Top MCAT Teacher
In addition to my private tutoring business, I taught the organic chemistry section of the MCAT for The Princeton Review for 10 years (and trained new instructors for over 5 years). In October of 2012, I was recognized as a "top teacher in the Eastern Region".
Here is the text taken from the company newsletter:
Top Teacher
In every newsletter we highlight THREE Top Teachers, from the Eastern Region, the Western Region, and the Midwest/Canadian Region.
Offices send in their nominations, and the Top Teachers are chosen from among those. To even be nominated is an honor, as these are teachers who go above and beyond the call of duty to take care of their students and their offices.
The October 2012 Top Teachers (winners of a $20 Starbucks card, a certificate, and a hearty virtual handshake) are..... (drum roll....):
East: Eddie Schiffman, Boston office
Eddie teaches and trains MCAT O-Chem and has been working for the company for over 7 years. He is a member of the MCAT OChem Development team, working to produce the top notch content we see in our MCAT course. Eddie's students say:
Eddie's office says "He is very focused on students; they frequently rave about how Eddie is one of the best teachers they have ever had. Students specifically request to be in his class. He takes ownership/accountability for his courses, entering attendance on time and is always at the top of his game. He has excellent communication skills, and makes sure to have his student rosters way ahead of time so that he can begin to contact the students who are enrolled. He gets his eTime in on time every week and is not afraid to ask how to code something if he is unsure. Eddie is a joy to work with and a pleasure to have in the Boston market."
Great job, Eddie!
(This was an email written by a student who attended one of my Princeton Review MCAT preparation courses.)
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2005 11:03 AM
To: Dave H. [my then-boss at The Princeton Review]
Subject: Praise for Eddie
Hi Dave,
I just want to express how impressed I am with Eddie, the O chem teacher for the Newton class.
I am usually in the Harvard Sq. class but had to make up the first O Chem class in Newton with Eddie. We did not have time to finish three ICC passages in class and Eddie told the class he would discuss them in the next lecture. After class, I asked if I could email him with any questions I had about those passages because I wouldn't be there for the next class and he agreed. However, he went above and beyond by taking the initiative to email me first to ask if I wanted to set up a time to go over the passages because he wanted to be sure I got the full analysis of the questions. I agreed to this and I gave him a call on the Sunday evening before July 4th.
Eddie made me explain my thought process as I went through each answer choice and he took the time to explain each question to me, correcting me if I was on the wrong track and helping me grasp the larger concepts implied by each question. I would say he spent well over an hour with me on the phone.
Not only did our phone session give me a much needed deadline to get work done on that holiday weekend, his personalized attention and extreme competence in teaching helped to jumpstart my review of O Chem... and I wasn't even in his class! I just can't tell you what a difference it makes in this rather stressful process to encounter someone who is inspired to teach, can teach well, and expresses an interest the individual needs of his students.
Sincerely,
Megan W.
Megan W.
Student in my Princeton Review MCAT prep class