John Brown

John Brown is an educator dedicated to helping students find and nurture their intellectual strengths. He does this by fostering academic growth and providing specific tools to help students achieve their goals.

For test prep, John believes that full-length practice in test-like conditions and continuous improvement based on targeted feedback are the keys to high achievement. He approaches test prep like a coach training an athlete for a race. You need the fundamental skills and strategies being tested, the strength and endurance to maintain top performance throughout, and the mental fortitude to stay focused.

More generally, John believes that the first step to intellectual discovery is to re-integrate and refresh content and skill areas that students have learned already while filling gaps in knowledge in areas that are new. Then it is a matter of building the confidence and curiosity necessary to explore areas more deeply.  

In addition to working on test prep and college consulting, John has in recent years expanded his tutoring practice to include graduate school preparation for the LSAT, GRE, and GMAT.

John has 11 years of experience tutoring STEM and humanities in many settings and with many kinds of students, from university and community college to middle and high school. Currently he is a full time math teacher with Chicago Public Schools, teaching Algebra II and Dual Credit Precalculus.

The basis of his teaching and tutoring is a deep and comprehensive content knowledge and intrinsic love of learning. John holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University, a Masters of Arts in Teaching, and bachelor’s degrees in Math and English from Indiana University.

John knows what it takes to reach the highest level of excellence on standardized tests and successful college and scholarship applications. He personally obtained perfect scores on the first attempt on the ACT composite, SAT Math, SAT English and GRE General Math. He won major scholarships and fellowships, such as National Merit Scholarship, Herman B Wells Scholarship (full-ride to Indiana University), Gates Cambridge Scholarship, and the Knowles Teaching fellowship.