The BTA Graduate Mentor Team

Our graduate mentors advise students on all aspects of their graduate school planning and applications, providing expert, individualized guidance across every stage of the graduate school admissions journey.

With personal insight into the standards, expectations, and long-term planning required for top graduate admissions, our mentors help students move beyond generic advice and build a path tailored to their academic goals and professional ambitions.

For students aiming for a top 25 graduate program, preparation should begin far earlier than most realize. In many cases, the choices made during freshman year—course selection, research involvement, academic relationships, internships, and extracurricular commitments—can have a lasting impact on how competitive an applicant will be years later.

Early planning creates the foundation that distinguishes exceptional candidates from the rest.

A Future Filled With Opportunities

Our mentors guide students through the precise steps they should take from the very beginning of college to maximize their future graduate school opportunities. Whether a student aspires to programs at MIT, Stanford, Ivy League universities, or other leading institutions among the world’s top graduate schools, we help them build a thoughtful and highly strategic four-year roadmap. This includes positioning academic strengths, identifying the right opportunities, avoiding common mistakes, and ensuring each year of college contributes meaningfully to a compelling graduate school profile.

Stand Out

With careful planning, individualized mentorship, and a clear long-term strategy, students are better equipped to stand out in an increasingly competitive admissions landscape and pursue admission to the graduate programs that can shape the rest of their academic and professional future.

Our mentors create a detailed plan for each student, including:

How to use your freshman year to create a strong foundation for your dream schools
The key academic choices that matter most to top admissions officers
How to build extracurriculars that show leadership, initiative, and real impact
How to look for internships and choose the right internship program for you
How to look for research opportunities in and outside of your school

Our Mentors

Bianca

Bianca is a graduate student at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, pursuing a Master in Management with a specialization in Analytics.

She has extensive tutoring experience, with a focus on standardized test prepartion, academic support, and college admissions guidance. As a private tutor, he has helped students navigate the application process, craft compelling resumes, and stay organized with personalized assignment trackers.

Lisa

Lisa is an experienced STEM educator and tutor with years of expertise in guiding students through mathematics and science concepts. As a graduate of the prestigious UC Berkeley School of Information, she recently earned her Master of Information Management and Systems degree.

She has extensive tutoring experience, working as a mathematics tutor before advancing to the role of Monarch Tutoring Center General Supervisor.

Passionate about fostering efficiency and effectiveness in learning, Lisa tailors her tutoring approach to each student, incorporating real-world applications to make STEM concepts more accessible.

Esther

Esther is a driven and analytically minded researcher currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Bioinformatics at the University of Cambridge. With a background spanning mathematics, computational science, and data analysis, she completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Mathematics at University College London, earning distinction for her research in mathematical modeling.

Jack

Jack is a Ph.D. candidate in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London, specializing in soft medical robotics and microsensing systems. With a strong foundation in physics and mathematics from Boston College, he combines rigorous scientific training with a passion for education and mentorship.

At Imperial, he has mentored students across coursework, lab-based learning, and research projects, drawing on his experience as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Postgraduate Student Representative. He has led tutorials, lab sessions, and academic workshops while championing diversity, inclusion, and student well-being.

His own academic path—spanning the U.S., China, and the U.K.—equips him to help students navigate applications to top-tier graduate programs in STEM fields worldwide.

Rick

Rick is a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UCLA, specializing in surgical robotics, control systems, and physical human–robot interaction. He developed a broad interdisciplinary engineering background during his undergraduate studies at UC Davis.

A dedicated educator, Rick has extensive experience supporting students in STEM. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant at UCLA, he guides hands-on problem-solving and helps students build confidence in challenging coursework and technical research—experiences that shaped his patient, clear, and student-centered mentoring style.