Justin Popp, Principal

Mr. Justin Popp offers fifteen years of Educational Consulting experience serving a broad assortment of international clientele. He has assisted over 5,000 students prepare for and gain admission to top US (“Ivy”) colleges. In addition to his work with IvyEdge LLC, Justin maintains continuing duties with Admissions Committees at Cornell University and Duke University, for which he serves as Admissions Ambassador and as a Member of the Interview Committee.

Previously, Justin worked as an Educational & Admissions Consultant for Kaplan, Inc., a premier international SAT prep and college admissions company. Mr. Popp is former President of his local Cornell Alumni Club, and was also on the Board of Directors of the Columbia and Duke Alumni Clubs. Justin is also a member of the Global Task Force on Global Alliances and Offices for Cornell’s Graduate School of Management, and is Class Captain of his graduating Class of Columbia’s School of International & Public Affairs.

Mr. Popp has attended five elite private colleges en route to earning five university degrees. He received his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Cornell University (“Ivy League”), where he co-led a First Place finish in the esteemed Cornell Management Simulation. He also received his Master’s of International Affairs (MIA) in International Finance from Columbia University (“Ivy League”), where he was an Associate Editor with the Journal of International Affairs.

Mr. Popp studied law at Duke University (“New Ivy”) and the University of Pennsylvania (“Ivy League”), receiving his Juris Doctor (JD) from Duke, where he participated on the Student Admissions Panel. Further still, Justin has completed graduate coursework in Applied Science at Harvard University (“Ivy League”). Mr. Popp received his BA in English Writing (Poetry Track) and BS in Psychology (BioScience Track) at the University of Pittsburgh, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Dual Departmental Honors and was a Chancellor’s Research Fellow at the University Honors College.

Justin is also an accomplished poet and scientist. His poetry has been published by Pearl Literary Magazine as well as the Three Rivers Review and Duke Law Magazine. In addition, his research on a mathematical model of human sensory adaptation was published as part of a larger study in the esteemed journal, Physiology & Behavior. Earlier in his career, Mr. Popp worked in myriad capacities with Wall Street “Bulge Bracket” firms, including Salomon Smith Barney (Global Equity Research) and Merrill Lynch (Middle Markets). Justin remains a Member of the American Academy of Financial Management™, and a Master Financial Professional™.

Brian Ortiz, Principal

Mr. Brian Ortiz founded College Success in 1998 (thereafter IvyEdge LLC) with the hopes of helping every high school student in America make full use of his or her personal and academic potential. Authoring “The Secrets to College Admissions” and “Guide to College Success” were the first steps in this global plan to empower every student in the college admissions and college-planning journey. Before graduating from Tufts University (“New Ivy”) with a BA in Economics, Mr. Ortiz applied to New York University (“New Ivy”) School of Law. The Pre-Law Dean at Tufts felt his personal statement and writing style so powerful, that his writing is used as a model for future law school candidates at Tufts to this day. Once accepted to NYU Law, Brian continued his quest to assist students by expanding IvyEdge to include admissions essay advice and editing.

Stirred to follow his entrepreneurial passions, Brian boldly left NYU Law despite being named a Norman Ostrow Scholar in the JD Program, to attend Yale (“Ivy League”) School of Management, where he believed his entrepreneurial spirit would be better embraced. Yet, even after becoming a Dean Scholar at Yale, Brian again departed academia with the singular purpose of making IvyEdge the premier College Educational & Admissions Consulting Company in the world. With over 5,000 clients served to date and student placement at literally every elite college and educational program known to man, few could argue that Brian has not achieved this ambitious mission.

More recently, Brian has developed expertise in search engine and Internet marketing, to both increase the brand visibility of IvyEdge LLC, and become owner and operator of SeoMatrix LLC. Now widely acclaimed as Guru of both College Admissions and Internet Marketing, Mr. Ortiz has been nominated by the New Haven Register as Connecticut’s “Search Engine Sage.” In addition, Brian was featured by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.