Our Team

Endorsement:

“David has a special gift in communicating with students.  He demonstrates an ability to engage them in thought-provoking discussion creating an interest and desire to learn.  It is rewarding to watch as my students’ enhanced abilities allow them to effectively communicate complex ideas and thoughts on a higher level than they had previously.  Dr. Tedford, assistant principal of Beverly Hills High School, and I feel that David has the soul and all the qualities of a terrific teacher: patience, concern, ability to communicate the lesson and determination to succeed.”

— Dr. Raquel Ramsey, English Learning Coordinator, Beverly Hills High School

About David:

David Reynaldo is the director of College Zoom.  He has personally worked with hundreds of students and under David’s leadership College Zoom received two awards from the University of Southern California and achieved a 100% success rate in helping students gain acceptance to the nation’s top 100 universities.

In 2011, David became the co-instructor of an elective class on how to write winning college essays at Beverly Hills High School.  David has been invited to speak at numerous educational institutions throughout southern California on the topics of college preparation and entrepreneurial thinking.  Also, in 2011, he became a recipient of the USC Marshall School of Business Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies’ Distinguished Speaker honor, and he received the honor for a second time in 2012.

College Flashback:

As a student at the University of Southern California, David was nominated for USC’s 2010 Marcia Israel Most Outstanding Student of the Year Award.  He also received a Marshall School of Business Award nomination for Most Valuable Board Member of a Student Organization.  David represented USC in a Target Corporation case study competition (featuring seven other southern California universities) where he was a winning team member and scholarship recipient.  His particular recommendation was the only one from the competition that was forwarded to Target’s corporate headquarters. For a class, David wrote a business feasibility analysis that is currently used as a teaching example by the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (ranked 5th in the nation) for undergraduate and graduate school classes.  David graduated from USC with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and concentration in entrepreneurial studies in 2010.

Endorsement:

“My interview went great – better than I could have imagined! I really impressed my admissions office interviewer, and he said that I was asking all the right questions. It was really easy and comfortable, like a conversation, and we laughed and made jokes. I’m really happy about how well it went! I can’t say thank you enough!”

— Alex U., USC Class of 2015 applicant

About Sean:

Sean Bandawat is an adjunct advisor for College Zoom and helps students prepare for admissions office interviews.  He has conducted over 150 professional student interviews and prepares students for admissions office interviews through mock interview practice.  Sean is the president of Jacob Bromwell, Inc., America’s oldest cookware manufacturer, in addition to being the founder and president of RateMyFraternity.com and RateMySorority.com.

College Flashback:

As a USC student, Sean was one of the few students in USC’s history to receive a Marshall School of Business Lifetime Achievement Award as a junior.  He also won the Most Outstanding President of a Student Organization award for his term as the president of the USC Phi Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi.  During his term, the chapter won its second consecutive set of national awards for most outstanding professional activities and alumni relations.  Sean also independently raised $10,000 in gifts and donations for Delta Sigma Pi from corporate sponsors.  Later, as Delta Sigma Pi’s Vice President of Alumni Relations he created the first annual Delta Sigma Pi Southern California Alumni Mixer.  The event attracted over 500 Deltasig alumni and collegiate members from 13 chapters and helped Phi Chapter win its third national award for most outstanding alumni relations.  In Sean’s last position before graduating, he was a co-Vice President of Professional Activities.  His flagship professional event featured celebrity efficiency guru Tim Ferriss, and attracted over 500 attendees.

Outside of Delta Sigma Pi, Sean and other members of the fraternity assumed leadership positions in GLOBUS, a USC Marshall student organization for global business leadership.  As president of GLOBUS, Sean organized a social-benefit event that featured Oscar Award-winning actress Natalie Portman, attracted over 2,000 people, and set a Marshall School of Business attendance record for a Friday night, student organized event.  In his last semester before graduating, Sean was one of a small number of students admitted to USC’s exclusive Art and Adventure of Leadership class, taught by former USC President Steven Sample and Pulitzer prize nominated leadership guru Warren Bennis.  In 2010, Sean graduated from USC with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and concentration in entrepreneurial studies.

About Ryan:

Ryan Christensen led the development of College Zoom’s award-winning business plan and conducted primary research with admissions professionals who collectively possessed 125 years of industry experience.  He is currently an adjunct advisor for College Zoom who provides direction and advice to students who are considering careers in accounting.  He holds a full-time position with Deliotte & Touche, one of the four largest international accountancy firms in the world, and is pursuing a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation.

College Flashback:

At USC, Ryan joined Accounting Society and volunteered at inner-city elementary schools as a student participant in USC’s Joint Educational Program. Ryan also interned for Disney Management Audit and Deloitte. As an intern for Deloitte, Ryan was a participant on the winning team of a Deloitte Case Competition in Los Angeles, California and qualified for the Deloitte National Case Competition in Scottsdale, Arizona. Ryan graduated from USC with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a concentration in entrepreneurial studies in 2010.

About Alexandra:

Alex Corvin is a member of the Western Association of College Admission Counseling (WACAC) and California Association of School Counselors (CASC). She learned the ins-and-outs of the selection process as a former admissions counselor in UCLA’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions and holds a UCLA Extension: College Counseling Certificate. Alex is a process coach for College Zoom and helps students in college guidance and matching. She has a vast knowledge of colleges all throughout the country, including their various application processes, which stems from her college counseling association involvement, professional studies, and personal research.

