I attended Edvanced Academy from the summer after my sophomore year to the end of my senior year. I…read morehave nothing but praise for this outstanding institution. Before coming to Edvanced, I went to both Harvard Square and Alpha Academy. Both were good places with the same goals, but it was their methods that fell short. I am a student that needs a small and intellectually stimulating environment in order to flourish. While Harvard Square's curriculum was challenging and the teachers knew what they were doing, I was deprived of individualized attention with their cramped classes. Additionally, I was constantly surrounded by students who clearly did not enjoy being there, not that I blamed them. How many teenagers can truly say they love going to SAT and tutoring classes ? On the other hand, Alpha Academy provided smaller classes and an charismatic and fun director that easily made you feel comfortable and at home. The problem here was that in an effort to make us enjoy being there, with constant jokes and stories that often took up more than half of class time, I did not improve. I did not dread going to Alpha Academy, rather I looked forward to the lax, light environment and realized that this was wrong.
Edvanced Academy is the perfect balance of everything that a student needs to prosper in not only their standardized testing, but schoolwork as well. The work is challenging, the teachers have high expectations of you, and you might feel overwhelmed sometimes, but these masters of their subjects will do anything to help you conquer your academic fears even if it means extra classes, private help, and out of class texts, emails, or facebook messages. I am not an outstanding student. I do not excel at math, science, or really any particular subject. I entered Edvanced Academy with about a 1700 average SAT score, and left with a 2090. Inspired by the balance of charm and rigor of writing and essay teachers Roi and Sara, I earned an 800 in the writing section and an 11 on the essay. Every single one of their instructors has a gift of connecting with their students; they are loved by all, but with this they also have the ability to train, shape, and work you until you've done the absolute best you can do. Edvanced has done for me what no one institution has ever done, and that is help me to raise my expectations of myself, to realize that through grueling hard work and practice you can make yourself proud of your own work. Thank you Tommy and teachers, I would not have been accepted to my dream school without you.
