Ivy League Entrepreneurs Take on College Test Prep Industry
Ivy Insiders, an innovative SAT prep program that was started by undergraduates at Harvard in 2003, has since grown into a national test prep leader thanks to the highest student score improvements in the industry.
New York, NY, June 30, 2010 --(PR.com)-- To prep or not to prep? For a growing number of high school parents and students in New York City, that question has been replaced with a new one: how should we prep? And with college admissions getting more competitive every year, many students have begun turning to a short list of pricey test prep companies to help them earn the scores they need to compete.
But the dominance of the test prep giants may not be here to stay. At least that’s what a selected group of entrepreneurial college students are banking on.
This summer, Cornell University student Rachel Bukberg has been selected to launch one of the New York City branches of Ivy Insiders, an innovative SAT prep program that was started by undergraduates at Harvard in 2003 and has since grown into a national test prep leader thanks to the highest student score improvements in the industry.
“This is not just about teaching a new strategy for mastering the SAT’s,” says Bukberg, who is the president and a councilmember of numerous student organizations at Cornell, and was hired by Ivy Insiders based on her extensive teaching experience and high SAT scores. “The whole concept of turning undergraduates into teachers is what truly makes this program special. High school students feel motivated to do the work that is asked of them, as they can see the rewards such work holds in store for them simply by looking up to their closer-in-age instructors.”
In its five years of existence, Ivy Insiders has helped over 4,000 students raise their SAT scores by an average of almost 300 points - results that outpace most traditional test prep companies by a factor of two. According to its founders, such unprecedented success can be traced to two unique features of Ivy Insiders: an innovative curriculum developed by Harvard students who scored perfect 2400's on the New SAT and a teaching staff with average SAT scores in the 99th percentile.
According to the company’s founders, the reason Ivy Insiders has had so much success is that it takes a student-centered approach to the test. The Ivy Insiders curriculum approaches the SAT like a game to be beaten and exposes students to some of its best players - Ivy League undergraduates who beat the exam themselves. By simplifying the test’s content, spinning it like a game, and focusing on results, it produces score jumps that are unprecedented.
“I’m thrilled to be home in New York City this summer to bring this program to high school students in the area,” says Bukberg. “After her first two private tutoring lessons, one of my first students was able to raise her SAT score 300 points. We treated each practice test like the next level of an addicting computer game, and while her scores consistently increased, each time she told me, ‘It's like a game, except that each level seems to get easier and easier.’ Ivy Insiders has the right academic approach, dedicated instructors, the most reasonable prices you can find around, and guaranteed results. I certainly would have loved to have Ivy Insiders classes available when I was in high school.”
Rachel also notes that she is offering both full and partial scholarships for her courses in July and August. “The SAT isn’t a measure of intelligence,” she says. “It’s a measure of how well you can take the SAT. Test prep has become the norm in New York City, and it’s a terrible setback if a family cannot afford preparatory courses for a smart student who just needs to learn the strategies for taking this test. When I got to Cornell, I was never asked once what my SAT scores were. Instead, my professors wanted to know about what I was interested in and what I was writing my thesis on. That’s what college is about, and no student should be deprived of such an educational opportunity because they cannot afford to pay for SAT tutoring.”
Ivy Insiders will run courses in New York City throughout this summer. For more information on courses, scholarships, and free workshops, please contact:
Rachel Bukberg
Phone: (646) 246-0976
Email: rachel_bukberg@ivyinsiders.com
Website: http://ivyinsiders.com/rachel_bukberg
###
But the dominance of the test prep giants may not be here to stay. At least that’s what a selected group of entrepreneurial college students are banking on.
This summer, Cornell University student Rachel Bukberg has been selected to launch one of the New York City branches of Ivy Insiders, an innovative SAT prep program that was started by undergraduates at Harvard in 2003 and has since grown into a national test prep leader thanks to the highest student score improvements in the industry.
“This is not just about teaching a new strategy for mastering the SAT’s,” says Bukberg, who is the president and a councilmember of numerous student organizations at Cornell, and was hired by Ivy Insiders based on her extensive teaching experience and high SAT scores. “The whole concept of turning undergraduates into teachers is what truly makes this program special. High school students feel motivated to do the work that is asked of them, as they can see the rewards such work holds in store for them simply by looking up to their closer-in-age instructors.”
In its five years of existence, Ivy Insiders has helped over 4,000 students raise their SAT scores by an average of almost 300 points - results that outpace most traditional test prep companies by a factor of two. According to its founders, such unprecedented success can be traced to two unique features of Ivy Insiders: an innovative curriculum developed by Harvard students who scored perfect 2400's on the New SAT and a teaching staff with average SAT scores in the 99th percentile.
According to the company’s founders, the reason Ivy Insiders has had so much success is that it takes a student-centered approach to the test. The Ivy Insiders curriculum approaches the SAT like a game to be beaten and exposes students to some of its best players - Ivy League undergraduates who beat the exam themselves. By simplifying the test’s content, spinning it like a game, and focusing on results, it produces score jumps that are unprecedented.
“I’m thrilled to be home in New York City this summer to bring this program to high school students in the area,” says Bukberg. “After her first two private tutoring lessons, one of my first students was able to raise her SAT score 300 points. We treated each practice test like the next level of an addicting computer game, and while her scores consistently increased, each time she told me, ‘It's like a game, except that each level seems to get easier and easier.’ Ivy Insiders has the right academic approach, dedicated instructors, the most reasonable prices you can find around, and guaranteed results. I certainly would have loved to have Ivy Insiders classes available when I was in high school.”
Rachel also notes that she is offering both full and partial scholarships for her courses in July and August. “The SAT isn’t a measure of intelligence,” she says. “It’s a measure of how well you can take the SAT. Test prep has become the norm in New York City, and it’s a terrible setback if a family cannot afford preparatory courses for a smart student who just needs to learn the strategies for taking this test. When I got to Cornell, I was never asked once what my SAT scores were. Instead, my professors wanted to know about what I was interested in and what I was writing my thesis on. That’s what college is about, and no student should be deprived of such an educational opportunity because they cannot afford to pay for SAT tutoring.”
Ivy Insiders will run courses in New York City throughout this summer. For more information on courses, scholarships, and free workshops, please contact:
Rachel Bukberg
Phone: (646) 246-0976
Email: rachel_bukberg@ivyinsiders.com
Website: http://ivyinsiders.com/rachel_bukberg
###
Contact
Ivy Insiders (New York City Branch 56)
Rachel Bukberg
(646) 246-0976
http://ivyinsiders.com/rachel_bukberg
Rachel Bukberg
(646) 246-0976
http://ivyinsiders.com/rachel_bukberg
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