Meet the USApplicants
Headquarters team
Harry Guinness – Founding Director
Harry Guinness returned from an undergraduate degree at Yale waxing lyrical about all things “college” and so liaised with Will Orr-Ewing, an old friend and founder of pioneering private education company Keystone Tutors. USApplicants brings together the pair’s enthusiasm, trust, experience, and reliability.
Harry holds a degree in Linguistics from Yale University. On the UK side, he has been tutoring since 2008. In his role of Founding Director at USApplicants, Harry is concerned with the overall vision and direction of the agency. He is at his most ebullient while promoting teaching beyond the curriculum, and is constantly impressed at what students can achieve for themselves.
Alice Shyy – Head Tutor
Alice takes the utmost pleasure in speaking to clients, students, and tutors, old and new. She is not happy unless everyone in the “USApps” microcosm is happy.
As a final year student at Taipei American School, Alice experienced firsthand the complexities of applying as an international student to American university, and in advising current applicants tries her hardest to ensure no question remains unanswered and no detail goes overlooked. In her undergraduate years at Yale, she gained distinction in her two majors: Humanities with an Arts in the Humanities concentration and East Asian Studies with a China concentration. A Floridian by upbringing, Alice eschewed consistently sunny weather in favor of the University of Cambridge, from where she has a masters in Social Anthropology and Museum Studies. England has not been able to get rid of her since.
Alice first began tutoring when she was 16, and has since enjoyed teaching and advising students on three continents. She was a tour guide and an Ambassador for the Yale Admissions Office and can never resist a good university tour. When she is not teaching, advising, or looking after clients and tutors, she runs a small music charity called The Note Well.
Viral Gandhi – Financial Officer
Viral is an enthusiastic ambassador for the US University system and is keen to help fellow Brits navigate the Scylla of the SAT and the Charybdis of the application process. He was a teaching fellow at the Harvard Economics Department, where he was awed by the resources available and the breadth and depth of the US undergraduate curriculum. As a teacher, he is patient and friendly with extensive experience of helping students of all abilities achieve academic success.
At Eton, Viral experienced the challenge of balancing both UCAS and US University Applications. He found the general level of awareness and support for US applicants to be below par and made many mistakes along the way. He eventually obtained a top percentile score on his SAT, but decided to stay on these shores and graduated with a first in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford in 2006. At University he developed a passion for Economics and he is very interested in making the academy accessible to the public and in using new technology in helping students to learn happily.
Victoria Pilkington – Communications Manager
Victoria is one of USApplicants’ most experienced tutors and before joining the team in a communications role, had three years experience working for an international Public Relations Consultancy - Grayling Global. Victoria completed her undergraduate degree in Literatures and Cultures in English at Brown University in 2005 and went on to complete a Masters in Screenwriting at Westminster University. When she’s not researching and writing film scripts, Victoria loves advising students on the wonders of the American University system, helping them hone their application essays. As a tutor, she is very approachable; an experienced, reassuring mentor throughout the whole process.
Iris Gundacker – Operations Officer
Iris joined USApplicants after having excellently tutored German for USApplicants. She holds a first in English Literature from Queen Mary University of London. Having experienced the complexity of applying for university in a foreign system without any professional help, Iris is an ardent believer in the work of USApplicants. Due to her previous experience of working alongside Alice on their small music charity The Note Well since Spring 2010, she is well-tuned to support her boss in her mission of assuring every one's happiness.