Ivy league entrepreneurs take on test prep industry

SPARTA — To prep or not to prep? For a growing number of high school parents and students, that is the question. 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 old-school test prep giants may not be here to stay. At least that’s what two entrepreneurial college students are banking on.

This summer, Jonathan Hilgart and Brian McNulty, two student leaders at Brown and Cornell, have been selected to bring Revolution Prep’s Ivy Insiders programs to Sussex County. Revolution Prep, an innovative test prep company started in 2002,selects undergraduates from top colleges around the nation to run its Ivy Insiders programs during the summer.

“The old-school education giants have dominated test prep for too long,” says Hilgart, who is on the varsity track team at Brown, and was hired to run Revolution’s Ivy Insiders programs for the second year based on his SAT teaching experience and 98 percentile scores.

In the past nine years, Revolution’s Ivy Insiders programs have helped nearly10,000 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 Hilgart, their success can be traced to three features of Revolution’s Ivy Insiders programs: a focus on mentorship, a personalized learning approach for every student, and an intensive three-week delivery that allows students to escape the stresses of the school year.

“The reason Ivy Insiders has had so much success is that we take a student-centered approach to the test. We approach the SAT like a game to be beaten and expose students to some of its best players—Ivy League undergraduates who beat the exam themselves. By simplifying the test’s content, tailoring our instruction to individual students’ needs, and focusing on results, we’ve been able to produce score jumps that are unprecedented. Last year when I was teaching similar courses at Pope John High School, I was able to make great strides with my students resulting in an average score improvement of 250 points.”

McNulty, a sophomore at Cornell, is a new Revolution Ivy instructor, but he’s no stranger to the SAT. He first took the test in 10th grade, when he achieved a 700 in the math – better than 85 percent of graduating seniors. By the time he was finished, Brian had achieved a 2290 on the total test (780 Reading, 770 Math, and 740 Writing).

“I’m thrilled to be in Sparta this summer to spearhead Ivy Insiders’ launch,” says McNulty. “It really is the full package: top instructors, the right approach, reasonable prices, and of course, guaranteed results. I think the potential of this program is limitless.”

Revolution Prep will run Ivy Insiders courses and tutoring programs at Pope John XXIII throughout this summer. For more information, contact Jonathan Hilgart at 862-354-0814 or Jonathan_Hilgart@IvyInsiders.com or Brian McNulty at 908-235-1720 or Brian_McNulty@IvyInsiders.com. For more information, www.revolutionprep.com.