Purpose of the program:

Inspire! Scholar is a virtual college advising program created to provide high achieving yet underprivileged students with the support they need to maximize their chances of admission to the best U.S. universities.

Through this program, you will be guided by US university admissions experts who can help you strategize your application so you will stand out in today’s increasingly competitive applicant pools. We recognize that many high-achieving Asian students present similar profiles thus making it harder for them to gain admission. Implementing our unique methodology, we will highlight your differentiating features and help you crack the code of selective college admissions.

For over 10 years, Inspire! has refined our 11- steps methodology which has successfully helped dozens of students gain admission to Ivy League and other elite universities. It is a nationally renowned and trusted brand in the college admissions counseling circle.

Advantages:

Expert guidance provided by esteemed counselors with a proven track record of success: Admissions into Ivy League universities and other top-tier institutions. Our mentors are highly experienced and accomplished college counseling professionals who are dedicated to helping you overcome all the hurdles throughout the process.

Assistance with key areas of admissions including college list development, application strategy & direction, essay brainstorming and support, standardized test planning, and help with demystifying the admissions process and understanding application trends.

Who should apply?

• Consistently ranked among the top 5% of the graduating class
• Attends high school in the US
• Current junior, or rising senior
• Takes a highly rigorous course load
• Accomplished in academic and extracurricular pursuits

What we’re looking for:

• Transcript (unofficial is also ok!)
• A list of activities you’ve taken part in outside of the classroom. Any and all honors and accolades.
• A writing sample (about 500 words)

How to apply?

Please submit your application through here

We will reach out to schedule an interview once your application is received.

Our Background

Inspire! Education is an innovative educational institution which aims to inspire, ignite and mentor students to help them achieve greater self-awareness, social consciousness, and success in the college application process, all the while promoting sustainable social impact through their pursuits.

Founded in 2014 with offices in Shanghai, China and the United States, we are committed to delivering mentorship programs for students, which empower them to pursue their individual interests and aspirations, cultivate their faculties for keen observation and critical analysis, foster maturity and independent thinking, and gain a deeper understanding of the application process at American colleges and universities.

Following a rigorous screening and selection process, we find students whose values, record of excellence, and aspirations are aligned with the core principles of our program. Through a meticulously designed curriculum and a wealth of activities, we provide the resources, knowledge, and guidance to maximize scholastic achievement and college admissions success, thereby positioning students for excellence in college and beyond.

Counselor background

GianCarlo

GianCarlo graduated from Northwestern University with an honors degree in Anthropology and a minor in Asian American Studies. At Northwestern, he was the recipient of the Herman J. DeFord Endowed Scholarship and completed several research projects, including psychology research at The Foley Center for the Study of Lives reading and coding thousands of self-narratives on redemption, as well as ethnographic research on religious converts in American universities. In addition, he was an avid hip-hop dance performer, organized events at The Field Museum for the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, did community service projects in Chicago’s Chinatown, and developed a postcolonial humanities curriculum for an education non-profit in West Africa. His thesis on racial/economic inequality and gentrification in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood was approved for honors by the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Excellence.

After Northwestern, he continued his studies at Harvard, where he graduated with a master’s degree in educational psychology. He also received several graduate school admission offers, such as from Columbia, and merit scholarship offers from Stanford and Penn. At Harvard, he was an ambassador for the Human Development and Psychology (HDP) program and evaluated hundreds of applications for the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences as an admissions intern. He conducted research on China- US educational partnerships and also on human lifespan development from adolescence through adulthood, focusing on American youth.

After graduating from Harvard, Gian Carlo moved to Shanghai and has fallen in love with the city and also China ever since. During this period, he has helped over 200 Chinese high school students earn admission to top universities including Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Stanford, U Chicago, Penn, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Brown, Cornell, and many others.

GianCarlo has been well-known in the industry for helping students who do not have national or international level awards gain admission to top 10 universities every year. He has crafted a unique methodology for transforming skeptical admissions officers into advocates for students, by helping students depict their experiences with intellectual verve and make their personality come alive, thereby leaving a lasting impression on the admissions officers long after their applications are read. Trained by the world’s best scholars in education and psychology at Harvard, he has achieved a balance of promoting personal growth in students while also getting the best college application results.

Having grown up in Chicago, he is a voracious reader of non-fiction books on history, culture, politics, and psychology. He enjoys hiking, listening to audiobooks and podcasts, and applying body hacking tricks for optimal health.

Mike Hong

Mike was born in Hyde Park, Chicago, but spent his childhood in Seoul, Korea before moving to San Jose, California for middle school and beyond. He attended the nationally ranked high school, The Harker School with scholarship. When he first moved to California, however, the only English phrases he knew were: Hello, How are you? I’m fine, thank you. Nevertheless, he adjusted well to his new environment, both in and out of the classroom. He played as a fullback and nose guard for his school’s varsity football team, became the president of his school’s chess club, and earned the rank of Eagle Scout after years of community service and outdoor activities as a Boy Scout.

After high school, he attended the University of Chicago for his undergraduate degree, where he immersed himself in psychological research, working at two different labs. He studied the relationship between pressure and performance at one lab, and how different dimensions of social status affects impression formation at the other. After graduating with honors, Mike spent some time working in the US and S. Korea before moving to China to work as a college admissions consultant. Students wishing to study abroad found his experience to be very useful, and Mike found mentoring talented students and helping them discover and showcase the best aspects of themselves in application to be a deeply rewarding work.

Mike has worked with a wide range of students, from aspiring architects, artists, astrophysicists, businesswomen, engineers, and more gain admissions to some of the most prestigious universities in the world such as Columbia, University of Chicago, Stanford, Brown, JHU, Northwestern, Pratt Institute, among others, often with scholarship.

How will we support you?

Your partnership with your counselor will encompass 15- 20 hours of one-on-one support navigating the complex college admissions process. Your work together will take place on Zoom (or other video platform) and will likely include many email exchanges.

Over the course of your work, you will be focused on the following areas:

1. College List Development: 

• Preliminary list of 15-20 schools
• Final list of 8-10 schools

2. The Common Application:

• Brainstorm, draft and revise the 650-word personal statement; the PS is the most important piece of your application. We will help you through many rounds of edits to craft a compelling personal image, which will showcase your unique personality, core values, and passion in an engaging and convincing manner.
• Refine the Activities List
• Brainstorm and revise the Additional Information/COVID optional prompts

3. Supplemental Responses: 

• assistance with all supplemental essays as well as specialized advice for each school

4. Application strategy and positioning:

Every college looks for something different in an applicant and it can seem random and unpredictable to outsiders. With over 20 years of combined experience, we are able to provide insider information on what each institution is looking for and how you can distinguish yourself. Through strategic positioning, we will conduct a holistic analysis of your academic record, activity profile, school profile, college list, as well as strengths and weaknesses to best position you for success.

5. Recommendation letters and recommenders

We will advise students on which teachers to choose as recommenders by reviewing the student’s academic reports and transcripts, as well as helping students with recommendation questionnaires. We will also help students with the resume and other relevant materials that you will share with your recommendation letter writers.