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Our college admissions counseling reveals what admissions officers actually value and how to showcase it effectively. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/e9d65cc7-8571-4677-930f-cc57f915cbac/pasted+image+0+%281%29.png https://www.meridianprep.com/what-we-do daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/1647382744841-3SOR4LX4LVOXVU4JO277/image+%285%29.png About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/1647382881838-CJVOWHA29BAIQR48TO2R/image+%286%29.png About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/1647382912770-UKCFQD96SQJ7LDVK29ZT/image+%287%29.png About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/1647382965100-6XX2B6GFBJJFU47TTXH7/image+%289%29.png About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/1647383056139-A2UQ4CTIJOGCOO7UKIMC/pasted+image+0+%282%29.png About https://www.meridianprep.com/old-packages daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://www.meridianprep.com/who-we-are daily 0.75 2026-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/1646782943436-XBFPJO1RF4DHX13G2ON5/farid.jpg Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/1646782964541-FYN5FMJNPZLZ8XJPL22L/Joanna.jpg Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/1646783080431-DM6RAC9TMR4K65TVL0K4/JohnM.jpg Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/1646783140888-MT99WTH00J5TN4BJKY5B/andy-le.jpg Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/1646783197854-U59WTJIXR8QTT0D1JYRG/Kevin-Shanley.jpg Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/6cc3b9ea-5429-4d75-8b8c-c46dd15c212b/01.jpg Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/d000fd0b-15c5-4c10-97bc-8e4195909485/Brian+Baxley.png Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/41efb025-49bd-465e-bad8-636805f91048/kenneth_smile_Edited.jpg Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/9f9ccffc-0b2f-42f1-9335-b4cb0672adfc/crystal_Edited.jpg Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/27f476df-ee79-4c62-9ade-fb8dc71ecfb7/Ryan+Smile_Edited.jpg Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/60a6f9bd-0499-4b0d-bd34-8acd19f20564/Sheila_Smile_Edited.jpg Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/d1228cbd-ba3a-4d7d-a14c-42499fb9366b/John_Smirk_Edited.jpg Who We Are https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/1ce3e14e-59a7-497e-9b36-0c81016549a7/meridianheadshot.jpg Who We Are https://www.meridianprep.com/contact daily 0.75 2026-03-17 https://www.meridianprep.com/bio/sheila-v daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/3f42fefe-629b-432d-b421-93674ca68e40/Sheila+headshot.jpg Sheila Vatan Sheila Vatan is a longtime college counselor, tutor, and SAT/ACT expert. She has spent the last decade helping hundreds of students develop their interests, manage their grades, build their resumes, establish testing timelines, explore colleges, and write, write, write essays. Sheila has helped students apply and gain acceptance to a multitude of universities, from Ivy Leagues like Columbia, Cornell, and Brown to public ivy like UC Berkeley, UCLA, and University of Michigan; from renown liberal arts colleges like Amherst, Harvey Mudd, and Wellesley to competitive art institutes like Pratt, Parson’s, and CalArts. Her older students have enjoyed successful applications to MBA programs, medical/dental schools, and STEM programs, among others. Sheila is passionate about helping students discover themselves. She is a strong believer in finding tangible activities that allow students to explore their myriad interests and in using the power of creative nonfiction to reflect on their perspectives and experiences and tell the stories of their lives. Sheila is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Columbia University. In her spare time, she writes, edits a literary magazine, and works on short films. She can occasionally be found trailering through the mountains and deserts with her husband and two children. They are based in Southern California. https://www.meridianprep.com/bio/ryan-v daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/83005ba4-d580-45ef-ae96-4eec93c4935f/RyanMP.jpg Ryan V. Ryan Vatan is the Co-Founder and Director of College Counseling at Meridian Prep. Since 2016, he has guided hundreds of students through the complex world of college admissions—helping them refine their academic goals, craft standout essays, and pursue opportunities that reflect their passions and potential. His students have been accepted into nearly every Ivy League and UC campus, as well as top conservatories, military academies, and specialized programs around the world. Beyond one-on-one counseling, Ryan helps lead Meridian’s outreach, building partnerships with local PTSA groups, schools, and nonprofits to expand access to educational support. Through the Meridian Foundation, he helps raise scholarship funds and create community programming that uplifts underserved students. Ryan believes that the college application process should not just be stressful—it should be transformational. With the right guidance, students can use this moment to explore who they are, who they want to be, and how to get there. Outside of work, Ryan is a sci-fi/fantasy lover, D&D storyteller, backpacking