My Biz: Business preps students for college-entrance exams

Kelly Finn spent the majority of her academic and professional career in the world of mathematics. But these days, she's focused on helping students do well on college entrance exams.

In 2011, Finn started her company Grad Test Prep, which offers ACT, GRE and GMAT crash course trainings for students interested in improving their testing scores.

While her home base is Cedar Rapids, Finn travels all around Eastern Iowa and parts of Illinois to host her crash course weekend workshops - having hosted sessions in Dubuque, Anamosa, North Liberty and Iowa City.

The idea for her company first came to Finn while she was teaching math at Loras College in Dubuque. She was approached by two different young women who asked for help in preparing for their grad school tests.

'I've always been interested in helping people get to the next level,” she said. After helping her first two students she realized she wanted to run her own business too.

Finn worked with a mentor from SCORE, a company that offers business counseling, to help her identify her services and target markets before officially launching her business in the fall of 2011.

She offers intensive weekend workshops, where she packs in 16 hours of instruction over two days. 'It saves students time and money that way,” she said.

Grad Test Prep's assistance to clients doesn't end after those 16 hours of instruction. Finn purchases a study app - math or verbal based on student needs - for each student and provides them with a personalized study plan depending on when they are schedule to take the test. And she offers several hours on phone and email consultation to help continue to prep students.

'If a student's score doesn't increase on the test they can get their money back or retake a weekend course,” Finn said.

Finn, a graduate of Washington High School and Coe College in Cedar Rapids, received her teaching degree, her masters in mathematics and her PhD in teaching and learning from the University of Iowa.

She was also the first of her family to attend college, which drives her passion to help non-native speaking students and first-generation college students achieve higher scores on their entrance exams.

'The diversity piece is very important to me,” she said. 'For every five students who register for a crash course I donate one free enrollment and let the schools decide who gets that. There is a whole population that needs to be prepared but don't get it.”

Finn is the sole employee at Grad Test Prep, which fills her days quickly. She spends her time between working with students and meeting with college and high school personnel to let them know about her services. In the coming months and years, she hopes to see her business continue to grow and to hire on additional staff.

'Online test prep services are overwhelming,” Finn said. 'There are so many rural colleges in Iowa and surrounding states who don't have face-to-face training resources like what I offer. So I hope my company continues to grow and help more people achieve success.”

Know a manager or company in business for more than a year that would be ideal for 'My Biz”? Contact Chelsea Keenan at Chelsea.keenan@sourcemedia.net

At a Glance

'Company

: Grad Test Prep

'Name

: Kelly Finn

'Phone

: (319) 213-2052

'Website

: www.gradtestprep.org