The Founder

Yan Gao, college preparation and admissions expert. 

The Founder of The Path To Ivy Group

Ms. Gao is the proud parent of a Harvard alumnus who graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and was inducted into the honor society Phi Beta Kappa.  For 20+ years while her son was growing up, Ms. Gao took a strong interest in giving him the best upbringing and providing him with the best opportunities she could find.  During the process, she developed a strong passion for parenting and education, and today, she seeks to share the knowledge she has meticulously acquired with ambitious middle school and high school students so that they, too, may reach their maximum potential. 

Ms. Gao understands that each child is unique, and as a result, each path to America's elite colleges is different.  She seeks to help each student identify their own path by developing a long-term relationship with the student and his/her family and guiding them through each step of the college preparation and admissions process.  Over the years, Ms. Gao's methodology has helped many students gain admissions to schools such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Duke, Stanford, Northwest,  MIT, Dartmouth, Caltech, Berkeley, U. of Virginia.

Ms. Gao came to the United States pursuing her Master’s degree in Engineering over 20+ years ago.  She is the founder of Path To Ivy Group, a college preparatory and admission coaching company based in San Diego, California.   Her expertise is coaching and guiding students in preparing themselves to be a well-rounded or well-lopsided student that all highly selective colleges would want.  When she is not coaching students, she is busy visiting colleges and admission offices around the country, or participating in educational and admission conferences. 

Ms. Gao is a professional speaker and has been conducting presentations and workshops in the areas of College Admissions and Leadership/Communication Skills to parents and students as well as large organizations, such as Fortune 500 companies and educational institutions like Harvard, in both the U.S. and China.  She was one of 380 Certified Communication and Image Consultants recognized worldwide by the Association of Image Consultants International and a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM).  She is a trained parenting leader for the SENG group (Support Emotional Needs for the Gifted) and a member of the National Association for Gifted Children. 

Let Ms. Gao and The Path To Ivy coaches guide you to reach your highest potential and get admitted to the colleges and universities of your dreams.