Established in 2003, Bell Curves, LLC is a socially responsible test preparation and educational
services company based in New York City. Since its inception, the company has developed a
diverse clientele comprised of non-profit organizations, educational institutions, young
professionals, and college and graduate school-bound students.
Our Mission
Bell Curves exists to provide access to high quality test preparation and educational services,
especially to underserved and disadvantaged communities. It accomplishes this mission by
researching, recording and understanding the deficits that exist in its target communities and
creating solutions that supplement already existing services.
Bell Curves management
and staff are committed to ensuring that every individual who is ready to excel is provided the
tools and opportunity to realize his or her fullest educational and career potential.
Our Partnerships
Bell Curves actively seeks partnerships with organizations that provide access to high quality
resources to disadvantaged and underserved communities. Bell Curves creates partnerships with
such organizations to provide a broad spectrum of support from staff development to
instructional and practice materials to student workshops and courses. Partnering with
organizations and schools allows teachers and administrators to focus on their roles while we
provide the supplemental support services that we have the experience and resources to address
more economically. Rather than selling generic programs, Bell Curves works with organizations
and schools to evaluate and identify areas in which the skills and talents of our team and the
resources at our disposal will most efficiently support our partners' existing programs.
Our Approach
The Bell Curves approach is to provide information and support to educational communities and
professional networks in order to increase awareness and understanding of the necessary steps to
achieve testing and educational success. We also provide low-cost educational and test
preparation programs to allow students to bridge the divide between formal schooling and
standardized testing.
Our programs provide students with the
knowledge, recognition, and execution skills
necessary to succeed on standardized tests and the information necessary to apply successfully
to top schools. Contrary to popular opinion, we understand that true test preparation begins
years before the test date and extends years beyond. Our programs are designed to help students
understand and overcome the roadblocks to achieving their best performance on a test and in
school. Rather than focusing on guessing strategies, we teach how to first properly analyze and
approach each problem first. Then we teach reliable test-taking strategies that allow students
to maximize their score. We design our curriculum in order to ensure that a test-taker will
never be forced to guess or feel that guessing is the only option for approaching a problem.
To learn more about how Bell Curves can help you, Contact Us Today!
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More testimonials from Bell Curves students...
I worked with Ajani Burrell as a private tutor and he was extremely personable, patient, and encouraging. Even when I reached my lowest point in the studying process, Ajani continued to provide crucial guidance to help me push towards reaching my target score. In the end, Ajani and Bell Curve's ability to provide me with a more structured preparation process made all the difference. After trying 2 other GMAT prep companies, Ajani and Bell Curves provided exactly what I needed to break 700 on the GMAT.
I had literally tried everything before working with Ajani. I self studied, took a class, and hired a tutor, all to no avail. Ajani was my lucky charm. After working with him, I got the score that I needed to get into Stern, Columbia, Booth, and Cornell...I even got scholarship money!!!!
Ajani is a gem and the Bell Curves method works!
Thank you so much for your visit today. Your presentation made it evident that our school needs to plan more effectively to incorporate strategies and awareness around the SAT and ACT. The helpful test taking strategies made our students realize they can achieve a higher score simply through familiarity with the test structure and scoring practices.
This workshop helped reduce test anxiety and gave students the information they need to strategically plan and set goals for attending the college of their choice. Your participation with our staff and students helped solidify the college going culture that we are trying to build at our school!
I scored a 690! Thanks to Akil and the Bell Curves team, I was able to increase my GMAT score by 130 points! Without Bell Curves and the invaluable insights and strategies they provided, it would never have been possible. Thank you!
After 3 years of off and on studying, I finally beat the GMAT with a 160-point improvement! The best decision I made over the course of those 3 years was hiring Ajani Burrell to be my tutor. He taught me the ins and outs of the GMAT, from how to attack Data Sufficiency questions to how to effectively read Sentence Correction and Critical Reasoning questions. Most importantly, Ajani helped me to adjust my ingrained approach to each type of question so that I would be most effective in understanding and correctly answering the question.
Ajani is the man! For anyone that's willing to work, Ajani will be your greatest asset. I highly recommend him to anyone who wants a great tutor.
Thank you Ajani! Thank you Bellcurves!
Bell Curves taught me how to avoid the kinds of mistakes on the SAT that were keeping me from reaching my full potential. Bell Curves helped me push my score beyond my goal of 2300 points – a plateau I was having trouble reaching on my own. In short, Bell Curves was a GREAT help. I could not have done it without them.
Bell Curves personal tutoring not only fit my unpredictable schedule but it gave me the confidence I needed to reach my goal and score a 640 on the GMAT! Thanks to Bell Curves I was just admitted to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Studying for the GMAT was a long and often a trying journey for me. However, being on the other end of the process now, I see why people say that the key to success is consistency and perseverance. One-on-one tutoring helped me to hone in on gaps in both my knowledge and test taking strategy. Being able to identify and fill in these gaps gave me the confidence to achieve my goal score.
