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May 12, 2014Get Smarter Prep

Make the Most of Your High School Summers: 4.5 Tips

We are in that magical final month of the school year.  APs start next week, Finals not long after.  And then, some rest.  Or not.  Summer is something so many families and students get wrong and we want to help our readers get it right.  Here are 4.5 guidelines to help you make the most of your summer.

1.  Get A Job

We all know that SAT/ACT scores and GPA are massively important as part of your college application.  But did you know that jobs matter too?  Jobs indicate to colleges that you have taken on an additional level of responsibility and that you have had some experience in the working world before plunging into university-level studies.

For you, the rewards are significant: a chance to earn some money (never a bad thing to start saving for college), an opportunity to make new friends, a chance to learn a new skill, and finally, a look into what real-life-work is like.

Would it be nice if your job had some relationship to what you want to study in college or do with your life?  Sure!  But if not, any job is still a good experience (even if you don’t like it, you still learn about what you don’t like!).

Our recommendation –  20 hours per week

2.  Take a Class

There are lots of reasons to take at least one class during the summer.  The two most important are the opportunity to skip ahead in high school and the option of knocking a college class out of the way now.

Let’s say you want to take Calculus in the Fall but you were in Algebra II this last year.  That means you need Pre-calculus.  What if you took it during the summer?  Most community colleges will offer a class that covers the material.  Make sure that your school allows you to skip ahead, however.  Some schools have policies in place that prevent students from using this strategy. Better to check with your high school counselor and learn the requirements before you pay for the class.

Another situation: let’s say you’ve just taken Biology and you’re due up for Chemistry.  Maybe you want to take Chemistry over the summer and go right into Physics.  Or maybe you want to take AP Chem and want to have your first year of Chem done before taking that class (a must, really).  Either way, if your school approves, you can take a community college class, not a high school class.  For the simple reason that, as long as the college you take the class at is accredited, many colleges will take the credits you earn – if not as part of your core requirements, at least as an elective.  You’re going to save money, save time, and open up more options for yourself for your high school (and college) course load.

Also, remember that if you are in “school mode” just by taking one class over the summer, getting back into the groove in the Fall semester will be easier.

Our recommendation – 1 class maximum.  Remember that summer classes cover an entire semester in either a 4 or 8 week period, so each class session os longer and there is more material to learn in a shorter time span.

3.  Do Something Different

This is really up to you.  You could volunteer or go away on some adventure for the entire summer.  And remember, you have 4 summers in high school so you don’t have to do the same thing every year, but realize that if you pick an out-of-town option you necessarily have to rule out numbers 1 and 2 on our list.  And believe me, adventures are worth the sacrifice.  By the same token, if you were to go on adventures every summer and were to neglect work or class opportunities that would be shortsighted.

4.  Schedule Some Downtime

This is the most neglected item on this list.  Parents and students try to pack summer schedules and forget that recovery time – in athletics, in school, and in life – is the only way to make the “regular time” more productive.  For every 4 weeks in the summer, make sure that you have at least 4-5 days where you can relax.  No homework, no special things.  Just time off.

Our recommendation – Take at least one real day off every week.  We mean it!

4.5  Don’t Sweat Your Summer Reading

So I bring my personal experience with stacks of AP assigned reading when I was a high schooler (back before the dinosaurs had gone extinct) as well as observance of my very best students over the last decade to this point.  I don’t think you should worry about this until 10 days before school starts.  Now, this isn’t going to endear me to all the high school teachers who tell you “not to put this off.”  I just find that after a full year of pushing hard at school that there is ZERO appetite or desire – even among my best students – to pretend like the school year doesn’t end over the summer and “dig into” summer reading even a month after school ends. So rather than be unrealistic, I choose to be pragmatic.

Our recommendation – Start your summer reading – seriously and earnestly – no later than 10 days before school starts.

We hope these tips help and we hope it presents the right balance of work, study, and fun for your well-deserved block of time off!

 

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May 5, 2014Get Smarter Prep

What is the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program?

The International Baccalaureate program has its advocates and its critics.  Some see it as a “more global” version of the Advanced Placement (AP) program.  Some see it as “too global,” thereby undermining a unique American flavor to education in this country.  Beyond these considerations, of course, is the actual IB program itself and whether it may be right for your child.  Since families often ask about this program, we wanted to give a deeper explanation of the answers we give parents when they call or write us.

