SAT Instructor Profiles

Veritas Prep SAT 2400 Instructors

Veritas Prep SAT 2400 instructors are accomplished, intelligent, and have a proven track record of teaching as well as an innate desire to help others. Unlike most other test prep companies, each Veritas Prep instructor must have minimally scored in the top 1% of all test-takers on tests they teach. Additionally, Veritas Prep pays its instructors twice as much as major competitors. The result is that Veritas Prep has the finest faculty available to help you succeed on the SAT.

Danielle Kipnis - Northwestern, 99th percentile SAT

Danielle Kipnis is a native New Yorker currently living in Miami. From a young age she has had a voracious love for learning and teaching. She attended Northwestern University where she majored in English and Dance and graduated summa cum laude. While in school, she completed a senior honors thesis with a focus on the role of women in three Shakespeare plays. Additionally, she studied English and Theatre abroad in London for a semester. At Northwestern, she founded the dance company, Steam Heat, for which she performed, choreographed and produced several shows a year. Danielle continues to dance, choreograph and satiate her love for teaching through both private and classroom based academic tutoring and SAT prep.

Amanda Vu - USC, 99th percentile SAT

Since high school, a passion to possess knowledge and the desire to share it with others has sparked Amanda’s interest in studying the human brain. Currently studying Neuroscience at the University of Southern California, this SoCal native still aspires to unlock the secrets to the mind’s potential through cognitive neuroscience research. In the meantime, Amanda enjoys interacting with brains through teaching and developing science curriculum as a lab instructor at elementary schools in the Los Angeles area. In addition, Amanda uses the world as her classroom when teaching or studying, and has travelled to India, Italy, and Japan to achieve those ends. Amanda loves to be a pioneer, and her evolving passions have led her to create many enterprises, such as producing an annually held charity fashion show and establishing a service organization for youth in her community. Amanda has successfully competed for over $200,000 in scholarships and awards, which include earning the distinction of Coca Cola Scholar and receiving a full scholarship to USC. A perfect weekend for Amanda would include hiking, DIY-ing, baking, and turning the pages of the epic A Song of Fire and Ice series.

Clarissa Towle - MIT, 99th percentile SAT

Born in New England and raised in New Jersey, Clarissa has returned to her home state to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she is pursuing a double major in Chemical Engineering and Spanish Language and Literature. As a National Merit Finalist and AP Scholar, Clarissa tutored throughout high school through the National and Spanish Honor Societies, and served two years each as the President of the Environmental Society and the Chief Editor of the yearbook. Clarissa has been involved with Girl Scouts since age 5, volunteering hundreds of hours, mentoring younger scouts, and earning her Gold Award at age 16. She then started a job at the YMCA as a lifeguard and swim instructor, and taught health workshops for high school freshmen during her junior and senior year. Fascinated by languages, Clarissa traveled through Perú with fellow Spanish students, and she spent a month in Costa Rica, living with a host family and volunteering at a wildlife rescue center, where she gave tours and helped to care for the animals. She loves to travel, ski, waterski, hike, read, and root for the Red Sox. Clarissa is absolutely psyched to empower her students to excel in the academic world.

Terry Ding - Harvard, perfect 2400 SAT

Terry was born in Boston, but attended kindergarten in Beijing, elementary school in Australia, and high school in Hong Kong, before finally coming full circle to return to Boston to matriculate to Harvard University. From an early age, he developed a deep love of mathematics, logic, and problem solving, and this passion culminated in a B.A. in Applied Mathematics and Economics in 2011. He discovered the joys of teaching while working as a tutor in high school, and has been sharing his love for many different academic fields with students ever since. He won awards for his work as a Calculus teaching assistant with the Harvard Math Department during college, and since graduation has been working as a high school math teacher in Chicago. In this, capacity he has led his students to a level of ACT score improvement unprecedented in the school’s history. At Veritas Prep, Terry helps students conquer the SAT in order to open up any and all doors leading to future success.

