It's been said that pain in life is inevitable, but we can choose whether to suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. How can we help learners make the right choice when enthusiasm or available time wanes? Amy and Mike invited educator Athena Savino to explore what motivates students in test prep.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

What's the biggest misconception tutors and parents have about what motivates students to engage?
What is the best way to assess student needs and sequence instruction?
Why should goals and expectations set the foundation for preparation and coaching?
What time frames work best to maintain enthusiasm and focus?
What separates the students who hit their goals from the ones who don't, and how much of it is within a tutor's control?

MEET OUR GUEST

Athena Savino is the founder of Top Marks Prep, a platform that partners with tutoring centers to help students achieve better outcomes on the SAT, ACT, HSPT, SHSAT, ISEE, and PSAT through smarter practice and data-driven instruction.

The daughter of immigrant parents who came to the US to expand educational opportunities for their family, Athena grew up with a deep appreciation for what access to the right tools and support can do. She earned her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

She began tutoring while pursuing her MBA and discovered that what actually moved the needle for students was simple but underappreciated: repetition and the motivation to keep improving with each attempt. That observation led her to build TopMarksPrep, which now provides tutoring centers with a student-facing study platform and an admin platform that delivers actionable, insightful data — helping tutors and center directors enhance every session and personalize instruction at scale.

Athena lives in Chicago with her husband and is expecting her first son in April 2026.

Athena can be reached at athena@topmarksprep.com or LinkedIn.

LINKS

Academic buoyancy: Towards an understanding of students' everyday academic resilience

Newsletter for Tutoring Center Owners & Directors

RELATED EPISODES

HELPING TEENS FIND MOTIVATION AND INSIGHT

HOW DO I MOTIVATE MY STUDENT?

TECHNIQUES TO MOTIVATE UNMOTIVATED STUDENTS

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, get in touch through our contact page.

720. WHAT MOTIVATES STUDENTS IN TEST PREP?