Ivy Insiders: Test Prep Done Right

Many a college student will often daydream about starting their own SAT test-prep or college admissions consulting service. But, for recent Harvard grad Nick Green, what might have been a daydream once is today a nationwide business, which is growing exponentially and giving the big guns like Kaplan and Princeton Review a serious run for their money. Green's company, Ivy Insiders, is not even five years old (founded in 2003 when Green was still in high school), but it already boasts a presence in 25 states, with a total of 60 branches planned for this summer, up from 15 in 2006. As if doubling in size each year for the past two years were not enough of an achievement, the Ivy Insiders program also leads the industry in SAT score improvement (~300 points), handily outpacing both Kaplan and Princeton Review. The company accomplishes this through an extensive proprietary program that Green developed himself, using a unique "SAT Game Theory" approach that

sets the curriculum apart from its competitors in terms of throughness and impact. Not to mention the fact that Green leverages perhaps the best SAT training resource available, the students who just recently aced the exam. Green's basic model has been to recruit students at Ivy League universities as "Branch Managers," who return to their hometowns during the summer and start an essentially independent branch of the Ivy Insiders program. For them, it's a chance to live at home, get entrepreneurial and make some serious summer money, and Ivy Leaguers have jumped at the opportunity. In addition to this franchise-like infrastructure, Green has also launched an online test prep program, through which high schoolers can receive tutoring the whole year round from Ivy League college students via webcam. With this new online model in place, the possibilities for growth are endless for Ivy Insiders-- especially with the number of international students itching to ace the SATs and get into the Ivies. Only time will tell how far the company will go, and if it will be able to meet the scaling challenges it faces.