Millin Sekhon - U. of Miami, perfect 2400 SAT

Millin was born and raised in Tampa, FL, where she matriculated from high school with a 4.0 GPA and a 2400 SAT score. She was a National Merit finalist and a Presidential Scholars candidate, as well as a member of the English Honor Society, Cum Laude, and National Honor Society. Currently, she attends the Honors Accelerated Medical Program at University of Miami under a full scholarship. This prestigious program enables students to combine their fourth year of undergraduate studies and their first year of medical school, completing both BS and MD degrees in 7 years. Millin has traveled all over the world, from Africa to Europe to India, and has learned about many different cultures along the way. And because her father’s side of the family resides in India, she has spent a lot of time there, including several months of her elementary school education and, in her teenage years, weeks observing medical procedures and treatments. Aside from travelling, Millin has a strong passion for creating award-winning art - particularly oil and acrylic paintings - and for English literature and poetry. In addition, she has a keen interest in pediatrics and in tutoring young children. Lastly, she greatly enjoys helping her fellow students with the academic subjects that she has mastered after years of perfecting her study habits and learning strategies.

Courtney Tran - UC Berkeley, 99th percentile SAT

A Texas native raised in California, Courtney attends the University of California at Berkeley on a full scholarship to study Political Economy and Rhetoric. In high school, she was named a National Merit Finalist and National AP Scholar, represented her district two years in a row in Public Forum Debate at the National Forensics League National Tournament, and was active in local politics, speaking against budget cuts and closings of Oakland Public Libraries. Her love of teaching was born in volunteer work: assisting her piano teacher, reading English and Spanish books to children at her local library, and offering academic tutoring at her high school. That interest soon evolved into privately teaching classical piano, and spending a summer in an English-Chinese language immersion program in China, where she taught English and music courses.
Outside school and teaching, Courtney has earned music diplomas from the American College of Musicians and a brown belt in Bok-Fu, and composes music for the Linden Street Dance Company. Courtney enjoys ballroom dancing, Japanese food, playing guitar and alto saxophone, reading Calvin and Hobbes comics and the New York Times, and attending poetry slams.

Michelle Nguyen - Harvard, 99th percentile SAT

Born and raised in San Jose, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley, Michelle was named a National Merit Finalist and National AP scholar in high school and performed extensively as part of a chamber choir, symphonic band, and competitive color guard team. Michelle traversed several continents as an undergraduate before landing in Boston. Fascinated by other languages and cultures, Michelle studied Japanese and anthropology in her first year, Spanish and Vietnamese during a semester spent backpacking through Central America and Vietnam, and French at the University of Paris IV - La Sorbonne through an independent program. She fell in love with the city and decided to stay another year to become fluent in French, teaching English and modeling for an art and design school while also taking courses in the social sciences, which piqued her interest in entering a helping profession.
Michelle is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Harvard with an interest in becoming a clinical social worker. A member of the Harvard Mediation Program, she mediates small-claims at the Malden District Court and volunteers as a research assistant with the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights. She also enjoys dancing Argentine tango, performing with the Harvard Radcliffe Modern Dance Company, and attending cultural events of all kinds.

Alyssa Ehrlich - Columbia, 99th percentile SAT

Born and raised on Long Island, Alyssa made the not-so-big move to Manhattan for her undergraduate studies. A rising junior studying Neuroscience and Philosophy at Columbia University, she plans to attend medical school and pursue a surgical career. In high school, Alyssa was recognized as a National Merit Scholar and Intel Semi-Finalist, and graduated Valedictorian. She currently acts as the co-chair of the Bioethics Committee of Columbia’s American Medical Students Association, writes and reviews for the Science Review, and as a volunteer for Student Health Outreach, helps connect underserved communities to government health care benefits and nutrition resources. While most of her present extracurricular activities reflect her interest in medicine, Alyssa has also found a passion for teaching and tutoring. Alyssa has worked one-on-one with students throughout the city to help them reach their individual standardized testing goals. In her spare time, Alyssa enjoys exploring the city and its many parks, as well as partaking in a few hobbies, including yoga, acoustic guitar, origami, and crossword puzzles.

