Episode 334 | John Brown | PrepTopia Test Prep | Part 2 | The EdisonOS Podcast

Michael from Astute Academics, tutoring 100+ students annually including nonprofit outreach, reveals his brutally honest approach to college admissions.

Austin Parsons, a master’s-trained chemistry tutor, believes the worst stress comes from regret—so he emphasizes early, front-loaded preparation to help students succeed before “last-chance” panic sets in.

Karun Mendiratta, Founder of Prepster Education, has taught and guided thousands of students worldwide for various standardized tests and university admissions.

Doug Poggioli, a master’s-trained mathematician and longtime teacher in Miami and London, argues that the digital SAT’s short passages weaken assessment by sacrificing insights into character intent and deep comprehension that longer passages provide.

John Heidenreich, a PhD chemist with 35 years in IT who returned to his passion for teaching, shares how a high school physics teacher transformed his life by explaining that "someone would pay me money to solve problems all day."

Jeff Negus, a private tutor with over 11 years of experience, shares how he initially felt skeptical about the SAT's digital shift but grew positive after seeing reduced student anxiety from shorter passages and the elimination of the no-calculator section.

Andre Hampshire, founder of Hampshire Academia with seven years of experience, reveals why he uses the older paper-based SAT to prepare students for the digital test—a contrarian approach that addresses implicit evidence-based reasoning skills.

Kevin McMullin, Chief Education Officer of Collegewise and founder who grew the company from 9 students in 1999 to serving over 30,000 families, shares insights from 26 years in college admissions.

Heather Krey, co-president of World Class Tutoring, shares insights from nearly two decades of standardized test prep experience.

Dennis Vidach, CEO of College Admissions Expert, shares insights from 12 years of guiding students through the college admissions process.

Brooke Henry, a 20-year-old college student and founder of Henry College Prep, shares her journey from taking the SAT in seventh grade through Duke Talent Search to building a thriving test prep business at 18.

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.