EBHS graduate wants to help others get to Ivy
U. Penn. student launches chapter of test prep service
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

Pierce Goldsmith

EAST BRUNSWICK — Pierce Goldsmith entered an Ivy League university last fall, and this summer he wants to help other students raise their SAT scores so they too can get into the school of their choice.

The University of Pennsylvania student is launching the East Brunswick branch of Ivy Insiders, which he said is an innovative SAT prep program started by undergraduates at Harvard in 2003. The program has since grown into a national leader in student test preparation.

Goldsmith graduated from East Brunswick High School in 2008 with a 4.0 GPA. While in high school he received a 2310 on the SAT, with 800 in math, 770 in writing, and 740 in critical reading. He said he received an 800 on the SAT II in Math Level 2, and perfect 5's on six AP exams. While in high school, he was a tutor for the Mu Alpha Theta Mathematics Honors Society, an AP Scholar with Distinction, and president of his school's Psychology Club.

When asked about his own experience with prepping for the SATs, Goldsmith replied that he took a class, but felt that the material being taught fell short of helping him solve the hardest problems.

"After the class ended, I began studying on my own and taking a lot of practice exams, which really helped me to learn the tricks of the SAT," he said.

Goldsmith is starting up, managing and tutoring for the East Brunswick branch of Ivy Insiders. Although his test prep classes do not start until July 6, he said last week that he already had almost 100 interested students in his Ivy Insiders Facebook group for the new branch. The program costs $699.

Goldsmith cited a number of advantages that he believes Ivy Insiders holds over other test prep companies.

"Ivy Insiders has unmatched results, with an average SAT score improvement of 264 points for over 3,000 students. It also has top instructors," Goldsmith said. The average Ivy Insiders instructor scored a 2250 on the SAT, placing them in the top 1 percent in the nation, Goldsmith said.

"There is a huge difference in understanding on an SAT section between someone who scores a 650 and someone who scores a 750," Goldsmith said of the caliber of instructors. Because the average age of the teaching staff is 20, and there is an average of eight students per class, the instructors are close to both the test and the students, he said.

The program, he said, teaches an approach that makes the SAT into a game, dividing the material into functional content areas and providing the students with strategies and techniques to beat it. Students, he said, then view the SAT test as an organized and beatable game.

Goldsmith's own career goal is to become a surgeon. For his interdisciplinary major, Biological Basis of Behavior, students explore the relationship between behavior, both human and animal, and its organic bases. Goldsmith is minoring in Hispanic Studies. He also coordinates the Sinai Scholars program, tutors underprivileged children, gives campus tours, and is a Peer Helping Incoming New Students at Penn.

For more information, contact Goldsmith at pierce_goldsmith@ivyinsiders.com or visit the website at www.ivyinsiders.com.