Our Founder
Michael Pettinati, J.D. is an Attorney and Educationalist. An alumnus of Northwestern University and NYU, Mike majored in Math and Bio-Chemistry before choosing a career in Law. He discovered his passion for teaching after his freshman year at Northwestern. During a freshman English writing seminar, Mike’s professor, in an apparent attempt to be funny, singled Mike out and announced to the class: “What we have here ladies and gentlemen is a functional illiterate!” The left-handed compliment was meant to call attention to Mike’s SAT score: 800 in math, but only a 790 on the verbal section—after all, this was a writing seminar. Although embarrassed by the attention, whether it was meant as a compliment or a criticism, Mike realized for the first time how important SAT scores really were to the university; so important in fact, that everyone at the school, even the professors, were aware of the scores. The following year, as a result of this revelation, Mike began teaching for an SAT preparation company – a little known start-up called The Princeton Review®. From the moment he began as an instructor at age 19, his passion was fueled, and he has not stopped teaching since. Since 1981, even during his years as a practicing attorney, Mike has been teaching college-bound students how to “Crack-the-Test,” and believes emphatically that:
“The SAT and ACT are the single most important exams a student will ever take.”
In addition to The Princeton Review®, Mike has contributed his expertise to companies like KAPLAN® and TESTTAKERS®, and has raised the test scores of thousands of students all across the country. Decades of teaching experience, research and the exhaustive study of every released SAT & ACT ensure that his teaching method is the most effective in the industry. Mike routinely sits for both the SAT & ACT and monitors changes made to the tests and continually refines the strategies he teaches in his course. Without question, Mike’s knowledge of the SAT & ACT is unmatched in Southwest Florida.