Chess with Tyler P.

I grew up learning slower than everyone else. So slow that it was obvious from a very young age that there was something the matter with me. My mom would drive four hours to go to classes for children with learning disabilities on the weekends. I started speech therapy and eventually we would learn that I have dyslexia, dysgraphia, and auditory processing disorder. Essentially my brain is like a phone that jumbles the words of every call and text it sends or receives. Extremely annoying. Bad for academics. On a scantron exam, up to 50% of my mistakes are caused by bubbling the wrong letter (ex. b and d). As you can imagine, I had disappointing experiences growing up. All these issues set me up to become an extremely hard worker extremely lacking test taking talent. All I ever wanted was to be called a genius, but my reality revealed the contrary. The moment that really stung was the SAT where I could perform somewhat competently on some sections but get crushed by reading comprehension sections. This led me to score far below my friends even though I worked much harder. That was the moment where I was sick and tired of working so hard and looking so stupid. If I was going to get to medical school I was going to need to figure testing out. No one was born to feel mediocre and I wasn’t going to let that be my story. By developing the process I teach, I was able to blaze a trail to a 99th percentile score (without accommodations). That moment changed my freaking life. Finally I was exceptional. The difference between SAT Tyler and MCAT Tyler was not my talent or work ethic, it was my strategy. Additional achievements accumulated along the was have included several research awards, presentations, and manuscript in Nature Immunology. I was given a leadership award for homeless outreach work. Competed at Collegiate Nationals for Powerlifting and am a strength coach for athletes with disabilities. Was a 98th percentile chess player and chess coach. It's funny how the exact same process that makes me good in school makes me good at everything else. All of this led to 9 interviews at Top 25 medical schools and matriculation to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (#13). I hope working with me makes you believe that anyone can win. That your potential is hugely decided by what you think of it and that you are always one innovation away from the next level. I started coaching students to join the ranks of people who give hope to anyone who has struggled and guide them towards a more perfect version of themselves. There will always be talk about “natural test takers” and people blaming the education system, but my truest purpose is to show you that none of those things matter. Anyone can be successful in the pre-med game.