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Inspirica Pros

Erik Kolb

Master of content and test strategy. Highly effective, personalized tutoring for students of all ages, score levels, and learning styles.

23 Years Tutoring
Arlington, VA
$300/hr
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Biography
Education
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Special Needs Skills

Biography

Erik is a broadly experienced, highly sought-after tutor who works remotely with students around the world. As a content expert and master strategist, he has proved to be an invaluable resource for students who wish to improve their test scores, seek guidance on the next stage of their educational journeys, or find someone to help shepherd them through complicated coursework and writing projects. He works remotely part of the year from his home in the Washington, D.C. area and spends the rest of his time as a digital nomad, working while traveling the world.

Born in Norway, Erik spent much of his childhood in Cameroon, Sweden, and Côte d’Ivoire. His first foray into teaching was as an undergraduate, when he tutored the children of West African refugee families living in the Chicago area and volunteered in a weekly program teaching the GED to inmates at Chicago’s Cook County Jail. During his summer breaks, he served as an Assistant Facilitator at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center in Arlington, VA, teaching children of diplomats about security at U.S. embassies abroad. He also taught at the Huntington Learning Center, was the High School Program Director for the Foreign Service Youth Foundation, and was the teaching assistant for several undergraduate courses while in graduate school.

While working on his master’s degree at Yale, Erik first trained to teach the SAT as a part-time job for a nationally recognized test prep company. He quickly discovered that he could adapt SAT test-taking strategies to other tests as well and began to train for and teach additional subjects such as the ACT, GRE, GMAT, and LSAT. After working on a Ph.D. in ancient Mediterranean history at the Catholic University of America, Erik decided to transition to full-time tutoring and writing, joining Inspirica Pros in 2016.

Over the course of his career, Erik has worked with thousands of students of all ages and score levels and has helped them to meet and often exceed their personal goals (breaking into the 1500s on the SAT, nailing the ACT English section, raising that APUSH grade from a B+ to an A, gaining admittance to a dream MBA program, and everything in between). Erik is demanding but very personable–his goal when working with students is always first and foremost to help them to be prepared, confident, and ready to meet any testing or other academic challenge they may face. Moreover, Erik’s deep knowledge of the admissions world (high school, college, and graduate/professional school) makes him an outstanding resource for students who need help with the application process, whether it’s choosing the right school or crafting the perfect essay.

In addition to his work as a tutor and educational advisor, Erik is a published author who has written academic history articles as well as content and practice questions for test prep publications. Among other projects, he contributed significantly to books, websites, and other published study materials for the SAT, numerous history and social studies AP exams, and the social studies portions of the TASC and GED exams.

Erik believes that the best teachers and tutors are engaged and interested in the world, and, as such, never stop learning. He stays current with broad educational trends related to standardized testing and the various subjects he teaches through in-house professional development as well as through active participation in professional organizations such as the National Test Prep Association (NTPA) and the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC). Moreover, Erik regularly exercises his intellectual curiosity by taking online courses in subjects as diverse as Intercultural Competency in Education, Deep Learning through Transformative Pedagogy, and Developmental Psychology.

Among other skills he acquired in graduate school, Erik is a trained papyrus conservator and has studied eleven different languages (four of which are “dead languages” that are no longer spoken). On a personal level, Erik’s hobbies include cooking, watching Nordic noirs, and attending live music events. His early exposure to travel and foreign language has stuck with him into adulthood, and it’s not often that he’ll remain in one place for more than two or three months in a row. Students love to hear his stories about eating fruit that (some say) tastes like raw sewage in southeast Asia, navigating the varieties of wild game for sale in the marketplaces of east Africa, spending the night in the Sahara desert, and climbing ancient jungle temples in Central America. To date, he has been to 78 countries and is slowly working on the rest.

Testimonials:

“If you are looking for a private consultant to help your son or daughter prepare for college, I cannot say enough great things about Erik. He can help your child with ACT/SAT test practice, essay writing, and general tutoring. Erik also has great experience with the college search and application process and helped guide my husband and I through what can seem like an overwhelming undertaking.

We did not even know what our family and daughter needed help with, but we began making calls. I scheduled phone appointments to get to know each of the consultants on our list better. On our first call with Erik, I asked my daughter to also sit in, and we spent over 45 minutes on the call.