enthusiast, and certified Advanced Open Water SCUBA diver. He volunteers with the Orange County LGBT Center and the Vital Link OC, helping ensure that higher education remains within reach for everyone—especially those navigating displacement or marginalization. https://www.meridianprep.com/bio/crystal-z daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/08bd2c22-2dc2-4fe6-928d-352ba3266421/IMG_2139.JPG Crystal Z. - Crystal Zell has over a decade of experience in college counseling. She has helped students from middle school to postgraduate studies successfully execute their plans for academic and personal development, and ultimately attain admissions into their desired level of higher education. Her primary focus is to aid students in achieving acceptance into their dream universities. Each year, she has multiple acceptances for Top 25 National and Liberal Arts universities, including Ivy League and Ivy-level institutions, alongside numerous UC and CSU admits across a variety of academic levels and major interests. Crystal believes that the right coaching can help any student achieve beyond their perceived limitations in school, extracurricular experiences, and life. Counseling is a holistic process that includes a personalized approach to identify and meet the needs of each student. Working together, counselors and families can empower students in high school and beyond by establishing a solid foundation for future success. When she isn't counseling students, Crystal spends her free time keeping up with her daughter and three dogs, which includes lots of walks, softball games, and Girl Scout cookies (for the daughter, not the dogs). Her hobbies include reading, baking, crafting, and assisting people with startups or home businesses. With her background in hospitality management, she is also an avid foodie. https://www.meridianprep.com/bio/kenneth-w daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/47383797-b2c6-43f7-8a8e-f4038f68fda0/Kenneth_01.jpg Kenneth W. - Kenneth Woodall After serving as Director for one of the nation’s largest counseling organizations, where he re-designed the counseling program maximizing acceptances to elite universities, Kenneth Woodall founded Meridian Prep and Meridian Foundation to support students navigating higher education. Meridian Prep has helped thousands of students gain acceptances to premiere instutions such as: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UCLA, and every single Ivy-League. Meridian Prep alumni have transitioned to successful careers in technology, medicine, engineering, private equity, finance, media, and more, including top positions in Fortune-500 companies. Beyond leading Meridian Prep, Kenneth Woodall serves on the board of various Non Profit Organizations aimed at improving equity in education, careers, and healthcare. From helping pre-med students gain opportunities in the medical field to developing infrastructure projects in communities around the world, Kenneth prides himself as a hands-on proactive community leader with an ethos of pragmatic bias-for-action. A select group of Meridian Prep students each year receive the opportunity to volunteer, intern, or research under his direct guidance. https://www.meridianprep.com/unsubscribe daily 0.75 2022-05-02 https://www.meridianprep.com/rsvp-webinar daily 0.75 2022-05-17 https://www.meridianprep.com/blog/summer-planning daily 0.75 2022-05-17 https://www.meridianprep.com/rsvp-workshop-1 daily 0.75 2022-05-20 https://www.meridianprep.com/packages daily 0.75 2023-09-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/089beaf8-a446-45c5-83b3-5e79d9069dfb/pexels-zen-chung-5538007.jpg Our Packages - Current Middle/High School Students From planning out classes to exploring majors or careers, from arranging your first visit to a college to organizing deadlines and essay submissions, we’re here to help make college applications easier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/a12c0fd9-d9a1-4a07-80e3-3505757a4094/pexels-jopwell-2422294.jpg Our Packages - Current Undergraduate Students Worried about the future? 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ABOUT: Craig Conroy has spent over 15 years counseling students in best practices for admission to the academic world’s most select colleges, graduate programs, and high schools. College admission can feel like a scramble to the mountain top, but he reminds his students how valuable the time they spend crafting an academic career can be. Personal excellence is a journey of accountability and effort, and he believes a student is never a product we help to sell but the product of their own commitment to a better self and the possibility of their future. Craig attended St. Lawrence University, earning a degree in English Literature as well as the Columbia University Teachers College. Craig has helped students gain admission to Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and other institutions counted among the nation’s best. He has worked to counsel students to achieve international admission and many long-time students return to him for counseling in graduate and post-graduate studies after finding success as undergraduates. Craig understands the actual machinery of academic progression. He has worked in standardized