College Flashback:

Alex graduated from UCLA as a dean’s honor list student with a major in psychology and minor in educational studies in 2010. Throughout college, Alex served as a counselor and coordinator for counselors in training at Four Winds Westward Ho Camp where she taught, mentored, and developed curriculum for high school juniors and seniors. She was an officer in Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and served as a social psychology research assistant. Alex is currently a graduate student at the University of Southern California. She is pursuing her masters in education in school counseling with a pupil personnel services credential. Alex originally began her counseling career as a peer mediator at age eleven. Not long after, she began teaching workshops on communications skills through Conciliation Forums of Oakland and led training on the process of mediation to students in her community.

About Cody

Cody Silva is an adjunct advisor for College Zoom who helps students identify their major and build their college list. As an exceptional regional communiteam director for iBELIEVE, Cody was selected to participate in a small team tasked with developing a new and engaging youth outreach program for empowering young leaders to make a difference in the world. He also received official letters of commendation issued by the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaii for his work on education policy as an intern for both offices.

College Flashback

Cody was a stand-out student at Loyola Marymount University with a host of distinctions, awards, honors, and accolades to attribute to his name.

Cody received LMU’s Alfred Kilp Award for Service and Leadership after leading the effort to write and pass the largest top-to-bottom reform of associated student government in the university’s recent history with the goal of achieving a more effective, efficient and ethical associated student government.

As a member of Delta Sigma Pi, America’s foremost professional business fraternity, Cody was elected to serve as the president of his chapter twice and led the student organization to winning regional, provincial and national awards. The most prominent of the awards included chapter of excellence, most improved chapter and most outstanding chapter.

Cody won a full-tuition scholarship to the LeaderShape Institute, a not-for-profit organization that strives to empower college students to lead with integrity. He also won a myriad of other scholarships from LMU and Delta Sigma Pi for academic excellence and merit-based accomplishments.

In 2011, Cody received Delta Sigma Pi’s highest honor for collegian members by being named the national collegian of the year and was appointed to the fraternity’s national board of directors.

Cody graduated from LMU in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in economics .

About Valerie:

Valerie Chu is an essay specialist for College Zoom. She helps students demonstrate character and originality in their writing. Valerie is a sophomore at the University of Southern California pursuing a degree in Writing for Screen and Television with a minor in Business Law. Currently, she works for both the Business Affairs Office and the Dean’s Office at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.

College Achievements:

Valerie has worked with a variety of student programs since high school, most recently, Teach for Los Angeles, a student volunteer organization that tutors local students in both math and reading. Valerie also volunteered for the non-profit organization, Skills for Living, in Houston, Texas. During that summer, she co-taught a financial, career, and college planning course to high school sophomores. At USC, Valerie is a member of the UNICEF club. She is also on the student panel for Explore USC, a program that allows recently-admitted cinema students to tour the school and ask questions about current students’ experiences.

About Alex:

Alex Park is a Junior at the University of Southern California pursuing a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Marketing.

Professional Accomplishments:

Alex recently placed 3^rd in a Business Plan Competition sponsored by the mayor of Beverly Hills, beating out MBA students to win funds for his business idea. He also placed in the Top 10 for a $100,000 national business plan competition sponsored by a top national advertising agency.

College Achievements:

At USC, Alex is deeply involved with Delta Sigma Pi, a highly-selective business fraternity and now serves on the upper board of leadership within the organization. As a full-time student, Alex has been working in order to pay for college and manages a computer service business that he is expanding today. He has been working diligently to build his experience, knowledge, and connections to one day become a successful entrepreneur.

About Richard:

Richard is a senior at Loyola Marymount University. He is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and Management.

Professional Accomplishments:

Richard received awards for Club Sports Supervisor of the Year as well as the People’s Choice Award for Employee of the Year in recognition of his efforts to improve the Loyola Marymount Club Sports Department. Over the past two summers, Richard also received awards for his performance in the sales representative and manager positions at Vector Marketing. After selling $20,000 of product in one summer, Richard was inducted into Vector Marketing’s exclusive President’s Club. Then, as a manager he worked with hundreds of students and was responsible for training and developing several of the top sales representatives in the state of California.

College Flashback:

As a member of LMU’s award-winning chapter of the professional business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi, Richard held three different elected positions on the chapter’s Executive Board. The chapter received regional, provincial and national awards, the most prominent of which included: chapter of excellence, most improved chapter and most outstanding chapter.  Richard worked to expand the chapter’s alumni network and led the effort to standardize its pledge education process, which promotes personal and professional growth in prospective members of the business fraternity.

About Jack:

Study Smart Tutors is an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau and provides test preparation services with a 100% satisfaction guarantee, or your money back.

Jack Friedman founded Study Smart Tutors Inc. out of his dorm room at the University of Southern California in 2007. Having personally worked with hundreds of students, Jack understands the psychology behind how students learn and has a passion for helping them achieve their college dreams. Jack is a standardized test partner for College Zoom.

In 2010, Study Smart Tutors’s clients included: the USC Neighborhood Academic Initiative, CLU Upward Bound, CSULB Upward Bound, Los Angeles Southwest College Upward Bound, CSUN Upward Bound, and TELACU Education Foundation Upward Bound.

College Achievements:

Jack worked for two national test prep companies, before starting Study Smart Tutors Inc., where he tutored students from 5th to 12th grades in academic subjects as well as test prep. Jack founded Study Smart Tutors because he understood that the teaching material he was required to use was ineffective and could be improved to help students raise their scores.

Jack was nominated for USC’s 2010 Marcia Israel Most Outstanding Student of the Year Award and juggled his studies with running Study Smart Tutors throughout his entire college experience. Before Jack graduated Cum Laude from USC, the business plan for Study Smart Tutors Inc. was awarded Top Undergraduate Business Plan by USC’s Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in May 2010 and won Top Feasibility Plan in May 2009.