234. Test Prep Profile: Jim Wismer

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Jim Wismer, the Director of Ivy Experience. Jim first started tutoring for pay in eighth grade, and he has since earned a broad range of experience in secondary and higher education. Jim taught Latin and Ancient Greek and served as a T.A. in Greek and Roman history and mythology courses while earning his M.A. in Classics at the University of Notre Dame. After graduating with his Master's, he helped a small independent school develop a K-12 Latin curriculum. Jim has been tutoring primarily test prep (but still some dead languages) since finishing graduate school, when he came on board as a tutor for Ivy Experience. One year in, he was promoted to Director, transitioning into a managerial role involving training and overseeing tutors, planning with families, creating marketing materials, and various business functions. If you had told Jim as a young scholar that he would one day be a reasonably successful businessperson, that would have been quite the surprise to him.  Jim enjoys digging into the way students' minds work, whether that means finding just the right way to help them "get" an SAT math problem or brainstorming how to develop their own most time-efficient method to memorize Latin conjugations.  Jim doesn't really have hobbies, preferring temporary, all-consuming obsessions. Over the years, these have included yoga, Super Smash Bros Melee, camping, fantasy football, the Wim Hof method, and darts, to name a few. Find Jim at https://myivyexperience.com/contact/. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.