I had pretty much given up on the GMAT after doing a full-length course and a few hours of tutoring with 2 other test prep companies. After bombing the GMAT my first time (500, Quant 27, < 20%), a tutor from one of the “top” test prep companies reasoned that math was not my forte and that I should focus solely on the verbal to increase my score. I soon realized that he was a waste of my time and money because not only was his advice crazy, we had no formal meeting place, so tutoring sessions at Starbucks weren’t really effective. Fast-forward to me walking into the BC office a total anxious wreck. I purchased tutoring hours and began working with Ajani, who, let me just say, is nothing short of amazing! After reviewing my work from just 1 practice test, he was able to identify my weaknesses and repeated mistakes. Ajani was super patient with me and never made me feel like the idiot I was making myself out to me. Even with my stupidest mistakes, he would find a takeaway point from it…AMAZING! The BC books and online material were also extremely helpful. From the books I learned new, but really simple and reliable ways to attack each question type. The online CAT quizzes and exams were the most realistic practice questions that I’ve seen. On my actual exam, for some of the questions, I was thinking, “oh…this is just like such and such question from the BC material.”One of my biggest hurdles was my fear of the exam; working with Ajani and practicing on my own with the BC material really helped overcome this fear and I walked into the exam feeling confident…for the most part. All in all, my BC experience was beyond worthwhile. I regret not starting my prep with them initially. I truly believe that I would not have been able to conquer the GMAT without them. Final score – 650…got the horrendous quant raw score up to 42.
Akil was the best because he had confidence in me, and required me to give my best. He helped my score improve 70 points, taught me on speaker phone when morning sickness kept me home, and kept the entire class laughing while navigating the stressful b-school process. Bell Curves endorser for life.
Bell Curves really helped me narrow in on my weaknesses on the GMAT. After taking the Princeton Review with no improvement in my score I started to lose hope. After working with Bell Curves I was elated when I saw my score improve by 100 points! I now have a score that will give me a fighting chance in the admissions process and I am quite excited!
Hello, this is your student from last summer, Jennifer, from Columbia University's Mellon Mays program. I'm just writing to let you know that, after getting accepted to 5 English PhD programs for Latina/o literature and spending about a month torturing myself over a decision, I finally chose to go to the University of Michigan this fall on the Rackham Merit Fellowship.
Taking that GRE prep course with Bell Curves was not only ridiculous amounts of fun, but also totally stress- and anxiety-reducing and I felt totally prepared walking into the exam. Seriously, thanks for all your help -- and I hope next year's Columbia Mellons have at least half as much fun as we did. :)
I really want to thank you and the entire Bell Curves institution for everything you have taught me because it has certainly paid off. Please tell Christina as well as everyone else that I really appreciate everything that they did for me this summer.
I found out this week that I've been ACCEPTED into Wharton's MBA program for Executives!!! I feel like Bell Curves had a big hand in helping me prepare adequately for the GMAT. Thanks again.
The combination of peer pressure and what I felt were terribly low SAT scores made the difficult college admissions process worrisome for me. Luckily, I was introduced to the Bell Curves team and my worries quickly vanished. Comfort quickly replaced anxiety as I learned innovative strategies and techniques. As a result, my score jumped 230 points! Today I can proudly say that I attend George Washington University and would definitely recommend Bell Curves to any student looking to conquer the SAT!
I have always found math intimidating, all the way through AP Calculus. So then, there it was, the math portion of the GRE, looming like a monolith between a
PhD program and me. Luckily, the director of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate
Program at Columbia University was smart enough to hire Akil Bello of Bell Curves
test prep. Akil demonstrated all of the best qualities of a tutor: extreme patience,
humor and unparalleled knowledge concerning the test at hand. Within a few short
weeks I not only gained a greater understanding of the mathematical concepts
tested by the GRE, but I also learned how to become a more efficient test taker over
all, increasing my confidence and making test day a breeze. When faced with the
daunting task of compiling my graduate school applications, it was a source of calm
amidst the storm knowing that at the very least, I had the GRE in the bag.
I began the Virtual GMAT Course with Yanique this evening. She is WONDERFUL!!! Thank you for the opportunity to work with such a gifted and patient instructor.
Thank you Bell Curves for making my success on the GMAT a reality. I increased over 100 points since my prior official score. I broke into the 650+ range and scored over the 90 percentile on the verbal.
Bell Curves filtered out the extra noise out there around the false GMAT tips and tricks. They provided structure on how to approach and deconstruct math and verbal questions so I always kept the 'real question asked' at the top of mind as I worked. Their approach to time management helped a lot, boosting my score 50 points once I adopted it. Their hands-on approach and emphasis on student participation helped me to understand the way the GMAT writers think and ask questions.
I had personal tutoring as well. Third person observation of my errors and trends helped correct the way I studied and practiced for the GMAT.
I highly recommend Bell Curves for your test prep.
You taught me SAT prep techniques last year, and I just wanted to tell you that I got into Columbia through early decision. I really couldn't have done without the help from you and every other instructor who's been drilling the stuff in my head. I actually scored a 700 in the math and and 2050 overall.
Bell Curves has been more than just a GMAT prep company for me. Not only did I receive expert GMAT training that helped increase my score by 90 points, but I also received helpful insights into the overall MBA application process. These insights helped me establish a framework in which I was able to successfully be admitted into two of the top worldwide MBA programs.