IB was founded in 1968 in Switzerland to serve as a base of educational curricula for those attending international schools.  If your parents were expats you might not be attending a “local” school but rather an “international” one, and as such, would not necessarily study Swiss history or literature, even though you lived in Switzerland, for example.  IB emphasizes critical and creative thinking and encourages students to choose their own topics and projects while requiring a lot of writing behind those topics and projects.  It also has a community service requirement.  At its core is an ideological agnosticism driven by its alignment with UN’s UNESCO requirements for education: that equal weight and value must be given to each form of government, cultural practice, or social construct.

There are middle school and elementary IB programs, but what we are most concerned with are the high school programs.  Depending on how your school has the program set up, students may be allowed to take a single IB class or may take a full course load of IB classes with an eye to earning the IB diploma.   While IB has no barrier set up to prevent any student from enrolling, sometimes these classes are scheduled in opposition to AP or Honors equivalents so that students have to choose.  Some schools see AP as the past and IB as the future.  Other schools see IB as an upstart whereas AP is the “old reliable.”  What is certain is that passing an AP exam with a score of 4 and above (and 3 in many other cases) will still earn you some level of college credit at many universities, whereas there is often no college credit for an IB.

At this point you may (reasonably) be asking, “So, let me see, colleges don’t give IB any more weight than AP as far as admissions goes, and IB actually carries less weight as far as college credit goes.  So, conversation over, right?”  Yes and no.  As we always try to do at Get Smarter Prep – we want to make sure you have the proper context for the answer.

I’ve taught over 2000 students in the more than 10 years I’ve been in the test prep industry.  More than a few have been in IB classes.  Those students have told me that they enjoyed the different course structure and the challenge.  They were all willing to admit that IB deprived them of a regular social life and even cut back their participation in outside activities, like work, sports, and clubs.   Yet, that overarching unified curriculum and drive for a diploma also creates a sub-group of students within each school who not only can work on things together, but can also commiserate about the tremendous work load.

But my students also lived with the fear that after two hard years invested across multiple subjects that they may not earn the coveted IB diploma.  Any good student loves a challenge – and IB – with its comprehensive curriculum – offers that to them.

Ultimately, the answer to “should my child do IB?” is quite similar to “should my child take the SAT or the ACT?”  That answer is: “It depends, and it’s different from child to child.” For the SAT and ACT, we recommend that your student come in and take practice tests for both, and then we will sit down with you, at no charge, to talk about which one makes more sense for you.  Unfortunately, there’s no “test” for whether you should take IB, but you can use the tried-and-true parent grapevine.  Take parents (and students!) who have been involved in IB out to coffee or dinner.  Ask them difficult questions.  Try to find people on both sides of the argument.  Using that information, you and your student can make an informed decision.

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April 21, 2014Get Smarter Prep

ACT vs. SAT – Is one more accepted?

ACT vs. SAT – Is one more accepted?

For many years, I had to assure parents that the school their child was considering actually did accept the ACT.  The parents were working from experience bias. The ACT was almost unknown when they attended college and many colleges didn’t even require an entrance examination.  If one did, it was surely the SAT, which had over a decade’s head start into the blue ocean marketplace of college admissions exams.  I had to send parents to admissions websites where the clear black letters explained that “either ACT or SAT scores are acceptable” and even then, these same parents were cowed by the received wisdom of other parents, who heard from someone’s grandpa’s uncle’s sister who 5 years ago worked in admissions at Dartmouth, you know, that they preferred the SAT.  How much things have changed.

Now some students are hearing from the student grapevine that the ACT is not just a better test, but the preferred one.  Again, we have to step in to intervene.

We understand why there may have been this swing.  ACT has worked hard for years to overtake the SAT, and in 2012, they did.  How did they do it?  The way any smart company does.  Strategic appointments to their Board of Directors.  Legislation which caused the ACT to be required in certain states for the high school graduation process.  Aggressive expansion of their PLAN testing – an early-stages test which is a mini-ACT.  Awareness of the ACT test has crested, and now there isn’t just an acceptance of its equivalency for admissions, but the consumer – parent and student – perceives the ACT as more “fair” as it has 4 subjects tested (English, Math, Reading, and Science) instead of the SAT’s Reading, Math, and Writing.

