Carrie Guillen

Carrie has lived and worked internationally for over 20 years. She sees herself as a Student Advocate, an IB Educator, and a Systems Thinker. She attended university in the US and earned her Master’s in counseling at the University of San Francisco.

Her career began as a family therapist working in a private school. At only 22, she felt she needed more experience to do the job justice. She decided to become a children’s social worker for the city of Los Angeles, which provided her with a wealth of experience. It’s a challenging job, and after six years, she decided to pursue a career in education. She earned her state counseling credential and began working as a middle school counselor, and shortly transitioned to high school, advising students in university placement, which she thoroughly enjoyed. After a few years, she and her family (twin children aged 4) moved to the Philippines, where they stayed for nine years. They then moved to Egypt and lived there for several years, during which time her children graduated from high school, before her and her husband moved on to Colombia for two years.

In 2023, she was also contracted by IBO to contribute to their university country guide, which provides support for students in learning about the university admissions process around the world. She was last working as the Assistant Director of College Counseling in South Korea before moving to Estonia in September 2024. She has maintained a professional blog for nearly 15 years, chronicling the university admissions landscape in the US and abroad. In her free time, she loves reading and traveling with her spouse and twin adult children whenever possible

Last updated on: September 12, 2025