Independent Education Counselor

Margot Hutchison

Margot Hutchison is an independent education counselor (IEC) who thrives on helping students get excited about this next big step in their lives. Jigsaw’s mission is to help students identify strengths and interests they might not know they have, and to find a college that is a perfect fit for them academically, financially, socially, and ecologically.

Choosing a college can be stressful and confusing, and her purpose is to make this process clear, simple, and even fun — yes, fun! — for students and their parents.

Margot has been passionate about education since she was very young, and loves working with kids of all ages. She earned her college counseling certificate through the UCSD extension program and attended the IECA (Independent Education Consultants Association) Summer Training Program. Margot is a member of IECA and HECA (Higher Education Consultants Association) and visits thirty or more colleges each year.

She comes to the IEC profession after a 25-year career in publishing. As a senior literary agent for Waterside Productions, Inc., she has read and edited hundreds of book proposals and manuscripts and counseled more than a thousand authors throughout their writing careers. She also was the director of online education at Waterside and helped many authors transition from writing books to teaching courses online.

Margot earned her bachelor’s degree in literature from UCSD and spent her junior year abroad at the University of Barcelona, Spain. She attended the Stanford Publishing Course early in her publishing career, and as a lifelong learner, continues to take professional development courses.