However,  despite your perception there is still no change.  These tests have fundamental problems, yet, they are still accepted as part of the admissions process.  Our job is to help you beat them, and honestly, we’re very successful in that job.  A lot of our students get into schools they wanted to go to because of their prep here.  Many get into schools or get scholarships they would have never dreamed of before working with us.  Whichever test you end up working on (our advice is to take both free practice tests to see whether the ACT or SAT is better for you), be assured that colleges in America accept both the ACT and SAT as equivalent tests, without preference or prejudice.

On a final note, remember that just as the colleges don’t care which one you take, neither should you.  Don’t just say, “Well all my siblings have taken the SAT, so that means I should too.”  Maybe the SAT was the right test for them.  Maybe they didn’t need prep.  Maybe they didn’t work with experts who advised them to take both as practice tests so that they could get a subjective (how did I feel during the test?) and an objective (what was the score?) measure of this decision.

Unfortunately, although the colleges may have outsourced part of their decision-making process to these exams, it doesn’t mean you should outsource your decision on which one to take.  Your starting point should be taking a practice version of both.

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April 17, 2014Get Smarter Prep

Fun Facts about Boomer Jenkins

1.  I was a very accomplished handbell (weird musical instrument that Lutherans play in church mostly) player in high school and was offered a scholarship to play in the best collegiate choir.

2.  I had a tremendous hairstyle through high school and part of college.  It is immortalized on my ID.

3.  My first car was a 1992 Lincoln Town Car.  It was an awful salmon pink color.  I loved it.

4.  I spent 10 days hiking in the mountains of New Mexico and did not shower the entire time.

5.  I have a strange talent for leisure games like pool, shuffleboard, and darts, and I use this talent to my advantage.

6.  I cannot turn off a game show, especially if it is trivia-based like Jeopardy.

7.  My music choices run the gamut.  You might hear 2 Chainz and Thelonious Monk back to back.  

8.  Horror movies and being scared are two things I avoid like the plague.

9.  When I was little, I told people that I was going to grow up and be a sports mascot.  This changed when I met Sluggerrrr (Royals mascot) and he scared poor little me.

10.  I’m an only child so I learned to improvise.  This meant using chess pieces to run football plays and attempting to throw sock balls into cardboard boxes.

Boomer Jenkins is a Tutor at Get Smarter Prep.

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April 15, 2014Get Smarter Prep

The Willingness-Strategy-Increase Correlate

The Willingness-Strategy-Increase Correlate – It happens quite frequently – parents ask me how students can improve their test scores.  Well, from my observations of thousands of students, there tends to be an integral combination of student effort and the mastery of the methods, as well as the structure, of the tests that provide the best results.  It’s the value of both that will help a student achieve their ACT or SAT goals!  It’s not a matter of one or the other – it’s the two in cooperation that leads to the largest score increases!

We recently helped a student that worked harder than any student I have ever seen!  She was honestly more self-motivated than anyone I’ve ever met.  The trouble was, while she worked very diligently and was dedicated to doing something – she didn’t choose to take the time to learn the right way to approach the ACT. She had taken 6 actual ACTs and probably 20 different Practice ACTs on her own before coming to Get Smarter Prep – yet she wasn’t seeing the result she expected.  The old adage, “perfect practice makes perfect” was not something she had ever adopted.  When she took the time to learn the right strategies, her time spent practicing was much more fruitful.

Conversely, I’ve seen numerous students who are provided with an abundance of opportunities to learn the strategies necessary to do their best, but who are not willing to do the “heavy-lifting” of practicing and committing to them.  Many of the strategies will stretch a student in a way they’ve never experienced – and if they aren’t willing to commit themselves to the strategies, there will be little room for growth.  Because some of the strategies feel uncomfortable for a student at first, they choose to rely on their “school methods,” which are often times counter-productive on these unique tests.

ACT and SAT prep is always the most productive when students are able to commit to the two aforementioned things: adaptation to the strategies that are right for the test and spending time practicing the new concepts.  If students are able to marry these two concepts, they will be well positioned to realize the goal score they set for themselves.

Caleb Pierce is a Tutor and the Owner of Get Smarter Prep

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April 7, 2014Get Smarter Prep

Get Smarter Prep Teacher Training

No one who has ever made test prep a big part of his/her life “went to college” for it.  There is no “test prep” major.  Test prep is the art and science of understanding a test inside and out and being able to successfully communicate those ins and outs to students of every level.

The first place we reach out to recruit the best tutors for our company is among our existing tutors.  We’ve found that our teachers (unsurprisingly) know other great people like themselves and refer them to us.  Of course a referral bonus doesn’t hurt!

