ShmoopTube

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Hi there - I’m David Siminoff and I’m the founder of Shmoop.

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Every student who goes on to college after high school has a chance to carve out an exceptional

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life for himself. However, which college a student attends may

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go a long way to determining just how exceptional that life ultimately is. Graduate at the top

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of their class from a well-respected school and the sky’s the limit...

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Graduate from a bottom-rung university or community college...

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And the closest they may ever be to attaining the title of CEO is to become Chief Elevator

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Operator. How much does 10% extra effort matter?

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The unfortunate thing is that, in reality, there is a very fine line between greatness

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and mediocrity.

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It isn’t always the brightest kids who go to the top universities. Often, it is simply

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those who are willing to work harder and put in the time required to give themselves a

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leg up. So... what’s it gonna be, Pip?

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As someone who has already gone through the whole rigmarole, YOU know the importance of

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getting into a good college... but have you communicated that sense of importance to your

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students? If they fall short of their potential, is it going to be on your head?

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Is the prospect of going to college even something that is being encouraged by the parents of

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a given student? Everybody’s background is different – someone may be the first

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in their family with the opportunity to take that next step…

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Shmoop can help demonstrate to students how extra effort can equal a wealth of opportunities.

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If they understand how much better their life will be if they push hard to get into that

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dream school of theirs, maybe it won’t have to be such a dream after all.

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So… how can Shmoop help? We’re glad you asked. Shmoop isn’t just

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about pummeling your student with a barrage of study guides so they can scrape by on quizzes.

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We know that being prepared for college can help as much in the long run

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as being prepared for the real world itself. We offer PSAT prep,

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because everybody loves a national merit scholar. Not all students realize that this bad boy

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isn’t just practice for the SAT – there are plenty of sweet scholarships that can

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be nabbed by scoring through the roof on the PSAT.

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Earning scholarships can lessen the financial burden for them and their families, as well

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as make them appear much more attractive to colleges who are seeking the best and brightest.

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Then there is test prep for the SAT - or ACT prep for those of you also want to

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show off your mad science skills - so that college admissions offices will have

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the pants impressed off them when they see how your students’ scored.

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Aside from being able to show off some really big numbers,

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they can demonstrate to prospective colleges their willingness to study, which is sometimes

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more important to them than someone having a naturally brilliant noodle.

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These standardized tests assess more than just the ability to memorize facts.

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They can also tell a lot about a test-taker’s versatility, analytical skills and writing

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style. Shmoop offers extensive AP Exam prep

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so your students can start racking up college credit early.

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Taking APs is a must if they have any designs on attending an Ivy League school like Harvard.

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A top school will want to see that an incoming student has taken just about every AP under

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the sun – probably even Studio Art. On Shmoop, a student has access to topic reviews,

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practice drills and exams, test-taking tips and step-by-step guides.

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By the time they’ve gotten their fill of all the material on the site, AP might as

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well stand for Absolutely Perfect. And of course we at Shmoop recognize that

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we are now in a digital world, and there’s no turning back.

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So we offer Digital Literacy tools that will teach students to do more than just tweet,

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update their Facebook status and pin their favorite new mac n’ cheese

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recipe on Pinterest. They will learn how to protect their information,

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how to properly cite sources when writing a paper, and how to evaluate a website.

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We don’t currently offer a guide on how to hack into national security systems, but

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it may be coming in a future version. Your students want to do more than just eke

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their way into college. They want to be equipped with the tools

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to tear it up once they get there. The demands of the world have changed, and

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it’s up to you to hand your students the new playbook.

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