About Our Team
Dedicated to your learning. Committed to your advancement. Invested in your achievement.
Drew Brown
Carley Burke
Michael Tucker
Who
We are a small but highly experienced group. Energetic and enthusiastic, we subscribe to the idea that fulfillment and fortune favor the prepared.
Our committed work over the last 14 years has earned us a bird’s eye view of the pathways leading from high school to university to career. BFA Team Members bring an impressive range of skills and know-how to the company; we find, test, filter, and then incorporate new resources so that only the finest items remain for our students. This affords our team a unique flexibility, allowing us to deliver unrivaled results across a broad spectrum of work.
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What
Vision, balance, results, and achievement. We began exclusively as an academic coaching and tutoring company, a time during which we worked with students to prepare for a range of academic challenges, from short quizzes to full MCATs.
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As our experiences accumulated, our knowledge grew and insights sharpened, so we paired up those endeavors with more provisional goals: college and career advising; medical, law, and engineering school strategies; thesis guidance; risk and cost management; and long-term professional planning.
Integrating these services into one flexible framework produced remarkable results, and our current mission was born.
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In practical terms, our synthesis of these services accomplishes five key things:
Ensure and advance our students' understanding of challenging concepts, encouraging confident application and advancement
Prepare students for gate-keeping exams and courses in advance
Preserve and secure educational investments by anticipating risks and costs, advising and preparing accordingly
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Advise on institutions and program placement -- factoring in cost, risk, and alternative pathways and strategic coaching for challenging coursework and assessments
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- Advise on medical school (MD, DO, and PA), assisting with the MCAT, AMCAS, and AACOMAS
- Advise on law school (JD, LLM), assisting with the LSAT and CAS
- Advise on engineering programs (ME), assisting with the FE and PE exams
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When
Our company's founder began teaching, tutoring, and academic coaching in 2008 when he was a graduate student.
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"It became clear to me that we had many students in positions and
on pathways that lacked sufficient rigor, honest post-graduate guidance, and up-to-date resources for adequate preparation for their respective fields. Students, even the most invested and authentic, would have a difficult time recovering their investment into their own education or successfully navigating the more difficult courses, assessments, or other competitive
aspects of their career pursuits."
Slowly but intently building off of that impulse, Big Future Academics evolved, and we have since worked with thousands of students, ranging from those looking to ace an exam to those looking to find a home at the most prestigious and storied institutions in the country.
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Our team, dedicated and tested, has become versed and knowledgeable not only about the content our students must master but also on how to navigate the shifting landscape of universities and medical, law, and engineering colleges. We provide a proactive vision on how each of the parts of a student's plan should be integrated to maximize the outcomes and minimize the cost and unnecessary stress of the process.
Why
Teamwork makes the dream work. Our students are incredible, yet nevertheless face difficult choices, coursework, and assessments to enter their fields.
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The team at Big Future Academics is committed to enriching lives and bringing about small- and large-scale success through thoughtful and proven collaborations, education, and hard work. Given our company's small size, we are proud of the thousands of stories and projects we've been privileged to be part of. It is rewarding to watch our students' hard work open up opportunities for them. We are proud of their accomplishments, and we love hearing about the contributions our students are making to solving immense challenges. The exploratory dynamic that we strive to integrate into our methods gives students a clear advantage as they begin to encounter upper-level coursework.
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When you come to study, prepare, and explore at Big Future Academics, you will know immediately that you have found an intensely dedicated, professionally experienced, and highly energetic team of academic coaches and advisers who will provide you with every advantage, resource, book, suggestion, formula, mentor, or tool to help you arrive at where you want to go.
Where
The BFA Team has roots and wings. We typically work with students at our center in Lemont, IL, but do project-based work all over the map!
In addition to working at our center, we offer remote sessions (often in play-it-by ear format for busy students) when you're unable to make it in person.
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The map to the right shows our easily accessible location at 1011 State St., Lemont IL 60439. Please feel free to stop by!
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WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING...
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"This was by far the best investment we've made in our daughter's
academic future. We can't thank you enough."
— Anne, Burr Ridge
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A few other points...
Awesomeness
Don't change anything. You guys are awesome!!!
BFA AP Calc Student 2018
Unrivaled Service
The service and attention to detail was something we weren't used to or expecting.
Cathy V.
BFA Parent 2017
Big ROIs
This was by far the best investment we've made in our daughter's
academic future. We can't thank you enough.
Anne T.
BFA Parent 2015
Why wait?
I literally feel like I learned all of high school math in one day.
John I.
BFA Student 2016
Joy
It's always enjoyable to work with you; not everyone loves their job this much.
Enzo, BFA Student 2021
Range
Drew's coaching style can range from intense to relaxed, depending on what you're trying to do.
Sarah, BFA MCAT Student 2020
Dedication
Drew, Mike, and the rest of the team are beyond dedicated to their craft, and they couldn't be more timely.
Donald,
BFA Parent 2019
Depth
Their knowledge of content and strategies for MCAT preparation is deeper and customized far past what I've found with other programs.