We also reach out via social media – Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and also via Craigslist, from which we found our first hire in Kansas City, Gina Claypool.

We then have an initial interview.  Part of it is perfectly conventional; part of it is more unique. First, we sit down with each candidate and discuss GSP and answer questions. Next, we have an audition in which the candidates are required to teach us something in which they consider themselves to be experts.  Over the years we’ve been taught how to be a true Wisconsin Cheesehead, how to put up a fence, how to dress for success, and many other varied topics! We do this because we love to have fun but also because we want to see how the candidates teach something in an interesting and engaging way.

After this initial screening, applicants are tested in both the ACT and the SAT. Each of our tutors works on both tests with students at all score levels, so we have high score expectations! We make some allowance for skill lost through lack of practice (we doubt you have used the formula for volume of a right cylinder at work recently), but we do expect a minimum score to start training and a higher score to successfully complete training.

After these and other screening requirements, our teachers complete over 25 hours of training for the ACT, followed by over 15 hours of training for the SAT.  We strongly believe that our teachers must be excellent in every subject and extremely competent in both tests.  No matter what our tutors professions are in “real” life (and we have and have had lawyers, engineers, biophysicists, MBAs, professional teachers, and many more) we only want the best and most talented in teaching these exams in front of our students.  Previous success in other areas is no guarantee for success in test prep, and throughout the training process we use various methods to make sure that we are hiring the best test prep tutors.

During training the candidates are taught all of our methods and are asked to “teach back” in small segments what they have been taught by our tutors.  We normally see some attrition during this stage of training, either through self-selection or through culling based on trainers’ judgments.  We have all of our tutors help with training not just to spread out the work, but also to allow the trainees to see different styles, methods, and indeed, jokes.

After final Teachbacks, in which the candidates are asked to teach back long segments, they are tested again on the SAT and ACT.  Despite near perfect scores in the initial screening, scores often increase on the final test, further driving home the belief in these trainees that our methods work.

Finally, the management team, in consultation with the trainers, makes offers to candidates to start as a Classroom Instructor. These teachers start out teaching classroom courses. As soon as that instructor is requested by name for private tutoring, he/she gets promoted to Standard Tutor.  Standard Tutors continue to teach courses but also teach private tutoring. Promotions to Master Tutor and Premier Tutor come with consistently high score increases and consistent requests from parents.  Our Premier Tutors have made test prep an important part of their lives and quite rightfully are the very best in the city at what they do.

Now you know more about the GSP Teacher Training process and what makes our teachers the best at what they do! If you are interested in applying to work for us, please visit our Jobs page.

 

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Caleb Pierce
March 13, 2014Get Smarter Prep

Fun Facts about Caleb Pierce

Fun Facts about Caleb Pierce

1. In fifth grade, I was the lead in A Christmas Carol.  Apparently, as a ten year old, I made a pretty good old man!

2. I have been on two “Baseball Trips” with my brothers and dad.  Including those trips – I’ve been to 19 of the 30 Major League ball parks.  My favorite is definitely Fenway, although I could be a little biased!

3. On January 11th, 2006, I shattered all the bones on the right side of my face playing basketball.  Just one surgery later… humpty dumpty was put together again!

4. While I enjoy exploring new cities and cultures, I definitely prefer beach vacations!  I love the opportunity to escape and deny the real world for a span!

5. As a sophomore in high school, I performed for the Summit of the Eight as a part of the Denver Citywide Marching Band.  Dignitaries included: Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Boris Yeltsen, Jacques Chirac – as well as others.  Also performing that evening were artists such as Michael Bolton (whom I briefly said hello to), Amy Grant (who I swear winked at me), and Aretha Franklin.

6. I rang in 2006 on Times Square in New York City.  Definitely a lot of fun to do once, but an adventure I don’t plan on ever doing again!

7. I’ve been in a fantasy baseball league since 2005.  I’ve been in this particular league longer than I’ve ever lived in one place (not just house… but city). 

8. I have one of the most “unique” degrees out there… a Master’s in Enrollment Management. 

9. I love sweet potatoes!  Conversely, I hate zucchini & cucumbers.

10. While I don’t know much about the culture… yet… I would love to visit Malta someday.

 Caleb Pierce is the President and a Tutor at Get Smarter Prep. Thanks for taking the time to read about Fun Facts about Caleb Pierce. 

