the position of Community Representative for the SF East Bay.  She is also a long-standing member of IECA ( Independent Educational Consultants Association) and WACAC (Western Association for College Admissions Counseling.) 
 
Melissa earned her BA at the University of California, Santa Barbara and completed the Berkeley certificate program in College and Career Counseling before starting her consulting practice. She has four children, the eldest earned her Ph.D. at UC Irvine in Developmental Psychology and is currently doing her post-doc at the University of North Carolina.  Her two sons both graduated from USC and are living in Los Angeles pursuing their careers. Her second daughter has Down syndrome and is living in a community of her peers in Laguna Beach. 
Education
  • Transition Class at UC Davis
  • UC Berkeley Extension Program: Certificate in College Admissions and Career Planning
  • BA at UC Santa Barbara​
Professional Affiliations
Jon Masland, PhD
Business Manager

After a career in management consulting with a specialization in marketing and customer experience management, Jon is now working with Masland Educational Consulting as Business Manager. Besides handling administrative activities such as creating payment plans, managing invoicing and setting up surveys, Jon also assists with university research and generating college reports for students.
 
Jon is well versed in university life, having earned a PhD from Indiana University where he was also Director of the Center for Survey Research and Research Associate at the Institute for Communication Research.
Education
  • PhD at Indiana University, Mass Communications
  • BA at Tufts University
Professional Affiliations