Unlike the other consultants we called, Erik did not seem rushed and he took the time to ask my daughter lots of questions to learn about her interests, study habits, and what she thought her obstacles might be. As a parent who was going through the college application process for the first time, I appreciated his patience in answering both my and my daughter’s questions.

What stood out about Erik in our initial interview and throughout the process was his sincere interest in teaching, wanting to guide us, and get to know us better.

His program didn’t feel prescriptive, and he made sure to tailor his study sessions to what the student, our daughter, needed. Other people we interviewed seemed to spend too much time talking about themselves and their own personal career accomplishments and didn’t take time to connect with my daughter.

Whatever type of student / test taker your child might be, Erik is great at helping them feel proud of their accomplishments no matter how big or small those are. In our case, he helped both the student and parent feel more confident about the testing and application process.

Erik, truly is a pleasure to work with at any stage of the college prep/ search process. Our daughter’s ACT scores improved, and, more importantly, she wasn’t stressed about the application process or next steps, and she felt more in control of her journey.”

– Cristina, SAT, ACT, and College Admissions Consulting parent (Chevy Chase, Maryland)

“Erik was instrumental in increasing my LSAT score from 159 when I started to a 168 when I finished working with him. He has a great ability to isolate which areas of an exam are difficult for students and then tailor tutoring sessions and follow-up homework to those needs. He has a great understanding of the LSAT and its nuances, which gave me confidence that he could help me learn to take the test better by following his thought processes through difficult questions. Erik is also very friendly, which made the tutoring sessions enjoyable and not stressful in any way. Finally, Erik is very flexible with scheduling tutoring sessions and able to accommodate last-minute changes. Overall, I really enjoyed my tutoring with Erik and found it to be very useful.”

– Ben, LSAT and Law School Admissions Consulting student (Austin, Texas)

“We have been so fortunate to have found Erik several years ago to help the first of our four kids prepare for taking the ACT and SAT. Each of our children has different strengths and weaknesses. Erik has helped identify those so that they could do well on these tests. Erik also helped us to identify potential learning differences in two of our children, who have subsequently been evaluated for and received testing accommodations. We appreciate that Erik recognizes that each child processes differently. We value Erik’s personalized input about each of our kids and have acted on it. Three down with Erik’s help, and one more child to go. We will definitely be using Erik to help!”

– Jenny, SAT, ACT, and College Admissions Consulting parent (Vienna, Virginia)

“Erik is the best tutor I have ever had. I started working with him as a sophomore in high school, and I still text him every once in a while for help on my college essays. He has a great level of organization, patience, and ability to cover a lot of material. Over the years, Erik has helped me with math, English, and history courses, along with the SAT/ACT. He stuck with and guided me as I painstakingly edited my terrible essays and taught me how to become a better writer. Watching him tutor my brother and sister as well, I have seen how Erik really helps his students to achieve their true potential.”

– Maya, Academic Tutoring, SAT, and ACT student (McLean, Virginia and Boston, Massachusetts)

“I was spinning my wheels on the GRE when I was introduced to Erik. Off the bat, Erik took an effective, targeted approach to our studying. In particular, he thoughtfully refined my test taking strategy for the Quant section; his approach was instrumental not only in helping me better grasp the content, but also in increasing my confidence heading into the test. Ultimately, Erik helped me raise my composite score by 7 points, and I was able to get into my top choice program! I’d highly recommend Erik to anyone looking for a great tutor to help boost their scores!”

– Stew, GRE student (Chicago, Illinois)

“My tutor, Erik, is extremely thorough and took great effort to ensure that I understood topics that I did not know or were new to me. His upbeat demeanor inspired participation. Erik is extremely intelligent and well-spoken when giving lessons. This was my first time tutoring in an online format, and I was thrilled with it. I want to return to Erik in the future for further assistance. I used to dislike studying for the ACT and math, but Erik has sparked my interest in both. He is highly accommodating with scheduling and will make every effort to squeeze his students into his busy schedule. Erik has helped me improve my listening abilities so that I can comprehend misunderstandings and mistakes better. He is extremely patient with me, and as a result I now score significantly higher on my math and ACT exams. It’s incredible to see how much more interested I’ve become in math and ACT, and it’s all down to Erik’s fantastic attitude and teaching manner.”

