In 2009, my business plan for College Zoom envisioned a team of former admissions officers driving our success. I quickly learned that admissions office pedigree isn't equivalent to impressive teaching or persuasive writing ability. As it turns out, a former admissions officer has yet to pass our first-round, skills test interview.
Guided by admissions directors early on, I studied their decisions after being awed by students who didn't satisfy their expressed standards yet still got accepted. After exhaustive research and statistical analysis, I identified the lowest competitive thresholds for key admission criteria, specific to each university, past which students truly became non-viable—but, above which they could still be accepted with below-average credentials. By reinterpreting the evaluation rubrics used by admissions offices with this data, I constructed a model that explained—and then accurately predicted—miracle acceptances, top student rejections, and all outcomes in between.
This unprecedented insight made our personalized admissions strategies highly actionable for any student. By using the answer key, we made the process of bridging their gaps clear and unambiguous. Our precise, targeted goals avoided burnout while leading families past unclear and inconsistent advice they'd gotten from official sources. We also perfected an entire college application writing methodology and system—covering essays and all application materials—for holistically maximizing evaluation scores. Our students surpassed those guided by more expensive competitors; we even achieved breakthroughs with students others deemed hopeless.
Nevertheless, our expertise has only ever been as effective as a student's commitment to follow through. That's why our 96.5% success rate has been powered equally by our ability to mentor teenagers beyond the instincts of youth that lead to mediocrity. Our 16-year history of mentoring success is your success, and vice versa. We help students adopt the mindsets necessary to unlock their inner heroes and achieve standout successes in their own ways.
Our entire service experience is designed for this higher purpose: beyond admissions coaching, we activate greater success in life.
— David Reynaldo, Founder
A’Lira Underwood
David Reynaldo
College Zoom is Los Angele's #1 ranked college counseling service (Yelp). We're experts in elite college admissions throughout the U.S. and our success rate is the best nationwide. Smarter decisions, smarter outcomes.™ More.
Aisa Castro
Jackson Burgess
Adam Kronenberger
Wendy Liu
Ezra Li
Riley Darrough
Julia Haffie
Luryn John-Miller
Preston Walker
Griffin Damron
Adya Mohanty
To uphold our highest standards, we're all in-house, W2 employees of College Zoom. We never outsource any part of your counseling to contractors. We have prioritized slow growth and promotion from within, valuing the perfection of our client experience and each employee's legacy over fast profits or rapid expansion.