Why Start Worthington Prep?
Hi. My name is Varun Bhatia. I am passionate about learning and helping young children reach their potential.
Three years ago, I started teaching SAT Math at the Ohio Contemporary Chinese School (OCCS). I wasn’t searching for a SAT teaching position but the school’s principal, who I know professionally, reached out to me about the position. I was excited at the opportunity! I thought my experience in taking standardized tests could be of help to students.
It turns out that I loved teaching so much (and still do) that I decided to start Worthington Prep!
After my first year at the school, a couple parents reached out to me to do 1-on-1 tutoring for their child. I was honored that they thought highly enough of me as a SAT Math Teacher to want to prep their child. At the time I wasn’t ready to take on the responsibility so I had to turn down the request. We had a newborn at home and, as a new dad, I wanted to just focus on my new joy!
As my second year at OCCS kicked off, I started preparing for Worthington Prep. I spent a lot of time on working through SAT Reading and Writing. I also spent a lot of additional time categorizing math questions, reading a bunch of SAT books, creating a SAT comprehensive curriculum and documenting best practices for tutoring. I also refreshed my memory on the research of taking tests. It’s something I was very familiar with from my time co-founding Knowmedge, a medical exam prep website.
Lastly, I started researching other companies around Columbus, OH to understand how / if I could differentiate myself. Couple things really stood out to me:
Some tutoring companies don’t have a curriculum. They simply charge by the hour.
Some companies do have a curriculum but the course is typically no more than 32 hours, of which 8 hours is test-taking. This means they can only cover a topic once, at most, and then just move on. The onus is on the student to make sure they retain what was covered.
Costs as high as $180/hour
Tutors focus on teaching rather than helping students retain the information.
Once the course / tutoring hour is complete, there’s no additional support.
I decided I wanted to do it differently:
Reasonable price that could be affordable to more people
A detailed curriculum with time dedicated to cover each concept multiple times
“After hours” WhatsApp tutoring / support to make sure students retain what they learn.
A whatever it takes approach because it’s not about numbers. It’s about the success of each student I interact with.
Scope of discussion to be flexible. If students need some guidance on college admissions or applications, then we’ll talk through that.
As I begin this tutoring journey, I know that I can help your child succeed because I know the SAT, I know how to take standardized tests, and, most importantly, I care. I also know that tutoring in general can be better than it is. I intended to do my part.
If you have a child that’s interested in SAT prep, feel free to text me at (614) 603-7227.