Shirag Shemmassian

Shirag Shemmassian is Founder and CEO of Shemmassian Academic Consulting, helping thousands of students gain acceptance to top colleges, medical schools and graduate programs at unprecedented rates since 2013. The team of admissions experts provides comprehensive guidance for undergraduate, medical school and other graduate admissions. From 2014 to 2019, he served as Project Director at WPS, developing, validating and standardizing psychological and educational assessment instruments while optimizing digital assessment technology and training staff.

Shirag worked as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Intricate Mind Institute from 2016 to 2017 and at Crossroads Institute for Psychotherapy and Assessment from 2014 to 2016, providing evidence-based psychotherapy and assessment for autism, intellectual disability, anxiety, mood disorders and parent-child conflict primarily with children, adolescents and young adults. From July 2013 to June 2014, he was a Psychology Intern at Children's Hospital Los Angeles in the USC University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, specializing in assessment, evaluation and consultation. At UCLA from 2009 to 2014, he served as a Graduate Student Researcher in the ADHD and Development Lab and Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Teaching Assistant for Advanced Clinical Assessment, and Clinical Psychology Trainee at multiple clinics, including Child OCD Anxiety and Tic Disorders Program, Medical Psychology Assessment Center and Psychology Clinic. From 2008 to 2009, he was a Staff Research Associate at the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment.

Shirag is a prolific guest lecturer at USC and UCLA on topics including assessment methods, applied statistics, psychotherapy, ADHD algorithms, clinical decision making, child assessment, psychometrics and ADHD diagnosis controversies. He holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from UCLA with a dissertation on optimizing ADHD assessment procedures and a minor in Behavioral Neuroscience, an MA in Psychology from UCLA on white matter differences in ADHD, and a BS in Human Development from Cornell University. His clinical and research expertise in ADHD, autism and developmental disabilities informs his admissions consulting approach.

Services Offered

• College admissions consulting for top universities
• Medical school admissions guidance
• Graduate program application strategy
• Psychological assessment-informed admissions advice
• ADHD and learning differences support
• Essay coaching and application review
• Interview preparation