Earns a $60K Scholarship at her First-Choice College

Photo of Emma and Chris Johns at Emma's graduation

Mathnasium helped this student DOUBLE her SAT test scores and earn $60,000 in college scholarship!. How did it happen? Read on to find out.

At Mathnasium, we’re consistently delighted by the tens of thousands of parent testimonials describing how we’re changing their children’s lives through math. Occasionally, one really astounds us, like the one that came through our math learning center.

“Words can't describe how happy I am with the results Mathnasium has produced through my daughter's exposure to their processes! In addition to the regular weekly sessions, she also participated in the ACT/SAT prep workshops. After completing these workshops, my daughter almost DOUBLED her math score on her second attempt on the SAT. Yes, I said DOUBLED! To put that into perspective for the parents reading this comment, that new score increased her Merit Scholarship offered at the university she chose by $15k per year. Mathnasium literally saved me $60k of college expenses while providing my daughter with increased confidence in her overall math knowledge. I highly recommend Mathnasium to all parents that recognize the importance of a solid foundation of a wide range of math skills for their children!”
—Chris Johns, 1/5/18

Wow. Doubling SAT scores? Sixty thousand dollars in scholarship? That really blew us away. Many parents don’t know that Mathnasium not only offers elementary math help and math for middle school, but we also help high school students with math tutoring classes. In addition to a proprietary curriculum that helps in school classes (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus), we have a proprietary SAT and ACT program. But instead of teaching the “tricks” of test-taking, we teach the math. And it works.

Clearly, no one should walk into Mathnasium expecting to double their college board scores, that’s an exceptional outcome. So we contacted Chris and his daughter, Emma, to learn how it happened and what they’re up to now.

A Rocky Start to College Boards

Taking the SAT or ACT is a rite of passage that most aspiring collegians dread. At the end of her junior year, Chris John’s eldest child Emma, took her first SAT, hoping to apply to her first-choice college, Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The test result was a bit of a shocker, and not in a good way.

“Her math score was in the 300s somewhere,” Johns said. “By first-semester senior year, we were applying to a few colleges and realized that her SAT wasn’t going to cut it.”

“I wasn’t ready in the slightest,” said Emma. “I’ve never been good at math or test-taking, but after we got the results back and saw that I did, in fact, do really bad on it, my dad and I decided that something needs to be done if I wanted to get into Xavier.”

Xavier students typically get between 520 and 610 on the math portion of the SAT, so the pressure was on.

Mathnasium To The Rescue

Johns knew that Mathnasium offered an SAT prep curriculum, but Emma needed to boost her scores by a lot, with very little time to do so. There were only four weeks before she had to take the SAT again. Johns signed Emma up for private tutoring for math with Mathnasium Owner Glenn Mikaloff, 3 – 4 times each week for an entire month.

Mikaloff knew Emma from when she attended Mathnasium several years earlier.

“She was here in eighth grade but stopped because of sports,” said Mikaloff. “When she went through the first try of SAT, it did not go well, without having seen us for several years. Then she came back in and we got it straightened out.”

“I was really buckling down,” remembered Emma. Although it was a very intense month, she rose to the challenge and was rewarded with greatly improved math comprehension.

“When I went in to take the SAT for the second time, it was so much easier. I recognized the material so much better, and it really showed!” Emma scored in the high 600s on her second try, doubling her previous score.

“When I got the score back,” she said, “it was probably one of the most exciting moments of my life!”

So she applied to Xavier.

The Happy Dance

“I had no idea if I’d get in,” she said. “My GPA was ‘flirting with the line’ almost my whole senior year. The only thing really that could make or break me was my SAT score. Then when I got not only my college acceptance letter, but also scholarship money, it was one of the best days of my life! I’m so thankful!”

And if Emma was happy, the scholarship was enough to make any parent do the happy dance.

“Not only did Emma get accepted into Xavier University, which was her first-choice school,” said Johns, “but they gave her a $15,000 per year scholarship. So when I say that Glenn saved me $60,000 in college tuition, he absolutely did. He went above and beyond for one of his kids, and that’s just how they run their business. Emma’s success is due to him.”

Emma is now a second-semester freshman at Xavier and loving college life. She’s studying finance, hoping to work with her father as a financial adviser.

A Mathnasium Family

Children within the same family often have very different experiences with math, and that was certainly the case with the Johns family. Regardless of their initial strength in math, though, Mathnasium made a huge impact in each of their lives.

“I have three kids, and all three have benefited and continue to benefit from Mathnasium,” said Johns. “My middle child, Garrett, excels at math. Mathnasium kickstarted him. He was doing sixth grade made in fourth grade and kept going with Mathnasium. Now he’s in seventh grade in Geometry, which is a tenth-grade level. When he starts his freshman year of high school, he’ll take online college math classes.

“My youngest daughter, Ainsley, has been at Mathnasium for the last year. She’s the only one still there. Glenn and her teacher email each other; he sends her quarterly reports.”

Johns credits the Mathnasium for motivating his children.

“My kids must put in the work, but motivation is a key component, and that stems from Glenn and Susie. They are a class act, and the entire Mathnasium family should feel just as fortunate to have them as my family feels.”

Happy Endings — And Beginnings

Emma, as well as her siblings and parents, are proof that Mathnasium changes lives through math. By providing a strong math foundation, we open up the doors to success in school, in college and for future. For every child that “graduates” from Mathnasium and goes on to use their math skills in their career or their everyday life, we celebrate with that child and their family.

“Changing lives through math” is more than a slogan; it’s a goal that everyone at Mathnasium works toward every single day.


Written by Joanne Helperin

Gaithersburg Mathnasium

Use these dates to plan to take the SAT. At this time, registration is open for all students for the 2022–23 school year. check with College Board for any changes in schedule

All deadlines expire at 11:59 p.m. ET, U.S. For international SAT test dates, see International Dates and Deadlines.

2022–23 School Year Test Dates