Cat P.
5.0
99th percentile GRE coach with 8 years experience
Studied at Harvard University
Works at Manhattan Prep
Available Monday at 7:00 PM UTC
I only work with 3-5 clients at a time, and once I take on a new client, I am committed to staying with them until they've reached their goals. Right now, I am currently booking clients for January 2025.
Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.
Cat’s GRE Qualifications
Coaches professionally
Scored a 338 on the GRE
500+ people coached for GRE
Open to working with clients outside the U.S.
Cat has helped clients achieve these scores on the GRE
317 - 322
I’ve been helping clients achieve their GRE goal scores since 2015, when I was hired by Manhattan Prep, an elite test prep company that required a 99th-percentile GRE score, over forty hours of rigorous training, and multiple professional assessments before I could even teach my first class. Although I’d already been teaching and tutoring for years, Manhattan Prep is where I truly began to master the challenging and joyful craft of teaching. I’ve since taught the GRE to hundreds of students, many of whom have gone on to top-tier graduate and MBA programs, including Dartmouth, UPenn, Stanford, UVA, and Harvard. I’ve trained dozens of other elite GRE instructors and have planned and run three professional development conferences for GMAT, GRE, and LSAT instructors from around the world. I’ve helped to write TOEFL and GRE books and curricula and have built an interactive online GRE course. I’ve also co-written and performed in a GRE vocabulary YouTube series with over 1 million views. If you'd like to learn more about me and my teaching style, I write a weekly newsletter: substack.com/@gretarot. I also offer donation-based drop-in Q&A sessions twice a month; these are listed on my LinkedIn profile.
Cat can help with:
Quantitative Reasoning
Test Prep Strategy
Analytical Writing
Verbal Reasoning
Tailored Study Plan
About Cat
I’m a writer and teacher based in New York City. I've been to grad school twice—first in South Africa, then in New York—and I initially started teaching standardized tests to support myself while in school. I soon found that I loved the craft of teaching almost as much as I loved writing, and I now split my days between the two pursuits. Both teaching and writing fiction require creativity and a curiosity about what goes on in other people’s minds, and both are enriched by a sense of humor and play. Outside of work, I enjoy reading, surfing, dancing, weightlifting, and riding motorcycles. I collect houseplants and tattoos, and I live with a rescue dog named Mildred.
Why do I coach?
My secret is that I don't like standardized tests! This is why I love helping people defeat them. I want all of my clients to get their goal scores as quickly as possible so that they can move on to more exciting things in their lives. I particularly enjoy helping students who've had bad experiences with standardized tests in the past and who struggle with test anxiety. I believe that anyone can improve their performance on the GRE with time and effort; as a tutor with many years of experience, I can help you use your time as effectively as possible and make sure you are applying effort in ways that are guaranteed to yield results. My favorite part of my job is getting to work with people who are at moments of transition: pursuing a long-held dream, making career changes, investing in better futures for themselves and their families, etc. It’s a pleasure and an honor to help others transform their lives. I’ve had a lot of opportunity in my own education, and teaching is a meaningful way I can share those benefits and experiences with others.
Work Experience
Writing Coach
The Book Incubator
April 2023 - Present
*Teach lessons on craft to adult writers *Coach writers through difficulties in drafting and revising book-length manuscripts
Consultant
collegeMission
September 2021 - Present
*Coached students from start-to-finish in the Common Application and supplements *100% of package clients accepted to top-choice schools, including early admission at Stanford, Cornell, and NYU
GRE Instructor
Manhattan Prep
July 2015 - Present
*Taught hundreds of students in group classes and one-on-one *Helped students secure admission to leading MBA programs, including Wharton, Stanford, Tuck, HBS, Darden and more *Wrote and performed in a YouTube series with 1 million+ views *Co-created an asynchronous online GRE course *Managed and trained 30+ instructors in US and UK
Undergraduate Writing Instructor
Columbia University in the City of New York
September 2018 - December 2018
*Developed and taught introductory undergraduate fiction workshop
Education
Columbia University
MFA, Fiction
2015 - 2018
University of Cape Town
MA, English
2009 - 2011
Harvard University
BA , Music and English
2004 - 2008
6 Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
Cat has helped Leland clients get into Darden School of Business (UVA)
Cat has helped clients achieve these scores on the GRE