Who We Are
Experts Exchanging Wisdom
Peak Prep was founded by 20-year veteran educator Charlie Kasov and is composed of a small collaborative team of elite tutors. We're not a large company where tutors just teach from a prep textbook, nor are we a solo practice where one voice dominates.
Through regular mentoring, peer-to-peer workshops, and collaborative curriculum refinement, we maintain the personalized approach of a boutique practice with the depth of a larger institution. Each tutor has hard-won insights: how to move a student stuck at 1460 to 1520 on the SAT, or how to turn things around for someone already soured on testing. If even one of those insights can accelerate another tutor's approach, we want to facilitate that exchange.
We Practice What We Teach
Our tutors regularly take the tests they teach. Every few months, we sit for full practice exams to stay sharp and connected to what students experience.
This isn't just professional development—it's how we maintain empathy for the pressure, fatigue, and other challenges our students face. We teach from the trenches, not from memory.
Adaptability Over Formula
Everyone knows no two students are the same. But here's what matters more: no two paths through school are the same. Life happens. Plans shift. A student who's been coasting can hit their stride. One who's been excelling can hit turbulence. If the initial approach or tutor match isn't working, we adjust.
We don't rely on rigid formulas because real progress requires meeting students where they are, not where we wish they were. Whatever hand they've been dealt, we help them play it well.
Meet Our Tutors
Charlie Kasov
Charlie has spent over two decades helping students master standardized tests and navigate the college admissions process. His methods draw on cognitive psychology research alongside his own unconventional techniques.
He holds a B.A. in English Literature from Skidmore College, where he also took Stanford's Language, Proof, and Logic course, which introduced him to how standardized test questions are constructed. He's been reverse-engineering these tests ever since.
Charlie currently lives with his wife and two vigorous toddlers in Upstate New York, where he founded Peak Prep and is building custom software tools to help students hone the specific skills standardized tests demand.
Jen D.
A perfect scorer on the GRE, SAT, and many other tests (but still a nice person!), Jen has helped over 2,000 students attain admission to universities, selective high schools, and graduate schools.
She is an author/contributor to numerous test prep books published by Manhattan Prep (now part of Kaplan) and designed Manhattan Prep's GRE curriculum.
An Ivy League graduate (B.A. Philosophy, Dartmouth College), she later obtained a Masters in Education with a focus on applied neuroscience for teaching and learning.
She loves meeting new people through coaching and watching them go on to great things!
Lindsy V.
Lindsy graduated valedictorian from her high school in Upstate New York and went on to earn her B.A. in Behavioral Biology from Boston University, where some of her favorite courses were graduate seminars she was invited to take as an undergrad, focused on the evolutionary link between the behavior of great apes and humans.
She first discovered her love of tutoring as the go-to math and physics helper among her high school friends. During the pandemic, Lindsy worked as a nanny for three elementary-school-age girls while they attended class on their computers. She saw firsthand how little they learned in a large virtual classroom, and how much they retained when she worked with them one-on-one.
Whether in-person or via Zoom, she deeply understands how individualized attention makes all the difference, and she enjoys tailoring lessons to accommodate each student's pace and learning style to build skills that actually stick.
Currently living in Cambridge, Mass., Lindsy loves cooking vegan cuisine with friends and volunteering as a client educator at local animal shelters and non-profit veterinary clinics, where she can combine her passions for biology, animal welfare, and teaching.
Nick A.
After graduating from Yale with a Bachelor's in History, Nick worked as an associate producer on Fareed Zakaria's documentary team at CNN, pitching and developing narrative scripts that brought historical insights to contemporary news issues and winning two Emmy Awards for Outstanding News and Analysis.
He discovered his love of teaching at the Early Scholars Learning Center, where he instructed middle schoolers in parliamentary debate and improvisational comedy. Helping students perform under pressure led him to standardized test prep, and at Peak Prep, his tutoring sessions are a thoughtful balance of rigor and fun.