Announcing PrepMe’s Premium ACT Preparation Program
Today, we formally launched our premium ACT program with both Platinum (with online tutoring) and Gold (without online tutoring) versions.
Course development was led by our VP Test Preparation Joe Jewell which culminated in the launch of our beta course in August 2006. We went through an intensive round of editing for the course while it was in beta and listened the feedback that students gave us to improve the program. We spent the next few months developing thousands of practice questions and materials to
The program we unveiled today includes:
- Full-length ACT diagnostic
- 3 full-length Real ACT practice exams
- Completely customized weekly schedule with lessons, quizzes, and practice tests
- Live online tutoring
- Top-notch tutors from Stanford and the University of Chicago
Learn more about the ACT course or go ahead and enroll in our ACT program today!
The program uses the same adaptive learning technology and platform that has helped PrepMe deliver customized, high-quality learning to our students across the globe. Also, our program is already being used by the entire junior class of Perspectives Charter School here in Chicago which counts the Gates Foundation and Walton Family Foundation amongst its funders. Perspectives is a great school with motivated inner-city Chicago students and we are confident their juniors are going to do very well on their upcoming SAT.
In sum, PrepMe has already helped thousands of students to rock the SAT and now we're going to help millions rock the ACT!
Best,
Karan
PrepMe CEO
PrepMe SAT prep for every public school junior in Maine!
Today is a big day for both PrepMe and the State of Maine. We just announced that in conjunction with a philanthropist, we will be making $4.5 million per year in PrepMe test preparation available to Maine's public high school juniors for the next three years. Maine took the bold step of replacing its state assessment test with the SAT because it believed that every student deserves to have access to a college education and with the partnership announced today, PrepMe hopes to play a substantial role in making college accessible to Maine's students.
We made the announcement today at Portland High School in Portland, Maine with Maine's Governor, John Baldacci, and Maine's Deputy Commissioner of Education, Angela Faherty. One of our advisors, Rick Bolton, spent much of Wednesday afternoon walking students through PrepMe's SAT program and helping them understand how our adaptive learning technology works. The students and the principal of the school all have had extremely positive things to say (hear what they have to say on a video from NBC News - Portland, ME) and we look forward to working with Maine's public schools to make test prep available for their students. There is also a Boston Globe story on our substantial donation.
We will keep you posted on all of the press and the success of these wonderful students.
We are thrilled about this opportunity and hope to announce many more equally exciting initiatives here in the coming months. A big thanks to our advisor Rick Bolton without whom none of this would be possible. Thanks Rick!
Best,
Karan
PrepMe CEO
Governor Baldacci, Karan Goel, and Principal Michael Johnson announce PrepMe's $13.5 million donation of free SAT prep over 3 years
Overcoming Learning Disabilities to Succeed on the SAT: Part 3
Hi all,
As promised, here are my next two tips.
4. Don't Get Lost in the Language of your Essay
As a corollary to the last tip, don't waste your time over-correcting grammar and don't use words you're not sure how to spell. ADD can often cause you to spend far too much time fussing with the language of your essays. SAT graders are not looking for a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. They want to see the basics of structure with competent language use. Using familiar and comfortable grammar and vocabulary will not only remove distractions, it will leave more time to focus on the all-too-important structure of the essay.
5. Always Leave Time to Revise your Essay
This may seem simple to some, but a majority of students don't proof and revise their test essays. They are rife with simple mistakes in spelling and grammar which would easily have been corrected after one reread. Always be mindful of the time as you're writing your essay so you can have a few minutes to reread and check for argument cohesion. It can make the difference between an average and a great essay.
Best,
Eric
PrepMe Senior Tutor
Overcoming Learning Disabilities to Succeed on the SAT: Part 2
Hi again,
As promised, here are my next two tips.
2. Don't Read the Reading Comprehension Passages Fully
The reading comprehension passages can often be long and full of unnecessary information. This is a big problem for anyone with ADD or slow reading habits in general. A great way to cope with this is to read the first one or two sentences and the last two sentences of each paragraph. This way, you'll get the general idea of the passage.
Some questions will refer to overarching themes, which by this point you'll be prepared for. Other questions will refer to specific words or lines. When responding to these questions, find the word(s) or line(s) in question and examine the text around them. Seldom is there a question which requires specific knowledge of more than a few lines of the text at a time, so this provides you with more than enough information to answer this type of question. Following this approach will not only focus you on the relevant information, but also save time which can later be used for revising.
