COVID-19 and College Admission Webinar

Learn how COVID-19 is changing the 2020-2021 admissions cycle and what you can do to improve your application success. The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our everyday work and life. For current seniors and juniors, this outbreak has profoundly disrupted the college planning and admission process, forcing colleges to make significant changes to many well-established admission policies and practices.

In this webinar, our expert college counselors will walk through exactly how the college admissions process has been affected thus far for seniors and juniors, and will advise how to proactively manage the situation and improve the application success. We will address key topics such as revising the college list, adjusting the application timeline, continually engaging in extracurricular activities, interpreting and responding to the test-optional requirement, and communicating appropriately with college admissions.

We will begin with a one-hour session in English, followed by two, concurrent 1-hour sessions in English and Chinese. In both sessions, we will also allocate time for Q&A to answer any questions about college planning and admissions.

Webinar Speakers >

TJ

TJ has been advising, consulting, and tutoring students in the Palos Verdes Peninsula for the last ten years, giving him an intimate knowledge of the area and its student population. TJ has successfully guided hundreds of students through the ever-confusing labyrinth of college admissions and high school curriculum. Having studied in prestigious institutions himself, TJ understands the rigorous preparations that are needed to not only gain admissions, but also to succeed once the student begins his/her studies. TJ has master’s degrees in biochemistry and public policy from UCSF and Columbia University, respectively. TJ has also earned a Certificate in College Counseling from UCLA. In addition to his extensive technical expertise, TJ’s ability to empathize and relate to students has garnered praise and trust from both students and parents.

Aileen

Aileen earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania. She went on to earn an MSEd from Penn as well as an MA from NYU. After teaching abroad in Japan for three years, she returned to Southern California, where she has worked in independent schools throughout Los Angeles and Orange County. In addition to tutoring in History and English, Aileen has guided students through the testing and admission process for over 15 years. Her students have been accepted at prestigious institutions including Princeton, Cornell, and UC Berkeley.

Ji

Ji received her PhD in education from USC. Ji’s research focuses on understanding and assessing how students succeed in college. Ji has published in peer-reviewed journals, including Higher Education, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Journal of General Education, Innovative Higher Education, and Journal of International Students. Applying research to practice, Ji started advising students since 2010. She is passionate about helping students not only get into but also succeed in college. When she is not advising students, Ji enjoys building statistical models to assess teaching and learning at USC Marshall School of Business, where she is the Associate Director of Institutional Research & Data Analytics. Ji also teaches Statistics and Quantitative Literacy, a general education seminar for first-year students at USC. Before coming to the U.S., Ji was a college English teacher, and received her BA and MA in English from Huazhong University of Science & Technology, China.

Luke

Born and raised in Palo Alto, California, Luke ventured to the East Coast for two years at Harvard College before transferring to Stanford University, where he earned his B.A. in English. Since 2003, he has helped hundreds of students achieve academic excellence. An expert in SAT and ACT prep, he has helped students increase, on average, 200 points in SAT and 4 points in ACT. A seasoned college counselor, he is particularly proud of the many students he’s helped gain admission to colleges which they thought were beyond their reach, including Stanford, UC Berkeley, Brown, MIT, and many others. He believes studying and college planning should feel empowering and efficient, and works hard to give his students a sense of personal mastery and independence.