College Admissions Counseling

Laura Nicolae graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, where she earned a B.A. with Highest Honors in Applied Mathematics and Economics and won several awards for her senior thesis. She is currently a Ph.D. student in Economics at Harvard University and Harvard Business School, and she previously worked as an economist on Wall Street. In high school, she scored in the 99^th percentile on the ACT and SAT composites and scored a 5 on 14 AP exams, including Calculus AB and BC, Statistics, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Spanish.

Kelvin Leung, who received a perfect score on the math section and near-perfect score on the verbal section of the SAT, equips students with the skills to improvise, adapt, and overcome. His goal is not just to arm his students with multiple skills to tackle problems, but also to help them cultivate the intellectual creativity and positive attitude that will allow them to succeed on test day. Kelvin has seen firsthand the shortcomings of the canned materials and impersonality of the large test prep companies. His own pedagogy, on the other hand, aligns perfectly with the focus on innovation and student-centered education that Zoffness College Prep offers. Kelvin Leung is a Captain in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, where he currently serves as a High Mobility Artillery Rockets Systems (HIMARS) Platoon Commander. His experiences beyond test prep allow him to offer his students unique insights into the kinds of habits and preparation required to perform well under pressure. He holds a Bachelors of Science degree in General Biology at Stony Brook University, and is currently pursuing a degree in Respiratory Care Therapy.

Andrea Coady graduated with honors from Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. where she received a B.S. in Mathematics and a M.S. in Mathematics Education. She holds New York State teaching certifications in Secondary Mathematics, Mathematics for Students with Disabilities, Generalist for Students with Disabilities, and Teaching English to Students of Other Languages. She has seven years of experience teaching high school mathematics and special education in New York City and Westchester County. In addition to teaching a variety of regents level mathematics courses, Andrea has experience working individually and with small groups of students to increase their mathematics scores on the ACT and SAT for the past eight years. She has helped students of various levels of ability to improve their study skills, learn test taking strategies, and equip them with the confidence needed to achieve success on standardized exams.

Daniel Riseman is a New York State certified teacher (grades 7-12) in Math, English Language Arts, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics, and Social Studies and has an Advanced Certificate in Special Education. For the past 20 years, Daniel has been customizing lessons to prepare students for the SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests, ISEE, SSAT, and TACHS. As a member of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, Daniel assists students with every step of the college admissions process. He has helped students get admitted into MIT, Harvard, Princeton, University of Chicago, Dartmouth, and University of Pennsylvania, among many others. He also helps college students with the transfer process and graduate school admissions. Daniel has served as a featured education writer and contributor for Psychology Today, The Fiscal Times, Yahoo Finance, Fox News, The Week, Education News, MSN Money, Institute of Sport, STEM Education Digest, The Awakened Wire, Special Needs Digest, Entertainment News, and LifeZette. He has also served as an on-air educational expert for EWTN.

After graduating from Brown University with honors as a Biology major, Dylan spent over a year conducting synthetic biology research for his master’s thesis at NASA Ames Research Center in California. During his time in California, he also provided guidance for undergraduates in the joint Stanford-Brown iGEM synthetic biology competition team. Their project ultimately received a bronze medal in the international competition. As a result, Dylan received his Masters of Science degree in Biotechnology from Brown University. Since then, he has had great success as an ACT/SAT tutor, helping students improve their grammar, reading comprehension, and mathematics skills, in addition to tutoring Biology. He combines his scientific expertise with the high-level reading and writing skills required of a Brown graduate. Dylan is dedicated to helping students build confidence in themselves by developing individually-tailored learning strategies.

Dr. Coretta Tam received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Yale University. She has taught all levels of chemistry courses from middle school to post-college, including Boston University, Quincy College, and Roxbury Community College in Massachusetts. She recently retired from teaching and chairing the Science Department at Newton Country Day School in Newton, MA. Dr. Tam is an award-winning master teacher of both students and teachers of chemistry. She has received the “Teacher Excellence Recognition Award” from the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., the “Theodore William Richards Award for Excellence in Teaching Secondary High School Chemistry” from the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society in Boston, and has been inducted into the American Chemical Society’s “Aula Laudis Society.” As a College Board consultant since 2004, she has conducted workshops and summer institutes for teachers nationally and internationally, on both AP Chemistry and Pre-AP Science Vertical Team. She had also served as an AP Chemistry Exam Reader for several years. She is passionate in helping students elevate chemistry and math scores.

Helen is an experienced private tutor who grew up in Boston in an academic household. After graduating from Barnard College magna cum laude with a BA in Comparative Literature, Helen went on to receive her MFA in acting from the Juilliard School. She is currently a teacher, working actor, and writer. For more than 6 years, Helen has enjoyed guiding her students from New York’s top high schools and middle schools to build the skills they need to achieve their goals in the classroom and on college readiness assessments. She teaches all sections of the SAT and ACT, as well as the SSAT, ISEE, SHSAT, AP French and several SAT subject tests. Helen curates her practice material and curricula to fit the needs of the individual student, and she helps her students cultivate critical thinking skills that will serve them beyond the exam and through their college careers.

Liba graduated with distinction from Yale with degrees in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and International Studies. She then received her master's from Columbia University. She has taught at Xavier University, and has years of experience working with students in various private and public schools and universities in New York. She is a passionate tutor, who is devoted to building confidence in her students in and outside the classroom.

Robyn Steiner holds a B.A. in English and Political Science from SUNY Buffalo where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Robyn received her J.D. from Cornell Law School, cum laude, and finished her post-Masters Certification in Education from Manhattanville College. After teaching numerous history courses in various Westchester high schools with success, she became a proud founding staff member of Bronx Community High School in the South Bronx for students who read and write below grade level. She currently teaches Global and U.S. History and provides individual tutoring to students in preparation for the New York State Regents Exams in U.S. and Global History.

Jack Canfora, SAT & ACT English and Reading Specialist, is an award-winning playwright, writer and educator, whose background includes a Summa Cum Laude degree from Hofstra University. Jack has 18 years of experience teaching AP Literature to high school students in both urban and suburban environments. Having scored in the 99th percentile on the Verbal section of the SAT, Jack has been an SAT and ACT tutor for 28 years, achieving great results for all levels of students. He is a passionate believer in working together with students to discover the best ways they learn individually. Among his recent non-academic accomplishments are two successful Off
Broadway productions of his plays, the publication of his plays Jericho and Poetic License, and the 2016 Webby Award for Best Writing for his web series The Small Time. Most recently, his play Fellow Travelers opened at the Bay Street Theater in 2018 to rave reviews and is slated to go to Broadway in 2019.

The founder of Zoffness College Prep. He holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received his M.B.A. from Fordham University. Ben began tutoring students 15 years ago after mastering the SAT and ACT strategies required to score in the 99th percentile. Since then, he has helped thousands of students maximize their academic performance with confidence. After developing his own unique software to help students identify various areas of weaknesses, Ben has been able to save valuable time for his students, while reducing the cost for his clients. His company provides classroom and individualized instruction to the community, with a focus on innovative solutions to allow students to grow personally and professionally. Ben works with students in the classroom and on an individual basis to prepare for the SAT, ACT, Mathematics Subject Tests, and a variety of additional standardized tests. His motivation is continuously fueled by celebratory phone calls and emails from his clients sharing that they gained acceptance into their top collegiate choices, which is often paired with merit-based scholarships. Visit the testimonials page to read more about the impact that Mr. Z and his team have had on students from Westchester, N.Y.