St. Francis Preparatory School (Class of 2018)
Carnegie Mellon University (Class of 2022)
After completing several books written by some major test prep companies, I did not expect my SAT score to be any higher than a 1300. I thought that SAT Prep would be of no use to me, and that I just had to learn everything myself and start the grind. Indeed, I was not entirely wrong, but until I began attending Accelerate Academy during my summer following sophomore year of high school, my quest for a higher SAT score was simply a tiring bore.
Unlike any other prep center I have attended, AA is a hub for testing as well as learning. For example, I did not expect any teacher like Andrew who would overprepare his students with piecemeal Calculus concepts for the SAT. Never have I had an SAT teacher who would work through dozens of exams by himself to hand pick the best questions of the right difficulty for his students. Also, he would routinely lecture a concept for hours—sometimes even after class—for us to fully understand, rather than simply give out the answers or downplay the importance of critical thinking. Most impressive is that Andrew even pained himself to create his own tests to keep up with the most current trend of the SAT, not to mention the fact that each of his extremely challenging exams would take him weeks to create. Andrew is known to sacrifice sleep and personal time to dedicate his efforts to his SAT students. He does not torture himself for fun. I know Andrew did this for us because he truly takes the extra steps to do his job well.
Looking back, I can honestly view the time, money, and energy spent at Accelerate as entirely worthwhile because I know Andrew is always there for me; no fortune can buy such dedication. I stayed for two summers and four months of SAT prep, during which time I improved my score by exactly 200 points. Now I am in my perfect-fit college. I remember Andrew would patiently talk to me about anything, study or life, after every class. He helped me through the college application process for a reasonable fee and, even today, he is the best life mentor I could have hoped to meet.
For those of you who wish to be better test takers and thinkers, I would not superficially assess the value of Accelerate Academy by look, size, or price. Rather, check out the courses and teachers yourself. The only qualifications to be here are your self-discipline and your will to succeed. If you want to be better, AA is your place to learn, grow, and build a strong foundation that will undoubtedly benefit the rest of your life.