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February 24, 2014Get Smarter Prep

Picking a Major

I recently had a conversation with one of my students about picking her major.  She had gotten into her first choice school based, in large part, upon her test score, but was now trying to pick her field of study.

“I want to study psychology, but everyone tells me I can’t do anything with a Bachelor’s in that field.”

“Everyone is right,” I said.  “At least a Masters, and even there the money isn’t necessarily phenomenal.”

“My brother says ‘study business.’  He hates the idea of my studying psych.”

“He’s the successful guy, right?  You told me you look up to him and trust his advice.”

“Yup.”

“He’s right – but I know you hate all that stuff: accounting, finance, etc.  I mean you’ll love marketing but a business degree is very math-oriented and you’re not a fan.”

“I know I know I know.  So I can study something I love and have no job or trudge through something I hate so I can have one?”

I laughed.  I wasn’t trying to be cruel.  But her statement indicated she was one step ahead of where she should have been.  The question she needed to begin with was:

Why am I going to college?

If the answer is:

A) To get a job

Then yes, she should look at careers and jobs and work backwards from there, identifying the majors of people successful in those fields, either from research or asking people personally.  Do not make the assumption that a degree in a field gets you a job in the field (unless you are picking accounting, in which case you will be nearly guaranteed a job upon graduation, and at a reasonable rate too!).

B) To study something I love

Then sure, she should study psychology.  I have a Liberal Arts background myself, with a degree in Literature.  I am now and always have been an intellectual so I, at her age, might have just breathlessly have told you that I “loved books” and wanted to go to college to read hundreds of them.

I could never have told you that I would be an entrepreneur when I was 18 because I don’t think I even considered that a possibility at that age.  I loved to learn and I had earned a full academic scholarship to my school of choice so I wasn’t taking a financial risk to pursue the studies I wanted.  The caveat here is that if you love Art History I am NOT encouraging you to study what you love if you don’t have some kind of scholarship or college fund set aside.  I’ll address how much I think it’s healthy to spend on college in a future article.

C)  Because everyone tells me I’m supposed to

Hmmmm.  Look, I’ve read the studies too.  People with 4-year degrees make more money (and sometimes, even they get out-earned by 2-year degree holders).  I get it.  But please realize that this is the first decision of your adult life.  Maybe you could have made a decision on where to go to high school based solely on the counsel of your family and friends.  They are important.  Very important.  But you need to own your college decision, really and truly.

D) To party!

Don’t worry.  it’s going to be everything you thought, and more (don’t worry, parents!).  Just be smart about your decisions and your finances.

As we talked through all of this, my student laughed and said, “I’m still undecided.”

That’s fine.  You don’t need to have the rest of your life figured out right now.  And you may have motivations A-D (hopefully not just D.  If you only have that motivation, save us all some time and money and just go to community college!).  Just make sure you have a plan.  Plans can change.  But “no plan” isn’t wise.  “No plan isn’t worthy of someone on the cusp of adulthood.  As you get ready for college – no matter how many years away it is – whether you are a parent or a student – remember that college ends in a ceremony called Commencement, which means “beginning.”  Everything you do up until then is preparation and planning.

Make it count.

 

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February 6, 2014Get Smarter Prep

Is Grad School now “expected”?

Is Grad School now “expected”? While almost all of our seniors have long since turned in their applications to college, there are some of our former students who are now college seniors who are looking at their final semester. They are about to enter the workforce…or are they?

We’ve all heard that a bachelor’s degree simply isn’t “what it used to be.”  There are a number of reasons for that:

  • Simple numbers: more people are getting undergraduate educations than ever before.  Unless the job market is growing at the same rate that degrees are, this means there are more college graduates chasing the same number or – in a recession – fewer – jobs.
  • The greater numbers mean that potential employers are seeking greater differentiation from the bucketfuls of students who are coming to them with “Finance” or “Marketing” degrees.  Unfortunately, not enough students focus on getting thoughtful and relevant internships, useful study abroad programs, or even the most basic work experience.
  • The recession in the US economy has caused a slowdown in hiring, which means that new graduates aren’t just competing with their fellow classmates, but against those who may have graduated 1, 2, or even 3 years ahead of them.

Some students choose to tough it out – working in non-related fields in order to have a job to pay the bills or to stay employed.  Others don’t wait for a solution to be handed to them and choose to start a business.  But increasingly since 2008, many students are choosing more schooling.

