A One-Day Bootcamp for Regents, SAT and AP Test Prep

(Submitted by Michael Birnbaum of Regents Review)

Regents Review is a test prep company that has been preparing students for New York State Regents Exams since 1976. What started out as a basement cram session with a teacher and some students over 40 years ago has now emerged into New York’s leading one-day bootcamp review for not only Regents Exams, but for Advanced Placement Exams and SAT/ACT Exams. We are family-owned and our story is unique. Our father, now a retired teacher, was known as the best math tutor around. During the spring Regents exam season, he would receive such a high demand from his students that he could not find the time to provide individual tutoring to each of them. So, instead, he developed a six-hour course where he reviewed the entire curriculum in one day. Initially, he held these classes in our basement. The kids loved it! He then hired the best teachers he knew to teach other subjects and the program grew from there. The program remained solely on Staten Island, where we grew up, until 2000. Then, we expanded the program and now offer classes in Westchester (Purchase College), Long Island (Adelphi University), and Rockland County (St. Thomas Aquinas College). In addition to our in-person offerings, we also offer an online option for many of our classes.

In our sessions, we review the entire curriculum in one day. We provide students study material on the morning of each class – this is great because they don’t have to go out and buy any additional books. We then use this material as we go over everything in a topic-by-topic format. A topic is reviewed and then the students are assigned a few exam-type questions that pertain to the topic. We then go over questions and explain why the correct answers are correct and why the incorrect answers are wrong. During the session the teachers will also give test-taking tricks and techniques. Every hour the students get a 5 - 10 minute break - this is very important as they need to rest, use the bathroom, or just stretch out and get ready for the next hour. The students also get a break for lunch, generally between 12:00 – 1:00. These classes are intense but they are very effective. Many students tell us how much more confident they are after they take our classes. At the end of the day the students will take home the material they worked on and they can continue to study with it before their exam.

Over the years, the exams have evolved. As the exams change, we coordinate our materials to align them with the updated curricula. It keeps us on our toes! Regardless, every year we have different teachers evaluate our material and we constantly update the material as needed. For example, this year, there are new Regents exams in Geometry, Biology, and Earth & Space Sciences. Our materials have been updated to reflect those changes, and our teachers are well-versed in the new exam format.

One typical challenge that many students face is that the test covers an entire year’s worth of material. Most kids don’t remember topics that they learned in September or October. This usually causes stress as they don’t know where to begin. Our instructors take that stress away and teach them everything that they need to know. The teachers will advise them on certain facts that they should put to memory because they are included on the exams every year. The instructors will also emphasize which topics require slightly less focus because they are seldom included on an exam.

We have been in business over 40 years and we have been growing every year. We are the original company to offer a one-day test-prep. We do our best to find the most enthusiastic instructors who are passionate about the topic they are teaching. In our experience, students generally enjoy our classes and want to attend for multiple subjects. It’s not uncommon for parents to call us and say that their children learned more in one day with us than they did in class all year.

Recently, a parent called explaining that her son, whose grades were good all year, was suffering from anxiety because of an upcoming exam. This particular student had trouble remembering subject topics he had learned in September and October and a few others along the way. After taking our one-day class, the mother contacted us to let us know that her son was feeling confident and that he received a 98 on the particular exam. Not only was his grade a success, but even more importantly, he lowered his test anxiety and restored his confidence, the greatest success of all.

Customers can register at RegentsReview.com – or by phone at 877-339-5970.