PhD, Political Science, UCLA
AP Social Sciences specialist: Gov, US/World/Euro, Human Geography — taught by a UCLA PhD with debate-team roots.
Areas of focus
AP Social Studies — US Gov & Politics, US History, World History, European History, Human Geography
High-school English — AP Language, AP Literature
ISEE Middle / Upper Level — verbal reasoning, reading comprehension sections
SSAT Middle / Upper Level — verbal reasoning, reading comprehension sections
SAT — Reading & Writing sections
ACT — English, Reading Comprehension sections
CBEST — Reading, Writing
CSET — English Subtests I–IV · Social Science Subtests I–III · Writing Skills
Independent-school and college admissions essays, debate coaching, academic writing, study skills
Background
PhD, Political Science, UCLA
MA, Philosophy, Brandeis University
BA, Government & Philosophy, UT Austin
Lecturer, UCLA Political Science (Intl. Law, Human Rights, Political Theory)
12 years tutoring across Los Angeles and Boston
Recent outcomes
AP World History | 10th grade | Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies | AP Score: 5
ISEE Middle Level | 6th grade | Harvard-Westlake applicant | RC 5 → 8, V 4 → 7
AP US Government and Politics | 12th grade | San Clemente High School | AP Score: 5
ISEE Middle Level | 7th grade | Harvard-Westlake applicant | RC 6 → 8
AP European History | 10th grade | Glendora High School | Grade: C+ → A-
Approach
The first thing I do with a new AP student is hand them the actual scoring rubric and walk through it line by line. Most students have never seen it, and once they have, the way they think about history starts to change. Instead of a list of facts to memorize, history becomes a set of arguments people made about what happened, and the skill being tested is the ability to see those arguments clearly: reading documents for the author’s perspective, identifying complexity, recognizing whose viewpoint is being centered and whose is missing. Facts still matter, but as evidence in an argument the student is making, not as the argument itself.
Q&A
A resource you’d hand a curious student?
Federalist Paper No. 10 read alongside a recent Supreme Court dissent. Madison and a sitting justice arguing the same problem 240 years apart compels students to see the founding as contested and American politics as a product of that history.
The mistake you see most often?
Treating AP essay prompts as questions with right answers. The exam rewards taking a position and using evidence and outside knowledge to build a complex, compelling case for that position.
What you look for in a good-fit student?
A willingness to think alongside me rather than wait for answers. That can look like follow-up questions, written reflections, or pushback on something I said. The form matters less than the habit.
What parents or students get wrong about prep?
That the exam tests how much history a student knows. It primarily tests how students analyze the source material it presents them. Learning to think historically beats trying to memorize the whole textbook come test day.