PrepNow Tutor - Alex C.
Alex earned his BA in sociology from the University of Rhode Island and his MA in international studies of education with Honors from New York University.
He earned his MPhil and PhD in comparative and international education with Honors from Teachers College, Columbia University. While there, he was selected to participate in a pilot collaboration between Teachers College and the United Nations Department of Public Information, through which he earned a Certificate for Teacher Education in International Education. As a professional writer, Alex published Re-imagining European Identity Politics in the 21st Century, based on his doctoral dissertation at Columbia. In 2021, his second book, New York Photograph(s): Youth, Identity & Subcultures (which received institutional support from the Milano Graduate School of International Affairs at the New School in New York) was published.
Alex got started in admissions counseling at Columbia with the opportunity to mentor students and friends who were interested in applying to college and graduate school. "I realized that I could apply my skills as a professor and writer to help students one-on-one and immediately realized that this was what I wanted to do with my life!" He has worked as a college counselor since 2007, both privately and as Head of US College Counseling within the International Baccalaureate program at the Benjamin Franklin International School, an American school in Barcelona. Alex has also co-led college essay workshops with Admissions Officers from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Georgetown, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, and MIT.
In addition to his work as a writer and in admissions, Alex has served as a professor and scholar in both the United States and Europe. As a graduate student at Columbia, he co-taught the course, Philosophy and Education: the City as Educator. He was also a guest scholar at the New York University Graduate Program on Human Rights & Visual Inclusion in Rio de Janeiro. Further, Alex taught American university students sociology at the Chicago-based Institute for the International Education of Students and American high school students international politics at the New York-based Oxbridge Academic Program, both in Barcelona.
"Teenagers are going through an exciting journey of self-discovery," Alex says. "Nonetheless, there is a lot of unnecessary stress and fear about the college admissions process. I've had the privilege to work with many different types of students and what I most love about helping them is leading, encouraging, and challenging them so that they can succeed. By providing leadership and listening closely, I've been able to empower my students. As a result, they have been in a much better position to work towards getting accepted into colleges that are an outstanding fit."
As a successful college counselor, Alex professionally assesses students’ goals and then identifies the schools that best meet their needs. "I have expertise with very specific parts of the admissions process, he explains. "First, understanding and helping students articulate their needs and priorities for college, and setting and clarifying educational goals, while helping manage expectations. Next, assessment and recommendations on extracurricular involvement and summer activities, internships, employment and volunteer work and ways to make the most of them, and then crafting and enhancing the activities resume or 'brag' sheet. Finally, recommendations and practice for college interviews."
He says: "Every single student that I've been able to guide and help get into college is a great success story because it has been deeply meaningful for all of them. I've had the privilege to work with a broad range of students both in the United States and internationally, including soldiers who have returned to college after serving our country."
With a strong interest in civic engagement and helping others, Alex has contributed to educational and community outreach projects in Barcelona (interfaith dialogue), Rabat (women's leadership), Buenos Aires (indigenous representation), Rio de Janeiro (favela-based human rights), Shanghai, and New York City (creative youth leadership). The United Nations, UNESCO, the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and prestigious American and European organizations have supported his contributions to higher education.
"Based on my own college experience, I can say that college is a very special time," Alex says, "and one in which students have the opportunity to meet lifelong friends, engage in exciting debates with professors and their peers, explore what they love, gain experience through internships, help others out through volunteer work, study abroad, get ready for their professional careers, and LEARN, LEARN, LEARN! It's an exciting period and something to really look forward to!"