– Noor, ACT and Precalculus Student (Potomac, Maryland)

“I worked with Erik for ACT and SAT prep and most recently, college applications. He has been more than helpful through every single process. With his tutoring, both my ACT and SAT scores increased and the college application process became so much easier. He taught me so many tips and tricks that I knew I couldn’t get anywhere else. The guidance and advice that Erik gives is truly invaluable.”

– Francesca, SAT, ACT, and College Admissions Consulting student (Ashburn, Virginia)

“Erik was very clear in his instruction and he helped me understand my errors. Erik never made the process of preparing for the SAT stressful. He never made it feel like I had to reach some goal in particular; he helped me just work through the problems in a way that made sense. In the end, my score surprised me—in a good way! Erik was a big help in getting there.”

– Jasper, SAT student (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

“Erik was instrumental not only in improving my knowledge of the SAT and its content, but in building my confidence as well! I was struggling with the math section, and Erik helped me to really understand the material and the types of questions that would be asked. Going into the test, I felt much more capable and the sessions certainly paid off in my final scores. With Erik’s help, I was able to reach my full potential on the SAT.”

– Maddie, SAT student (Ashburn, Virginia)

“Erik was a great help as I prepared for the ACT and worked on my college applications. He taught me many strategies that helped me increase my ACT score. The consistent practice tests we have worked through together were great because they helped build my confidence when I took the actual ACT. During our time working on my college essays, Erik really helped me focus and organize my ideas. I have already been accepted into many colleges. Erik is one of the best tutors I have ever had.”

– Bora, ACT and College Admissions Consulting student (Washington, D.C.)

Education

Yale University
Master of Arts in Religion, Ancient History

The Catholic University of America
Master of Arts, Ancient History

Wheaton College
Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy

Subjects

  • ACT, ACT Composite, ACT English, ACT Math, ACT Reading, ACT Science, ACT Writing, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, American History, Ancient History, AP European History, AP United States Government And Politics, AP United States History, AP US History, AP World History: Modern, Arithmetic, Business School Admissions, College Admissions, College Application Essays, DAT, English, ERB, Essay Editing, European History, GED, General AP, General English, General English Language Arts, General History, General Mathematics, General Social Science, General Test Prep, Geography, Geometry, GMAT, Government and Politics, Grad School Admissions, Grammar, GRE, GRE Analytical Writing, GRE Quantitative, GRE Verbal, High School Admissions, History and English Essays, History Of Religion, Homework Help, HSPT, Humanities, Intellectual History, ISEE, Law School Admissions, LL ISEE, LL SSAT, LSAT, MCAT CARS, ML ISEE, ML SSAT, Modern History, Oxford TSA, PLAN, Pre-Algebra, Pre-Calculus, Prealgebra, Precalculus, Proofreading, PSAT, Reading, Religious Studies, SAT, SAT Math, SAT Reading, SAT Verbal, Social Studies, SSAT, SSAT Quantitative, Study Skills, Trigonometry, UL ISEE, UL SSAT, US History, Vocabulary, World History, Writing, Writing Skills Development

Age Groups

  • All Ages

Special Needs Skills

  • ADD/ADHD, General learning disability, Gifted
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844 663 9484

  • About
  • Services
    • Test Prep
      • ISEE/SSAT/SHSAT
      • ACT Tutoring
      • SAT Tutoring
      • GMAT Tutoring
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      • LSAT Tutoring
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  • Tutors
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  • (844) 663-9484
  • About
  • Services
    • Test Prep
      • ISEE/SSAT/SHSAT
      • ACT Tutoring
      • SAT Tutoring
      • GMAT Tutoring
      • GRE Tutoring
      • LSAT Tutoring
      • MCAT Tutoring
    • Practice Testing
    • The SAT/ACT PathFinder Diagnostic
    • Cognitive Learning Assessment
    • Academic Support
    • Mindfulness & Mindset
    • Executive Function
    • Educational Consultants
    • School Partnerships
    • Youth Sports Partnerships
  • Tutors
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Podcast
    • Video Library
  • (844) 663-9484
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