Personalized University of Washington Admissions Counseling

Alec has a Bachelor’s degree in both Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Asian Studies from Rice University and an MBA from Stanford University. He has several years of experience helping college candidates get into their dream schools.

As a coach, Alec enjoys helping others find confidence and pride in what sets them apart. Essentially, he loves to see students embark on journeys to further cultivate their individuality. His greatest strength when working with Quad applicants is his ability to help them find their confidence and voice. Alec understands the difficulty in articulating the “why” behind your experiences and decisions when applying to college. He prides himself on his ability to help students dig deep so they can determine the motivations behind their choices, whether it's their reason for pursuing an activity, a school, or a program.

Students Alec has recently coached have gotten accepted into UC Berkeley, Yale University, Princeton University, MIT, Stanford University, Washington University St. Louis, Rice University, and Vanderbilt University.

In Alec’s free time, he enjoys taking courses online, making up games, and solving computer science problems.

Alec’s Pro Tip?

Students do better in the interview when they answer extemporaneously from the heart rather than when they memorize what "should be said".

Max completed his Bachelor of Science in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University. During his undergraduate career at Yale University, he worked extensively with high school students as an ambassador to Yale's undergraduate admissions office. As an admissions ambassador, Max spoke to hundreds of high school students, interviewing prospective students and identifying the unique features of each student's application. With ten years of accumulated experience in admissions, tutoring, and coaching, Max's students have been admitted to top universities such as Vanderbilt, Emory, New York University, Duke, and Yale.

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Growing up as a first-generation student in an underrepresented community, Max heavily values higher education. He is passionate about helping bright students achieve as much as possible in their educational and professional careers. Max has extensive experience in project management and mentorship. As a coach, he is very detail-oriented and milestone-focused. Max can communicate on different levels with his students, advising and guiding them and their families throughout the application process.

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With a thorough understanding of the admissions process, Max understands the significance of empathy and understanding his students' perspectives. He knows what separates a good candidate from a superb candidate. He is eager to draw out the most vital qualities in his Quad students, crafting an application that authentically shares their story.

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When Max is not coaching, he enjoys playing soccer, cooking, video editing, chess, and being in the great outdoors.

Ruth’s excitement for unlocking the creative potential within each of her students and crafting compelling stories drive her love for working with high school students on their college applications. Throughout her life, Ruth has learned the importance of a growth mindset and is excited to help others realize how far they can go.

As an undergrad at Yale, Ruth followed her love for Japanese culture all the way to Japan, and she studied and worked in (and ate her way through) the country for a year after winning the prestigious Light Fellowship. After graduating with her BA in Political Science, she moved to Washington D.C. to work with a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) contractor, where she helped manage multimillion dollar projects in Tanzania, Malawi, and Kenya.

Desiring to uplevel her skillset through an MBA, Ruth attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was awarded the Diane V.S. and Robert M. Levy Endowed Fellowship and interned at a digital media company in New York on their strategy and business development team. During her second year, she started working on her own business idea-–Fudena, which was a successful fast-casual West African restaurant pop-up.

When she’s not helping students or thinking about her next business idea, Ruth enjoys teaching herself guitar, exploring different spiritual traditions, and improving her Rubik’s cube solve times (she’s currently averaging 1 minute and 30 seconds).