Dheeraj Ravi - Swarthmore, 99th percentile SAT

Dheeraj received a wonderful international education, growing up in India, Romania, Russia, and Singapore. He first came to the US to study at Swarthmore College. He actively participated in many cultural clubs, played on the Mens’ Volleyball Team, hosted his own radio show, directed short films, and contacted bands to come rock out at Swarthmore! His first experiences with education involved volunteering as an after-school helper at a low-income middle school in Chester, PA and working with gifted students at Johns Hopkins CTY summer program as a Resident and Teaching Assistant. These endeavors helped Dheeraj decide on his first job as a high school math teacher in Philadelphia. His math background now serves him well at his current job as a business analyst. He thoroughly dedicates himself to tutoring students during weeknights and weekends.
When he’s not educating the future CEOs of the world, Dheeraj loves to read, especially Russian literature and creative non-fiction psychology and economics. He is an avid follower of films, and particularly likes Asian thrillers and European art-house flicks. Sports has been a constant throughout his life where he captained his high school basketball and soccer teams, and now plays competitively in New York Leagues

David Greenslade - UNC, 99th percentile SAT

David Greenslade hails from the great state of North Carolina where the tea is sweet, and the people are sweeter. David’s interest in teaching began while tutoring underrepresented populations during his time at the University of North Carolina. It was here where he fell in love with teaching and realized the transformative impact of caring and knowledgeable guidance for those who want to achieve at the highest level. David continued working with diverse groups of people when he traveled to Spain during his senior year and was part of an organization that facilitated language exchange classes between foreign and native Spanish students. After receiving a degree in Biology, David’s continued desire to learn and teach in new and exciting contexts was rewarded with a fellowship through Princeton in Asia to teach English and study Mandarin at the Dalian University of Technology in Dong Bei, China.
When David is not translating signs in Chinatown for his own amusement, he is involved with Improv comedy and acting for the stage which has taken him all over the country as a performer and a teacher. David has won numerous honors for his regional work in North Carolina and was featured in the DSI Comedy Festival, the Del Close Marathon, the Implosion Comedy festival and is currently the three on three champion at the UCB theater’s Friday Night Improv Challenge. David loves his family as well as dogs, and if you put them together, he is in heaven.

Terry Kim - UC San Diego, 99th percentile SAT

Born in Delaware and having spent most of his years in California, Terry Kim is a recent graduate from University of California, San Diego of bioengineering major. Currently, as a lead author in papers focusing on various muscle diseases waiting to be published in prestigious scientific journals such as New England Journal of Medicine and Nature, he specializes in studies of skeletal muscle and their major myopathies. Speaker and presenter at various noteworthy conferences such as Great Lakes Bioinformatics Conference 2012, he has extensive research experience working in labs across America, abroad in Seoul National University of Science and Technology, and in biotech companies such as Biological Dynamics. During high school, he not only placed in the 99th percentile on the SAT and scored perfect 800s on three different SAT subject tests, but was also a founding member of organizations such as Math Olympiad and an active researcher at pathology department of UC Irvine. With unmatched passion for biomedical science and dream of eventually starting a biotech company of his own, he has gained vast experience as a TA and tutor during his college years.

Alice Rothman-Hicks - Columbia, 99th percentile SAT

Alice Rothman-Hicks is a native New Yorker and a chronic overachiever. As the top student in her high school class, she unofficially tutored most of her classmates at one point or another, in virtually every subject. Since graduating from Columbia a little over a year ago (Magna Cum Laude, with English Departmental honors, and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa), she has been teaching and tutoring test prep for many different companies, helping students achieve their own academic successes in (hopefully) as painless of a way as possible. Theater is Alice’s lifeblood, and when she’s not tutoring (or preparing for tutoring sessions), she is probably acting, singing or dancing somewhere around NYC. Occasionally, she might be found at home reading or baking random batches of cookies with ridiculous amounts of chocolate chips in them. Alice is super excited to help students achieve their dreams by attaining higher test scores!

