
Alex T.
5.0
(7)
Expert STEM College Admissions Counseling from a Caltech PhD Engineer
3,085 min coached
20 followers
Studied at California Institute of Technology
Works at The Admission Algorithm
Successful clients at
Available tomorrow at 3:30 PM UTC
Usually responds within 6 hours
Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.
Alex's Coaching Offerings
Common App + FREE BYU Application and Essay Guidance
Expert help on the Common App + FREE BYU essays and application support
$4,99915h–25h of coaching
Write Powerful College Essays
Expert help to brainstorm, draft, and polish winning college essays
Starting at $8255h+ of coaching
Nail Your College Admissions Interview
Practice realistic mock college interviews with a trained expert
Starting at $4953h+ of coaching
Custom hourly · $165/hr
Get help with Financial Aid & Scholarships, Editing, and .
Alex’s College Qualifications
Coaches professionally
Alex has helped clients get into these schools:
I became an Independent Educational Counselor when I noticed a dearth of college admissions counselors with their own STEM backgrounds and experience. I believe aspiring STEM majors deserve not just a counselor, but a mentor who’s been there and really understands them. I’ve combined my STEM education and career experience with deep knowledge of how to gain admission and succeed in today’s STEM higher education system to provide tailored services that meet the specific needs of STEM students. My Admissions Counseling services help families through the stressful process of applying to STEM college programs. I understand your aspiring STEM major far better than an ordinary counselor could. I serve as a role model and mentor for my students through this formative period, all for the same or less than generic counselors. I also leverage my massive network of STEM professionals, including college professors and industrial scientists and engineers, to make introductions for my students and obtain important perspectives and info about STEM majors, college programs, and careers.
Alex can help with:
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Editing
Recommendations
Interviews
Waitlist Strategy
School Selection
Secondary Review
Application Strategy
Essays
Resume
Testing & Assessments
General Exploration
Supplementary Materials
Alex also coaches for Science & Research, PhD Programs, and Master’s Programs. View all.
About Alex
I'm a PhD chemical engineer with 20 years of experience in industry and government. I started coaching professionally when I noticed a dearth of educational and career coaches with their own STEM backgrounds and experience. I've won awards for STEM mentoring and writing and my PhD advisor won a Nobel Prize for work that included my contributions. There aren't many admissions coaches with my background and experience. Someone without a STEM education MAY be able to help with your essays, but if they don't understand what you're writing about or what the graduate programs you're targeting are really like, how good a coach can they really be for you? STEM degree program and job applicants deserve not only a counselor, but a mentor like me who’s been there and really understands them. Every week I help my students on Leland tell their stories in earnest, impactful essays that convey their strengths and fit for the programs they're targeting. Not infrequently, my STEM background proves invaluable when my thorough reviews uncover missteps that could have caused applications to be rejected. I’ve combined my STEM education and career experience with deep knowledge of how to gain admission and succeed in today’s STEM higher education system to provide tailored services that meet the specific needs of STEM students. For my career coaching and mentoring services, hiring me gives you access to my expertise as a hiring manager in STEM fields who's reviewed thousands of resumes and hired dozens of employees.
Why do I coach?
I always found that working with students and junior employees energized me and improved my own outlook on my work and career. Now that I've reached the point where I have much to teach and give, I find a great way to impact the future of our planet is to mentor and guide our next generation of STEM professionals.
Work Experience

Principal Mentor
The Admission Algorithm
May 2025 - Present
AdmissionAlgorithm.com *STEM research project mentoring for high schoolers & undergraduates (independent study leading to publication, science fairs, STEM competitions) *STEM-focused college admissions counseling *STEM-focused graduate program admissions advising Mentoring, Youth Development and +3 skills
Research Group Leader
MITRE
May 2022 - July 2025
Hiring Manager
Performed and published technical and national security policy research at the intersection of life sciences (especially Synthetic & Computational Biology ) and AI, Economic Development, and Intellectual Property. Served as Science Lead for development of BioNet, a network to standardize and facilitate transactions and collaboration between providers and consumers of biotechnology industry products and services. Research and Development (R&D), Synthetic Biology and +3 skills
Research and Development Engineer
US Army
February 2019 - May 2022
Research at the intersection of microbial biotechnology, synthetic biology, and materials science.
Contract Chemical and Biological Engineering Researcher
US Army
June 2017 - February 2019
Synthetic Biology and Biomaterials research and strategy development in support of the US Army Research Laboratory

Technical Manager
Meso Scale Diagnostics
April 2016 - June 2017
Hiring Manager
Science Manager for Assay Development projects supporting new catalog products and customer contracts • Successful development and commercialization of V-PLEX mutliplexed immunoassay kits (https://www.mesoscale.com/en/products_and_services/assay_kits/v-plex) • Assay development, characterization, evaluation, validation of manufactured lots • Component formulation • Preparation of customer-facing technical documentation
Technical Leader and Principal Investigator
DuPont
September 2005 - March 2016
Hiring Manager
• Co-led project to upgrade the organization’s molecular biology capabilities with modern synthetic biology tools, laboratory automation, and sample management software. • Developed metabolite assay and engineered a key enzyme in the BioButanol pathway for multi-fold improved activity in yeast using a cutting-edge protein evolution strategy. Awarded issued US Patent 9169467 B2. • Managed up to 4 technical professionals and ~$2M of lab automation equipment • Personnel: hiring, coaching, goal setting, performance management & assessment, soliciting and providing feedback, assignment selection, professional development. • Team and facilities: Project management, customer communications, scheduling, billing, budgeting, equipment maintenance and expansion.
Alex was also given offers to work at
Elanco
Teva Europe
Education
California Institute of Technology
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering & Biology
2000 - 2005
PhD Advisor: Prof. Frances H. Arnold (2018 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry) Best Paper Award, 2001 Dissertation: http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-08232005-174620 Activities and societies: Graduate Student Council (Treasurer), Ice Hockey Team

McGill University
Bachelor of Engineering - BE, Chemical Engineering
2000 - 2004
Activities and societies: Greatest Distinction
Alex was also personally admitted to

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

University of Minnesota
Stanford University
University of Toronto
University of Waterloo
7 Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
Alex has helped clients get into these schools:
Alex has helped clients get into these companies:


