Episode 281 | Jeremy Ciampa | Higher Learning Test Prep | The EdisonOS Podcast

Episode Description

In this episode, Jeremy Ciampa, founder of Higher Learning Test Prep with nearly two decades of experience, shares how starting as a digitally-native company with Skype tutoring made the digital SAT transition seamless for his organization. Working with 60-100 students one-on-one and another 200+ in small groups annually, Jeremy explains how the digital shift gave test makers back control of their materials, making it harder for students to find leaked tests on Reddit. He reveals his approach to the SAT versus ACT decision: strong reading comprehension is the biggest ceiling for SAT success, while the ACT rewards efficiency and speed. Jeremy discusses his evolved homework philosophy—moving away from assigning six days of massive homework to offering on-call support with multiple tutors throughout the week, recognizing that overscheduled high-achieving students were doing SAT work at midnight. Drawing from his background as a musician and mountaineering experience, Jeremy shares practical anxiety-management techniques including the counterintuitive strategy of squeezing every muscle as hard as you can instead of trying to relax. He explains his systematic approach of coding every released SAT question from 2015-2023 by type, his use of AI trained on 10,000 hours of his tutoring transcripts to generate practice questions, and why the most common skill students lack is breaking hard problems into smaller pieces—citing the quote: "Small minds are capable of great ideas, but great minds proceed by the smallest of stages." Jeremy concludes by reframing test prep not as a hurdle to leap over but as a doorway to walk through—an opportunity for young people to take something seriously for the first time and become serious people in the world.