3. Structure your Essay before Writing
The graders of the SAT essays rarely spend more than a few minutes on each essay. They only have time to verify your thesis, support, and conclusion, and then do a cursory read through for grammar and spelling. This means that structure is stressed over eloquence. Therefore, it is very important to understand where your essay is going before you put the pen to the paper. It is a very good idea to have your thesis and at least two points of evidence firmly in mind before starting. That way, you'll never be distracted from your main point, and your structure will be obvious to the grader.
Best,
Eric
PrepMe Senior Tutor
Overcoming Learning Disabilities to Succeed on the SAT: Part 1
Hi Everyone,
I'm Eric Bjerstedt and I'm one of the senior tutors at PrepMe. I'm a third-year linguistics concentrator at the University of Chicago. I was diagnosed with ADD and Tourette Syndrome at the age of eight. Over time, I have learned to deal with these disabilities without medication and want to share my thoughts so that others may benefit as well.
I recently had an article published in ADDitude Magazine entitled "When ADD Meets the SAT" and over the course of the next few weeks, I will be sharing my tips. Here is the first one:
1. Don't Practice in the Ideal Test-Taking Environment
Chances are the venue where your test is administered will be full of distractions and frustrations. Other students may be making noises or fidgeting after they finish a given section, the rooms are often large and full of posters and other kinds of reading material, and the list goes on. The best way to prepare for this is type of situation is to take practice tests in a similar environment. Since the actual venue will not be sterile and isolated, try to practice in an area with small distractions such as ambient noise or other people, like cafes or central rooms of libraries. This will allow you to be accustomed to the environment before actually arriving, which can make a world of difference.
Best,
Eric
PrepMe Senior Tutor
PrepMe.com on the Front Page of BusinessWeek.com!
PrepMe's CEO Karan Goel was featured on the front page of BusinessWeek.com yesterday.
The slide show relates to a feature story entitled "The Afterlife of Business Plan Contest Winners" and there is an accompanying slide show. If you're wondering where the photo is taken, it's just outside our office at the wonderful University of Chicago Graduate School of Business' Hyde Park Center.
I joined PrepMe part-time after we won The University of Chicago's New Venture Challenge and it's been an amazing journey since. We launched our own technology in September 2005 and have grown by leaps and bounds ever since. We will keep you updated on what we are up to next and we promise to update the blog more often now!
As always, thank you to our students, their parents, our friends, advisors, and family for their support. Thank you to all the reporters and publications that have generously covered our story of how we're changing test prep by focusing on high-quality, customized materials. Every student deserves the benefits of a private tutor and we hope we can make it accessible to everyone.
Best,
Sammy
PrepMe Lead Engineer
PrepMe Founders in Business Week’s Best Entrepreneurs Under 25 – vote for us!
Dear Friends,
Thank you to all of you for your support this past year and a half as we've built PrepMe into a strong company with great results for our students and their families.
You already know we're not ones to shy away from shameless plugs and publicity, so here goes. We have been selected for Business Week's Best Entrepreneurs Under 25 and they have live online voting to determine who they will feature in detail. We would really appreciate if you would vote for us.
Read: PrepMe Profile
Vote: The Ballot
We would love if you voted for: Avichal Garg, Karan Goel, Joe Jewell (PrepMe)
That is the 7th choice down. Please forward this to your friends, family, and co-workers as well.
Thanks,
Avichal, Joe, and Karan
PrepMe Co-Founders
Drum Roll Please… The PrepMe Precocious Program
I am proud to announce that we have officially launched our new Precocious Program. For the first time ever, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders will be able to prepare for the SAT with a program designed just for them. The college admissions process is more competitive than it has ever been and it is going to get more competitive each year. The Precocious Program presents a vehicle for students to start their preparation early and reduce their stress.
We have received some great coverage on the launch of the program. The Financial Times featured our program yesterday with a feature story (pg. 9 in print).
I want to thank all of the parents and students, tutors, and the rest of the PrepMe team who helped us develop this program. We will continue to listen to our students and their parents as this program evolves. We are here to help you rock the SAT!
Best,
Karan
PrepMe CEO
PrepMe Blog is up!!!
Hi all,
I'm glad to announce the PrepMe Blog is up and running. Now you can know whats going on behind the scenes and be the first to hear about any features that we release.
Good luck studying!
Best,
Sammy
PrepMe Lead Engineer