Christina Pushaw - USC, 99th percentile SAT

Born in Seattle and raised all over the United States (Dad took visiting professorships at several colleges), Christina is a USC graduate and lifelong Trojan football fan. In high school, she earned National Merit Finalist distinction and was the editor of the Literary Magazine. While studying History and Russian language at USC on a full scholarship, Christina was the president and co-founder of the USC Russian Club and on the executive board of the Armenian Students Association. While tutoring for JEP, a tutoring program for inner-city students, and helping classmates with college applications, Christina discovered a passion for teaching and helping others realize their academic dreams. In her free time, Christina enjoys reading, writing, spending time with friends and family, and traveling - she even studied abroad in Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, her favorite thing to do is explore her adopted hometown of Los Angeles, especially the diverse cuisines. An avid “foodie,” Christina loves eating (and Yelp-ing about) sushi, Korean barbecue, anything Middle Eastern, and Ethiopian food. She also enjoys being active, whether she is swimming, hiking, figure skating, or practicing yoga.

Akila Kadambi - UC San Diego, 99th percentile SAT

Born and brought up in California, Akila is a California native who will never leave! Currently, Akila is a student at the University of California, San Diego pursuing a degree in Cognitive Science with an emphasis in neuroscience/computing and a minor in marine science. She loves getting involved with a variety of service organizations in college, loves to garden, and most of all, loves teaching! Akila has worked with kids from a variety of different ages, and loves to share her strategies to do well on the SAT with other students. Akila is excited to be working for the best test prep company ever, (Veritas Prep!!!), and to be helping her students succeed!

James Ma - Purdue/UT Austin, 99th percentile SAT

Hailing from Carmel, IN, James was an AP National Scholar and a member of National Honor Society in high school. He then went on to attend Purdue University and majored in economics and philosophy, and minored in math and political science. During his four years at Purdue, he was involved in a variety of roles on campus, including serving as a member of the Directors’ Advisory Board for the Honors Program, being VP of Technology for the School of Management Ambassadors, and holding a teaching assistantship in the economics department. During summers, he interned with Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy in Washington, DC and OneAmerica in Indianapolis, IN. As a junior, James was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated with distinction and honors, and was awarded Outstanding Senior in Economics, Outstanding Senior in Philosophy, and the Alan C Hess Award for Excellence in Economics.
James is now pursuing a PhD in economics at The University of Texas at Austin. In addition to his responsibilities as a student and a teaching assistant, James tutors students who are in a variety of courses. In his free time, James enjoys camping, playing board games, and watching cerebral movies.

Timothy Smartt - UT Austin, 99th percentile SAT

Born and bred in Australia, Tim moved to Houston during his sophomore year of high school. While participating in debate and studying hard for college placement tests, he spent numerous hours immersing himself in everything great that Texas has to offer, including perpetually amazing weather, Tex-Mex and barbecue. After graduation from high school, he started pursuing a degree in Economics and Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. In Austin, Tim has expanded his previously mentioned list of favorite food items by adding cupcakes from food trailers and tacos from Austin restaurants. He has been active in research, volunteering as a research assistant at a few psychology laboratories, serving as Editor-in-Chief of his university’s undergraduate research journal and writing a thesis for his university’s psychology honors program. At this time, Tim is especially sympathetic to those studying for standardized tests, as he is presently studying for the LSAT, and hopes to enter law school after graduation.

Jeff Ostrove - University of Washington, 99th percentile SAT

Jeff Ostrove was born in Seattle and liked it so much he attended the University of Washington, from which he recently graduated Phi Beta Kappa with departmental honors in political science. He was first exposed to teaching through musical theater, but during college he realized he loved teaching academic subjects as well. Since graduating he has turned his energies towards test preparation, and is very excited to have the opportunity to help students beat the SAT with Veritas Prep. When not helping find the credited response, Jeff plays piano and designs board games. He is happy whenever he’s problem solving, and he is delighted to help students solve the SAT.