Michael Gao
Twitter: @michaelgao2000
My name is Michael Gao, and I just went through the college admissions process. The process was hard: too hard. Now, I want to help others applying for selective colleges by giving them the best and most recent advice possible through this free podcast as well as a more personalized paid service at Dewey Smart. A lot of people have a lot of advice to give about college applications and test prep. Only a few have actually done it.
I’m an undergraduate at Columbia University, but I was also accepted to many other top schools including Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, Vanderbilt University, Emory University, Duke University, and Rice University. I was admitted to and received full merit-based scholarships to the University of Southern California, Swarthmore College, University of Texas’ McCombs Business School, University of Texas at Dallas, Fordham University, and the University of Virginia.
In high school, I was a National Merit Scholar Finalist and the valedictorian of my class. I played viola in my school’s orchestra and was a nationally-ranked debater. I was the president of my school’s National Honor Society and City House’s Youth Advisory Board. My diverse extracurricular, volunteer, and academic experiences will let me advise any student on how to capitalize on their accomplishments and activities.
I know this process is hard because I remember the long and frantic hours writing essays and finalizing my Common App. Now, I want to make it easier for you.
Don Gonzalez
More at his Mock Trial Camp
Mr. Gonzalez is the Director of the Championship Camps. He previously directed the Mock Trial camp at UTD’s Mean Green Comet Debate Camp from 2016-2018. Prior to that, he worked at various debate camps in Texas for 15 years.
He is currently the mock trial coach at the Law Magnet in Dallas. He began coaching the team in 2014. His teams have qualified to the state tournament each of the last five years. In 2018 the team finished 3rd in the Texas State Bar competition. The team has won back-to-back Dallas City Championships. In 2019, the team finished 2nd at National Judicial Competition. Students from that team won Best Attorney and Best Witness at the national tournament.
He earned a B.A. in both Economics and History from Southern Methodist University. He studied law at The University of Texas School of Law. He holds a Masters in Education Administration from UNT and a Masters in Theological Studies from Ave Maria University.
Sean Cai
More in ampheros.com
I am a high school student vastly interested in global economic affairs and the macro perspective of entrepreneurship. From what I’ve seen, the new generations of students like myself have to take initiative. Connecting high schoolers to startups, internships, and financial literacy opportunities are the best ways to capitalize on this. Concurrently, I work with entrepreneurship incubator programs like GATSVI to encourage entrepreneurship in school clubs and competitions.
I have written extensively on global economics and entrepreneurship in the media and am an author of the book Seeds of Change for my experiences in micro-finance. I believe that empowering students with these connection resources, eschewing the harms caused by education budget cuts is imperative in the 21st century. Especially now, as I move forward with my consulting startup Zeta Management Consulting, I see the consequences of neglecting innovative education.
I lead my school’s FBLA and science fair club while being in the top 1% of my class. My social science research has placed at the state level. With the concepts from that research, I’ve volunteered managing micro-finance loans for of rural farmers and received a gold presidential volunteer service award for economic opportunity. These experiences allow me to connect with many of the high schoolers today and reveal the most efficient methods to expand their activities.
I have conducted much economics research in the past at USD, and know of the specific macro-impacts of entrepreneurship. I lead the online Gen Z youth media group known as Ampheros in displaying these findings and reversing the trend of apolitical sentiment with students from over 15 countries. I am also the founder of the RoundPier student coalition of NGO and project leaders, which verifies the organizational work students do for college admissions.
College admissions is a harrowing grey area today, and I want to make it more transparent for everyone through objective documentary and podcasting work.