It’s unexpected, isn’t it?  After four years of school, students are signing up for…more school!  Mind you – it’s also more expensive per credit hour with more challenging requirements.  Since they have not made alternate plans, the idea that “a Masters certainly can’t hurt,” has inspired tens of thousands to get one, but it is not always to their benefit.  Why?  Because we have the same related problems listed above:

  • Marketplaces adjust to supply and demand.  When there are a lot of oranges available for sale, prices go down and demand is sated.  When there are a lot of MBAs available on the job market, the degree no longer carries cachet, which leads employers to look at other factors – Was there an emphasis within the MBA which is distinctive (a particular one these days is “Business Intelligence” which marries nicely with the megatrend of big data)?  Or, was there a useful capstone or study abroad program in a relevant field?  Did the student just get a Masters right after undergrad (this means that there wasn’t the rich work experience which informs any real MBA program)?
  • The flatter worldwide job market increasingly means that you aren’t just competing within your country anymore.  You may be competing against candidates from other countries who share your qualifications.
  • Instead of improving their chances to be hired by increasing their qualifications, students who have not distinguished themselves now find themselves in far deeper debt than when they started, shiny undergraduate diploma in hand.

What can we do?  Well here at Get Smarter we’re always trying to prepare our students for life, not just for their next standardized test.  So here are three things to keep in mind as you prepare for undergraduate life:

1.    Do not expect a University to land you a job.  Parents increasingly put pressure on universities to deliver “jobs.”  And universities increasingly game their statistics by hiring new graduates internally.  Parents should not expect a university or college to provide a job for their young graduate.  A university can give you a degree – and hopefully teach you to think and learn at a high level so that you will be an asset to any firm (perhaps your own) – but it can’t control what the marketplace wants from possible employees (or can offer).

2.    Don’t let college “happen” to you.  Be the person your advisor actually knows by sight.  Attend those lectures and extra activities offered on campus.  Get involved with a group or two – and no, a fraternity or sorority is not solely the answer to all that, even though the time they demand would make you feel that way (fair disclosure: the author is a member of a business fraternity).

3.    Be as serious about landing internships and summer jobs as you are about your studies.  For those of us who are not college athletes who may possibly turn professional, this undergraduate life can set up the next decade of our pursuits.  ‘Nothing says that taking your future seriously has to exclude fun, but remember that when fun beckons, and serious things are not done, the mark of future success is upon those who accomplish those serious things while others temporize.

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November 21, 2013Get Smarter Prep

MidAmerica Nazarene University

Name: Caleb Pierce
College: MidAmerica Nazarene University
Major: Chemistry

1. What first drew you to MidAmerica Nazarene University?

I was focused on smaller schools with solid results in helping students get into Medical School (obviously my plans changed). As a serious added bonus, I was recruited for both football and baseball – and the coaches were great!

2. What other colleges were you considering? 

Colorado College was on my short-list, as was University of Denver, K-State, University of Illinois, Purdue University, and Northwest Nazarene University.

3. How was the adjustment from high school to college?

My transition socially was fantastic! I enjoyed high school – but thoroughly loved college! My biggest challenge was blowing out a shoulder and not being able to compete in either of the two inter-collegiate sports I had been recruited for.

4. What was your favorite class? Why?

I loved my Analytical Chemistry course. I took the course my Junior year, with three other students and we frequently had to complete presentations on various topics! I still remember some of my handouts – one had a coversheet with photos of great scientific minds, plus a photo of me – completely absurd, yet informative!

5. What clubs or groups were you involved in? 

I was certainly one of those students that was over-involved in college. I certainly could have spent a bit more time studying! I was a Resident Assistant for three years, worked in Admissions, an active member of the Pre-Med club, helped with on-campus events (three year champ of Mock-Rock), hosted my own KMNU TV show (what were they thinking?), was an avid sports enthusiast (I only missed one football game – home or away – in my four years, and didn’t miss a single home basketball game), and shadowed several physicians.

6. Anything else you want to tell us?

College is whatever you make of it. Take full advantage of the resources available – both socially and academically. Be prepared to work hard – and don’t take anything for granted.

7. In one sentence, what do you love about your school?

I love that it’s a place where a student is encouraged to focus on their studies, grow in their personal lives, and serve others in word and deed.

Caleb Pierce is a Tutor and the President at Get Smarter Prep.

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