Joaquin Neira has helped countless people from all over the world gain admissions to college, business and graduate schools. Joaquin's admissions experience started in the New York City public school system, where he served as a high school teacher for over five years. In the overcrowded school system, guidance counselors could not provide the appropriate support to their students, so Joaquin adopted the role of college counselor as part of his teaching duties. During his student career at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he also served on the Admissions Committee for the MBA program. During this time,Joaquin read over 2,000 applications and participated on the admissions decisions for over 7,500 candidates. Thus, he has a clear idea of how candidates from different backgrounds should present themselves to make their applications stand out.
As a Senior Admissions Consultant with Kaplan, Joaquin enjoys working with candidates of all backgrounds and with all types of educational/career goals and takes great pleasure in seeing his candidates gain admission to their programs of choice, which include those in North America, Europe and Asia. Speaking fluent Spanish and having spent two years living in Poland post-MBA, he feels comfortable working with foreign applicants as well as those desiring international careers. Additionally, having changed careers, Joaquin can relate to the stress and uncertainty associated with career and educational transition. He is very proud to have been awarded the 2007 Kaplan Business Consultant of the Year. Joaquin holds an MBA from Wharton, and a BA and MS from Queens College, City University of New York. He serves as an adjunct faculty member at several universities.