INTERNATIONAL: The team has traveled to 100+ countries, speak over 10 languages including Spanish, Greek, Mandarin, Urdu, Arabic, Farsi, French, and have worked with applicants from over 30 nations.
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ACCOMPLISHED: Our Experts went to Stanford, Oxford, Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley, have served on admissions committees, have all received scholarships and graduated in the top 10% of their class.
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EXPERIENCED: We were in your shoes, overcoming significant hurdles to gain admission to top programs, and in the process have developed over 75 Years of Admissions Experience!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: College, Law, MBA
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: Each time I applied to college, graduate school, and law school my standardized scores were in the 50th – 60th percentile. Despite taking the SAT, LSAT and GRE several times, the scores simply did not reflect my efforts or true aptitude. I knew I could not get into a top program without an outstanding application including a bulletproof addendum and a unique personal statement. Thankfully in each case I was able to extensively research and artfully craft an application that not only helped get me over the admissions hurdle at top programs, but also receive funding for my studies!
Fun Fact: I am obsessed with traveling. To date I have traveled to 130+ countries and attended 6 Soccer World Cups!
Academics:
Areas of Expertise: Business Management, Customer Relations, Accounting and Marketing.
Fun Fact: Even though I’m half Japanese and half Chinese I sadly don’t speak either language, as my parents were born in Hawaii!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: College, Scholarships/Fellowship
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: As a first-generation college student, it always seemed that other students had a better understanding of the application process. For instance, the first time I heard the words “curriculum vitae” I silently panicked. I had never heard the term, but noticed most around me had. Furthermore, during my applications to undergraduate programs, an adviser had told me that the ACT and SAT were interchangeable. As a consequence, I missed out on some application opportunities, having not had the right standardized tests appropriate to each school. Thankfully, I was able to persist and figure out not only what I needed to be competitive for my programs, but also how to secure extended opportunities for fellowships and scholarships. Eventually, I graduated top of my class and matriculated to graduate school at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship!
Fun Fact: I am a gym junkie where I love to run or lift weights!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: College, Scholarships/Fellowship
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle:
Area(s) of Expertise: When I was 16, I shaved my head for a charity event!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: College, Scholarships/Fellowship
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: For the longest time, scholarship and fellowship applications felt like the bane of my existence. I knew it was critical to apply in order to have the mobility to attend my dream schools. However, I struggled to explain why I was the right fit for these programs. How did one muster the boldness to summarize the reasons why they deserved a specific fellowship program? How was I supposed to explain my passions and my niche academic interests in a few short essays? Afraid to be bold in my applications, I fell into the trap of pigeonholing myself into a very narrow subject of conversation. Thanks to my mentors and college advisors, however, I was able to broaden my approach to these applications and really get a handle on advocating for myself as an applicant. I learned that I had to believe in myself as a holistic candidate in order to write truly effective applications, and I took that lesson to heart. I learned a lot from each separate application, and I now feel confident both in myself as an applicant and in the academic experiences I’ve acquired thanks to these scholarships.
Fun Fact: I love photography and architecture, and spent a summer backpacking from the north of Spain to Morocco for a photography project!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: College, Graduate Studies
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: I did not graduate in the top 10% of my high school and got rejected from Northwestern the first time around. I deferred admission at my state school and decided to do a gap year before it was a common and understood practice. I used the experience to distinguish myself in my essays and reapplied to Northwestern Early Decision where I graduated with honors and was admitted to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.
Fun Fact: I have lived in 12 countries across 4 continents and am about to add the 13th!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: College, Law School, LLM
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: When I was applying to law school, I felt like every other applicant I knew was a Political Science or Economics major. It was as if there was a typical path to law school, and I wasn’t on it. I started to think I didn’t have the right background for law school, and I lost confidence. Then I realized – being different wasn’t a weakness I should be embarrassed about; it was a strength that I should highlight in my application. I began to believe in myself again, and the rest is history!
Fun Fact: I love to run and recently ran my first full marathon, the L.A. Marathon, in March 2019!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: Law School, Career Planning
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: I decided to pursue law school during my junior year at UCLA. So, unlike many students who tailored their courses and extracurricular activities towards future law school studies, my path was a bit scattered, with some great successes and some great “misses”. The personal statement allowed me to weave these seemingly scattered pieces into a cohesive story that truly conveyed how I came to choose law school as my path for graduate studies. Further the Diversity Statement allowed me to bring together my life experiences and explain, in a bit more detail, about my family background and how I could add to the diversity of the profession.
