Personal Statement

Since 2011, Ned's principal occupation has been tutoring and college counseling Chinese or expatriate students who intend to study abroad. Special attention is given to application essays and extracurricular or research activities. His students have been accepted to Harvard, Cornell, Stanford, PENN, Duke, U of Chicago, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, NYU and dozens of other Top 100 schools in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. His primary teaching/tutoring experience was in China, in the -- wickedly demanding -- International Baccalaureate Organization Diploma Programme (IBDP): he taught IBDP Economics HL and SL formally, in the classroom, for six years, Theory of Knowledge for two years, and has tutored the same ever since, along with IBDP English HL and SL. Of course, Ned tutored non-IBDP English; e.g., ESL, as well as TOEFL and SAT prep. Two students he tutored went from the lowest quintile of English class to #1. Several factors differentiate Ned’s approach to teaching English, Literature, and exam prep. One: Ned has studied six languages; Latin and Spanish in high school, then French and German in college. During Peace Corps service in Ghana, West Africa he studied Dangbe Krobo. When he lived in China Ned studied Mandarin. Thus, Ned has a deep understanding of language, of what professors of Linguistics call syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Two: Ned invented a now-proven strategy for maximizing exam scores on written exam responses of any type. The same strategy enables students to earn the highest scores they can on their required essays. He would be glad to teach this strategy to you. Three: He does not own a TV. Instead, he reads voraciously: science, current affairs, novels, news, history, science fiction, and professional journals like Nature. Ned’s favorite magazines are National Geographic and Scientific American. Four: For over 30 years Ned has been a professional writer, editor, and journalist. You can go online to find a few of Ned’s published works; others predate the web but not the internet. He used the original DARPAnet 40 years ago when he worked as an editor in the Astrophysics department at MIT. During all those years, The Chicago Manual of Style has been Ned’s bible for all issues related to writing, editing, and publishing. He recommends you read it; it's only 1,200 pages. Then you won't need him. In 2010 Ned was voted 'Most Fun Teacher' by his students at Shanghai Pinghe School. That was the same year he was awarded a Best Foreign Teacher Award by the school because his IBO students kept scoring well above the international average. So! Tell Ned a joke when you first meet; he will appreciate your sense of humor. He wants you to remember this: Audaces fortuna juvat. Fortune celebrates the brave.

Education

Subjects

Awards and Recognitions

Testimonials