EXECUTIVE TEAM
Sara Miller Urquidez has been working alongside ACS since 2009, first assisting by helping edit essays, and taking on a more active role with students developing community service projects in 2011. Since 2012, Sara’s students have garnered admission to Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, University of Chicago, Duke, Columbia, Rice and many others. She took over the role of Chief Operating Officer in late 2011 and serves as the primary ACS consultant for the Academic Success Program and has assisted in planning the logistics for the Symposium for Multicultural Recruitment for the past 3 years. Sara also took over as College Advisor at Hillcrest High School in late 2012, and her successes within six months include earning over $6 million dollars in scholarships including a prestigious Gates Millennium Scholar, along with acceptances to Boston College, University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University, UC-Berkeley, and more.
Sara comes from a background in engineering and worked for a joint venture between ExxonMobil and Shell after graduation. Before joining ACS, she was an oil and gas consultant for five years, working in high activity areas such as the Haynesville and Barnett Shale plays. She has been recognized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers as the Regional Young Member Outstanding Service Award for her commitment to her career, her community, and her local SPE section. She was also named the Texas Society of Professional Engineers Young Engineer of the Year. She holds a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas Tech University and studied International Relations at University of Redlands and Lorenzo di Medici in Florence, Italy. While in college, she participated in a number of activities, ranging from political awareness organizations to serving as an Op-Ed columnist in the university paper. While at UoR, she was a member of the tennis team, the cheerleading squad, and was elected as a Senator in student government, serving on both academic and social affairs committees. At Tech, she served as her department's fundraising chair, coordinating textbooksales and the department's scholarship golf tournament. She participated in the Homecoming Coordinating Commitee for two years, initially serving as Solicitations Chair, as well as the Historian for the following year.
Most recently, Sara has earned her certificate in College Counseling through UCLA with highest distinction and completed coursework through New York University in Philanthropy and Fundraising. She is an active member of the Junior League of Dallas with a current placement at Jubilee Park and Community Center after spending two years at North Dallas Shared Ministries as a job counselor. She has served on the Dallas Summer Musicals Associate Producers Board of Directors for the past four years. She served on the SPE Dallas Board of Directors for many years and is a member of the SPE Scholarship Committee, which has awarded over $150,000 in scholarships for the past two years.
Thomas J. Urquidez serves as a consultant and oversees SAT curriculum development. Thomas is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Southern Methodist University (SMU) Dedman School of Law. Thomas has over 10 years of experience helping students gain admission into the top colleges and universities in the nation, including Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, and many more.
Aimee Rincon currently leads all efforts in our partnership with Uplift Education, which operates a network of 17 high-performing, tuition-free, public charter schools serving 4,600 students in underserved areas across the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Aimee serves as Director of College Admissions for Uplift High Schools. Using ACS best practices for college admissions, Aimee leads a team of counselors to provide excellence college guidance to their students. Aimee is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and of Dartmouth College. After college, Aimee worked on Wall Street for several years. Aimee began her work with ACS through her work with the Academic Success Program (ASP), a nonprofit college access program founded by ACS. In her first year with ASP, Aimee’s helped 284 seniors at W.T. White High School complete the entire college admissions process. 100% of her seniors were accepted to college and more students than ever before were accepted to tier-one colleges. In addition, her school’s total scholarships increased from $7 million the previous year to over $13.5 million this year – the highest total in the entire Dallas ISD.
Thomas A. Urquidez is the Founder and serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Academic Consulting Services (ACS). Thomas earned a Bachelor of Science degree and served as the At-Risk Student Coordinator before retiring. Thomas has extensive experience in the public school system. Thomas expanded efforts of a volunteer led after school program that has now become the Academic Success Program in two school districts in Texas. Today, ASP retains its grassroots spirit, yet also uses a sophisticated curriculum based on best practices, data, Texas State Standards, and research from the college access field, to promote a college going culture in high schools.
Mary Urquidez serves as Executive Director of Academic Success Program, a nonprofit college access program founded by ACS that works in Wichita Falls ISD high schools and Dallas ISD high schools. Mary earned a Masters Degree and a Mid-Management Certificate and retired from the Wichita Falls ISD after 34 years in public education. Mary has developed an extensive network of top colleges and universities across the nation, each year bringing over 50 college and universities to Dallas, TX. Mary founded, with her husband Thomas A. Urquidez, the Academic Success Program (ASP), helping to guide over 1,700 Dallas ISD students in the college admission process. Over the past 3 years, Dallas students have garnered over $151.7 million in scholarship and financial aid offers.