Fun Fact: T.S. Eliot has my poet heart. I discovered him as an undergrad and still get chills reading his work!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: College, Law School
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: When I sat down to write my personal essay for my law school applications, I was frozen by how painfully uneventful my life had been. I knew applicants that had been in the Peace Corps, beat overwhelming odds, and performed incredible life feats. I, on the other hand, applied to law school during my senior year of college, immersed in a world of football games and palm trees and beautiful people. Eventually, however, I came to realize that how you write about life experience is as important as what you write about. You don’t have to crawl on your hands and knees through the Amazon to tell a story that reflects who you are (although admittedly this would make it easier). The personal essay gave me the opportunity to reflect on experiences in my life that might have at first seemed trivial, but upon deeper reflection, were incredibly meaningful.
Fun Fact: I have driven across the United States eight times!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: Law School
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: University of California – Berkeley Law has always been a dream school. However, being admitted was extremely difficult, in no small part, because I was an out of state applicant. On my first time applying I was rejected and instead enrolled at Northwestern School of Law. But something didn’t feel right. I withdrew and re-applied to Berkeley Law a second time and again was rejected. This time I decided to pursue my studies at the University of Michigan School of Law. While there, I applied yet again to Berkeley Law, this time as a visiting student, and thankfully my persistence paid off as I was admitted!
Fun Fact: I love traveling and languages. For the past three summers I spent time in Barcelona learning Spanish and taking in the incredible culture!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: MBA
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: Coming from a nontraditional background, I had almost no idea about what it takes to get into a top MBA program. Therefore, my biggest hurdle was communicating my experience in a way that would convince MBA admissions committees that I can excel both in business school and the private sector. To do this, I spoke with several people that also possessed nontraditional professional backgrounds and who were in or had completed business school to glean which parts of my experiences to highlight given my present and future goals. Doing so ultimately helped me to receive offers from several top business schools!
Fun Fact: During my first year at Stanford, a few of my classmates and I would take over the empty MBA lounge on Saturday nights, shut the doors, close the blinds, and blast instrumental hip-hop beats. After cranking up the bass, we would freestyle for hours!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: MBA, GMAT Prep
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: After injuries prematurely ended my tennis career, b-school was in my sights. I threw out the names of top schools and generally received the same feedback: “Aim lower, that 2.9 GPA will be hard to overcome”. I took that as a challenge. Dedicating myself to destroying the GMAT (760) came first. Understanding the thought process of the test-writers was key! Next, learning the ins and outs of each school and the admissions process was critical. Several interviews later, I decided to attend London Business School!
Fun Fact: Tennis has opened many doors in my life. One such door led to Pete Sampras’ house where we practiced together three times before he set off to play three exhibition matches with Roger Federer in China.
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: MBA
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: When I was 25, everyone around me in my little town (including myself) thought that Ivy League schools were far beyond my reach; no blue chip companies appeared in my resume, my GMAT score (680) did not stand out for top schools, and my GPA was something I avoided talking about. As an underdog, I had no other choice but to work both hard and smart. After connecting and interviewing dozens of people that attended top schools and reading multiple books and articles, I developed a formula for applications – mastering how to demonstrate a healthy balance of vulnerability, persistence, enthusiasm and insider knowledge about each program I wanted to apply to. In addition, I always aspired to display my uniqueness through my values, skills, passion, and experiences, both positive and negative. This formula has never failed me as I ended was accepted to each one of my dream programs!
Fun Fact: As a Greek, I know for a fact that the Greek food is the best in the world. I am extremely open-minded, but please don’t argue against this universal truth!
Academics:
Area(s) of Expertise: MBA
Overcoming an Admissions Hurdle: At first sight it helps to come from a traditional background if you are trying to get into a business school right? When I applied for MBA programs, I quickly realized that there was very little that distinguished me from countless other applicants. With a business undergraduate degree and work experience in a traditional business sector, it was quite hard to make a point to any school why they should accept me and not someone else with an identical background and possibly with an even higher GMAT score or more volunteering work on their CV. I realized it ultimately came down to conveying to the admissions committee who I am as a person, why I would be a better fit than a candidate with the same or even better formal credentials and what I was going to bring to campus. My personal story about the journey that led me to apply for an MBA was eventually what got me into my top choice program.
Fun Facts: Before I started my business undergraduate program, I had a career in the hospitality Industry. The cooking and sommelier skills I learned during that time still benefit my friends when I throw epic dinner parties!
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