testing, taught AP material across the humanities and STEM, and volunteered his time with students at every stage of development. That insight helps focus and enhance his perspective on the rigors of a student journey but also its opportunities. In his personal life, Craig is TV-free reading obsessive and dog enthusiast. He loves stories most of all, which is why he has chosen to spend his life helping young people learn to tell theirs. https://www.meridianprep.com/thank-you-demystifying-college-applications daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://www.meridianprep.com/bio/brianb daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/de03e32a-adb9-4b22-b2e9-1644ebb51311/Brian+Baxley.png https://www.meridianprep.com/thank-you-college-admissions-secrets daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://www.meridianprep.com/thank-you-major-myths daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://www.meridianprep.com/bio/stephanie-y daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/465257b5-144a-4612-8937-a63a4ac032ad/02+-+Copy.jpeg https://www.meridianprep.com/thank-you-college-essays-101 daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://www.meridianprep.com/thank-you-common-app-seminar daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://www.meridianprep.com/thank-you-uc-app-seminar-2024 daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://www.meridianprep.com/thank-you-standardized-testing-seminar daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://www.meridianprep.com/for-educators daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/eb886b95-8b97-49a7-93b7-eca670e50d0e/pexels-rdne-7648306.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/bc2179af-338b-474f-ad18-41ffeb3ec9e6/pexels-thisisengineering-3862618.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/a5d9c237-bcc0-472c-94e1-83a11bb07b7d/pexels-ivan-samkov-8117553.jpg https://www.meridianprep.com/cep-contact daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/8d9ee4fa-5f02-41e6-96ad-8e109db55d01/pexels-tima-miroshnichenko-5439460.jpg https://www.meridianprep.com/thank-you-competitive-summer-programs-2024 daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://www.meridianprep.com/bio/john-b daily 0.75 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/622664b68068c37a702943f8/ef669491-79c2-4693-8f0b-6e20dc23d086/John+Bacolores+Professional+Avatar+%281%29.jpg John B. Bio Dr. John Bacolores, Ed.D., is an experienced educator with 10+ years of experience in both college counseling and career coaching. He graduated with an AA in General Studies - Social and Behavioral Sciences with Honors from El Camino College (ECC) before transferring and graduating with a BA in Psychology from UC Berkeley. He then graduated with an MA in Educational Studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and graduated with a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership - Educational Psychology concentration at the University of Southern California (USC). He’s also earned certificates in Data Analytics (Excel, SQL, and Tableau), Python Programming, and Product Management. John has spent the majority of his professional career in education. He’s a former K-5 teacher and taught 2nd and 4th grade. As an independent college consultant, his students have been accepted and matriculated to top 30 universities and liberal arts colleges such as Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, UChicago, Carnegie Mellon University, Brown/RISD (Dual Degree), Penn, Cornell, Duke, Johns Hopkins, NYU (Stern/Tisch), Vanderbilt, Emory University, UT Austin, USC, Rice University, University of Notre Dame, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Miami, Northeastern University, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, University of Virginia, Vassar College, Middlebury College, and the UC and CSU campuses. Recently, he worked for an international online coding bootcamp as a Senior Career Coach where he coached career changers to get hired in tech-related roles in User Experience (UX) Design, Software Engineering, Data Science, and Data Analytics. He’s led 8 hackathons, with 2 of his teams winning First Place and 2 winning “Crowd Favorite.” His grads have been hired at Fortune 500 companies such as Accenture, Activision Blizzard, Avery Dennison, Bloomberg, Google, Interpublic Group (IPG), Ford Motor Company, KPMG, and Yahoo! He’s currently volunteering with an international non-profit organization dedicated to helping LGBTQIA+ folks find community in the tech industry. His firm yet supportive approach to counseling and coaching is the same: deconstruct and reduce the anxiety surrounding the college admissions, career development, and job search process with empathy, humor, and honesty. For self-care, Dr. Bacolores is a hip-hop dancer with 10+ years of performance experience, returning to dance after taking a 5-year break, and is currently (re)training at an industry/professional level dance studio in Burbank, CA weekly. To balance his physical activity, he is an avid home chef and baker, currently learning how to adapt his Banana Bread recipe to his new vegan diet. He’s also a great cat stepdaddy to his fiancé’s cat, Reese. 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