DALLAS ACADEMIC SUCCESS PROGRAM
Stephanie Chung serves as the ASP College Advisor for Trinidad “Trini” Garza Early College High School, Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy and John Leslie Patton Jr. Academic Center. Stephanie has always had a passion for working with K-12 and college students, and is honored to have the opportunity this year to help the students of Garza, Obama, and Patton achieve their goals of going to college. With both her breadth and depth of experience in higher education, leadership development, student mentoring, SAT prep, application review, and student affairs, Stephanie hopes to make a lasting influence on the students of Dallas ISD. Stephanie holds a Master of Arts degree in Education and Human Development with an emphasis in Higher Education Administration from The George Washington University, and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Financial Economics and Music Performance from Southern Methodist University. Stephanie was also one of fifteen counselors selected as a TACAC Fellow for 2014-2015.
Caitlyn McGinn serves as the College Advisor at Hillcrest High School. Caitlyn holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Barnard College, the prestigious liberal arts women's college of Columbia University in New York City. A first generation college student herself, Caitlyn is from the Arlington, Texas and was accepted UT, large out-of-state private schools, small liberal arts colleges, and an Ivy League School. Now she loves helping her kids at Hillcrest do the same thinking outside the box. This is her first year with the Academic Success Program and she plans to contribute to ASP's successful partnership with Hillcrest High School in Dallas.
Hazel Moreno is the ASP College Advisor for Emmett J. Conrad High School. Hazel received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley. She began her career working as a Financial Counselor for a non-profit bankruptcy firm and is a Certified Personal Finance Counselor. Hazel has also been a Site Coordinator for the VITA Program through the IRS for Catholic Charities of Dallas where she held a position as a Financial Education Coordinator for several years. She completed a brief stint as a Case Manager for Hope's Door Domestic Violence Shelter before joining ASP. In her first two months on the job, she had two QuestBridge College Match Finalists. Hazel was one of fifteen counselors chosen state-wide to be a TACAC Fellow for 2014-2015! Hazel looks forward to helping all Conrad students charge toward success!
Patricia Nicholls is the ASP College Advisor at Bryan Adams High School. Patricia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Dartmouth College, a liberal arts college in New Hampshire known for its commitment to undergraduate teaching. As a college student, she was active in the SEAD (Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth) program, dedicated to empowering high school students from underrepresented and under-resourced backgrounds to achieve success in college. She is passionate about higher education and excited to join ASP this year to help Dallas students reach their full potential in college and beyond. Patricia is the third ASP College Advisor to be chosen as one of fifteen TACAC Fellows for 2014-2015!
Jose Olivares Valerio is the College Advisor for South Oak Cliff High School. Mr. Valerio was born and raised in Texas. After attending college at Princeton University, he moved back to the Dallas area to help students through the college application process. He has worked with students in DISD for almost 5 years. Mr. Valerio has helped students receive incredible offers from Stanford, Columbia, Dartmouth, Emory, Carnegie Mellon, Babson, Santa Clara, Whittier, Bryant, Texas A&M, and many more universities. He looks forward to sharing his knowledge with students and staff at South Oak Cliff after a successful three-year run at W. W. Samuell High School.
WICHITA FALLS ACADEMIC SUCCESS PROGRAM
Evelyn Jaramillo serves as the Academic Success Program (ASP) District Coordinator for the Wichita Fallas ISD program. In addition to her supervisor role, Evelyn currently holds a position as an ASP College Advisor at Hirschi High School -Evelyn holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Spanish from Bowdoin College, one of the oldest and most esteemed private liberal arts colleges in the nation. Throughout her high school career, Ms. Jaramillo was actively involved in the Academic Success Program at Wichita Falls High School. As a student she held leadership positions within the program, and as a college student she volunteered as an Intern during ASP Summer Camps. Today, she continues the Community Equity Building model at the next level, a value central to the ASP mission.
Jamie Monroe - ASP College Advisor, Wichita Falls High School - Jamie graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Midwestern State University. During her high school career, Jamie was awarded National Merit Commended Scholar and was actively involved in fine arts and student leadership. Upon graduating college, she completed two year-long professional internships and worked as a Communications Specialist for the Walt Disney Company in Orlando. Today, she brings her diverse experiences back to the Witchita Falls community, and is proud to serve the students of her alma mater.
Carlos C. Rios - ASP College Advisor, S. H. Rider High School - Carlos holds his Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College, a prestigious liberal arts college in coastal Maine which consistently ranks as a Top 25 institution in publications such as the U.S. News and World Report and Forbes Magazine. He graduated with a double major in Spanish and Latin American Studies with a minor in Teaching. Carlos is a proud graduate of Hirschi High School and the Academic Success Program. Mr. Rios anticipates being an invaluable resource for high school students at S.H. Rider High School who are seeking Higher Education. Through his role as the College Advisor, he will strive to emphasize the importance of obtaining a college education and giving back by helping ASP students as others in the Program helped him.
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