Research conducted with Georgetown University’s Department of Psychology
Most of the admissions industry runs on rumor. We run on data, reader-side experience, and our own university research on the one thing that quietly decides high-stakes performance: anxiety.
Interviews, standardized tests, and deadline seasons all draw on one thing: working memory under stress. When anxiety rises, working memory narrows, and performance falls even when the preparation is there.
That is not a motivational problem. It is a measurable, well-documented cognitive mechanism, and it is trainable. We study it formally rather than telling students to relax.
Dr. Lyons studies the cognitive, emotional, and neural processes behind performance under pressure. His published work shows how anxiety shapes test performance and the academic choices students make, independent of raw ability, the exact mechanism that the highest-stakes moments of admissions turn on.
Our IRB-approved study applies that science to the tests and interviews our students actually face, so the way we coach rests on evidence, not folklore.
Pre-test protocols that protect working memory, not vague reassurance, timed to the SAT and ACT calendar.
Structured practice that trains composure under real interview conditions, so nerves stop costing points.
A cadence for senior fall that keeps students functional through early action and early decision crunch.
Book a consultation to see how the research shapes the way we would coach your student.
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