After helping thousands of students access the world’s top universities, the CEO of Crimson Education is now determined to create the most effective high school

“I am often teleported into surreal, euphoric futures: the dream worlds of my students. They invite me in, sharing visions that range from joining SpaceX as an aeronautical engineer to solving novel AI safety issues at OpenAI or even inventing frontier technologies that might propel humanity forward.

Together, we construct these worlds — the kind of futures that excite and terrify them, and they might be scared even to articulate out loud.

My role at Crimson Education, as I see it, is to help them dream audaciously and transform those dreams into practical, strategic actions. I do this by assisting them in charting a path through the world’s top universities, ensuring they reach for the stars while keeping both feet firmly on the ground.

Others often describe Crimson Education as ambitious — a collective of college admissions experts with an unashamed focus on helping students win places at the most prestigious universities in the world. We are the personal coaches navigating students through the college admissions “Hunger Games”, using insights from finance, technology, medicine, law, and AI. And I’m proud of that. 

There’s beauty in teaching teenagers to live a life “in the arena”, where failure is as possible as success but where resilience, growth, and determination matter just as much — if not more. Our students don’t just dream big; they get challenged and may stumble, but they grow tremendously while striving to craft their best version.

The university admissions process is overwhelmingly high-stakes and opaque — a seemingly impenetrable maze that shapes future career trajectories and personal identity. At Crimson Education, we provide clarity: a map to navigate this chaotic landscape. 

Through our network of the brightest young minds, we help our students build the strongest possible applications and grow in ways that prepare them to thrive at these top universities and beyond — a transformation, not just a service.

We teach skills beyond academics: leadership, entrepreneurship, time management, and communication. It’s an immersion into all required to thrive in the foundational years of education and career. 

Scaling admission success

I often think about what success looks like in this journey. For us, it’s about being the most effective training ground for students aspiring to the best universities on the planet. This year alone, we’ve celebrated over a thousand offers to the Ivy League and over three hundred to Oxford and Cambridge — a world record for our industry. But we’re not done.

It’s an invitation to push further and innovate more. Each year, we design new programmes and initiatives to propel our students even higher, continuously redefining what’s possible.

If success were a guarantee, I’d create an AI-driven college admissions consultant, a tutor who harnesses the very best insights from our Crimson Education network — our expert professionals, our successful applications, and our millions of student interactions.

The idea is simple: to broaden access and give more students the chance to benefit from Crimson’s expertise. 

Our students already gain admission at rates far higher than the average — but what if we could scale that? Make these insights accessible to students worldwide, regardless of their background? It’s the kind of vision that excites me, pushing us beyond what we are today.

Of course, this work isn’t without its challenges. Crimson Education is global — we operate in twenty countries, and the work is exhilarating but unrelenting. Still, the most challenging part I’ve never really shared is the 24/7 nature of it all.

Crimson brings me immense joy, but it can be consuming if I’m not careful. Balancing the roller coaster of the job with time for myself and my loved ones requires deliberate effort and a conscious carving out of space.

What we really do

Yet, when I think of the future, I am energised. Looking ahead a decade, I’m determined to have created the world’s most effective high school — Crimson Global Academy. I want to drive access for talented students everywhere to gain admission to the best universities, especially as more become need-blind for international students.

It’s already happening. When Crimson Education began, only a handful of universities — Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton — were need-blind. Now, that list includes Brown, Cornell, Columbia, and more. 

This shift means that anyone has a shot, no matter their financial background. I want Crimson to be crucial in making students aware of these transformative opportunities.

And while the world feels increasingly uncertain, I find hope in the power of technology — particularly artificial intelligence. I imagine a future where AI democratises education, making one-on-one, Da Vinci-level tutoring accessible to all.

It’s about breaking down barriers and levelling the playing field so that a child’s opportunities aren’t dependent on which high school they attended or their family’s economic standing. I see AI as an equaliser, but only for those brave enough to grasp it to work relentlessly with it as a tool for their growth.

At its core, our work at Crimson Education is about courage — helping students dare to dream and then giving them the tools to make those dreams a reality. It’s about being unafraid of failure, embracing challenges, and finding joy in the pursuit of audacious goals. Perhaps most importantly, it’s about helping each student see the extraordinary potential within themselves — a potential that, when nurtured, can truly change the world.”