A Historic Breakthrough
In 2012, we won development funding from the University of Southern California to develop results-oriented college counseling methodology. After innovating methods that ethically lifted students with lower grades and SAT/ACT scores into highly selective colleges—and gave all students a measurable advantage—we became the only independent college counselors USC has ever invited to present a series of workshops alongside its admissions office.
How We Decoded College Admissions
We studied “Miracle students.” They have lower grades, test scores, no outwardly special hooks, and still get into their dream colleges over peers with better academic qualifications. While classmates describe them as “only average,” one admissions officer described their applications as "too good of a fit to turn away."
Expert Analysis Provided For:
How We Increase Certainty in Admissions Outcomes
Using the same evaluation rubrics that admissions officers use to grade applications, we can perform a baseline diagnosis of your candidacy and address vulnerabilities before you apply. We've spoken with deans and conduct proprietary research to develop smarter strategies. For example, 4 years before Harvard's Turning the Tide study on the future of college admissions, we'd already predicted and were applying its recommendations. Recently, we successfully lobbied the University of California to enable bullet point formatting in the activity summary of its UC application. We're ahead of trends; at times we set them. That's how we get results.
Our Team
The Perfect Bridge Between Generations
"The original business plan I wrote for College Zoom over a decade ago predicted that we'd be fully staffed with former admissions officers by now. That was before I understood that admissions office pedigree doesn't equate to persuasive writing or teaching ability. To this day, a former admissions officer has yet to pass our first-round interview.
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College admissions isn't a random lottery, it's a poker game. You can beat players with equal or better cards than you if you have a decent enough hand and play it right. We help students ethically change the cards in their hands. Admissions offices don't teach that.
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Over the past 13 years, we've achieved our industry's top success rate by honing our ability to transform ordinary students into everyday heroes. As we've had to out smart, out lead, and outperform our competition in order to stand out and rise from obscurity, we'll teach you to do the same, in your own way. Your success is our success, and vice versa."
— David Reynaldo, Founder
A’Lira Underwood
David Reynaldo
Aisa Castro
Jackson Burgess
Adam Kronenberger
Wendy Liu
Ezra Li
Riley Darrough
Claire Rowland
Julia Haffie
Luryn John-Miller
Preston Walker
Employees Not pictured:
A'Lira Underwood (College Planner; USC),
Aisa Castro (College Planner, USC),
Ezra Li (Application Counselor, USC),
Luryn John-Miller (Essay Counselor, UT-Austin)
Griffin Damron (Essay Counselor, USC)
Adam Kronenberger (Essay Counselor, USC)
Adya Mohanty (Essay Counselor, USC), and
Wendy Liu (Application Counselor, USC)
To ensure the highest levels of internal quality control, we're all W2 employees of College Zoom — we never outsource any part of your counseling to contractors.