My name is Paul Tran. I have been a high school AP English teacher since 2010 and an award-winning writer and journalist since 2005. I have combined both those experiences to help high school seniors write college application essays for over twenty years.

I have helped students gain admissions to every Cal State college, every UC school, and elite private colleges such as Stanford, Smith, Pomona, Claremont-McKenna, Berklee, Brown, Yale, MIT, and NYU.

I hold a BA in History and MA in Asian American Studies from UCLA, an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside, a teaching credential from UC Irvine, and an AA in Film Production from El Camino College.

I have published articles and essays in the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, the Orange County Register, and two National Magazine Award-winning magazines, Alta Journal and Stranger’s Guide. For my writing at the Nguoi Viet Daily News, I was awarded three New America Media awards, which is considered the Pulitzer Prize of Ethnic Media. I was also a scholar at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, named the “oldest and most prestigious writers’ conference in the country” by The New Yorker. My most recent awards include a Jack Hazard Fellowship from the New Literary Project, a Future Fiction Scholarship from General Motors to attend Aspen Summer Words, and 2024-25 Teacher of the Year from the Long Beach Unified School District. In 2026, I was named a Professional Artist Fellow from the Arts Council of Long Beach for essay and fiction writing and received a scholarship to attend the Novel Writing Workshop with Clarion West, considered the “Harvard of speculative fiction writing.”

For more information about my writing career (using my pen name of Ky-Phong Tran) please visit ky-phongtran.com.

Hi, I am Coach Maddie Mantooth (B.S. Chapman University).  I was formerly a College Advisor for USC’s College Advising Corps serving at Renaissance High School for the Arts in Long Beach. I am currently studying for her MS in College Counseling at Cal State Dominguez Hills. I have directly assisted more than 200 students with building a strong college list, submitting college applications, revising college essays, completing financial aid, and researching scholarships. Students that I have worked with have received acceptances from universities including all CSU and UC schools, USC, NYU, Syracuse, LMU, and Chapman University.

In addition to my individual work with students, I have led a multitude of college-related presentations and have worked with the SoLa Foundation and USC Rossier School of Education to provide financial aid workshops for hundreds of families across the Los Angeles region. I also simultaneously volunteer as a college coach with ScholarMatch, a mentorship program guiding first-generation high school seniors through the college application process.

With a deep-seated belief in the potential of every student, I holistically support my students with kindness, encouragement, and curiosity. I aim to empower my students to reach new heights and equip them with the skills necessary to navigate their own educational journeys and futures.