ESM Prep

ESM Prep offers academic mentorship that combines academic tutoring, standardized test preparation, and college admissions consulting. The program uses a student-specific “academic mentorship” model and has helped thousands of students gain admission to elite universities around the world. ESM Prep provides first-class mentorship services benefiting families and corporations worldwide and has mastered remote learning.

• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Camp will run from Sunday, July 30 - Friday, August 4, 2023.

ESM Prep is described as a leading educational services firm with operations across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Its mission is to help students around the globe achieve their goals in the classroom and beyond. For more than two decades, Founder Billy Downing has served as a trusted advisor to students and parents. Billy Downing is a globally recognized education expert, author, and college admissions strategist, and he pioneered the student-specific “academic mentorship” model. He serves as a Trustee at Sacramento Country Day School and Jesuit High School (Sacramento), sits on the Advisory Board of Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, and is a Board Member at College Track. He is a graduate of Jesuit High School, UC Berkeley (B.A.), and the University of San Francisco (M.A.).

The leadership team includes Founder Billy Downing. ESM Prep’s staff includes mentors with advanced education, such as Alana Bralsford (Imperial College London, UK, MEng in Design Engineering), Edmund Tran (California State University, Los Angeles, M.A. Education; University of California, Los Angeles, B.A. Economics), Orisa Coombs (Ph.D. Candidate, Mechanical Engineering; M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S. Mechanical Engineering), and Kelly Moon (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Royal Veterinary College, MSc One Health (Infectious Diseases); University of California, Los Angeles, B.S. Physiological Science).

Through its Equity Scholars Program, ESM Prep provides pro-bono mentorship to students from underserved communities. The Equity Scholars Program includes individualized mentorship from college counselors and essay coaches, along with test preparation that uses personal diagnostics, tailored tutoring, and test-specific testing strategies.

Parent and student testimonials describe outcomes such as admission to Stanford, improved ACT scores that supported admission to the film and production school at USC, increased curiosity about biology, and support during a stressful testing year.

Last updated March 21, 2026.