The Kaplan Team is often cited as why schools stay with Kaplan, year after year. At Kaplan, there’s an expert at the heart of everything we do, whether it’s leading a class or developing innovative tools to help your students achieve their career goals. With our “Meet the Kaplan Experts” blog series, we introduce you to Kaplan’s extensive network of faculty, medical, and educational experts and delve into their diverse areas of expertise so that you can learn even more about your Kaplan team. This week, we're pleased to introduce you to Petros Minasi, Jr., Sr. Director, Pre-Health Programs.

What are your particular areas of expertise?

Building out an MCAT prep plan, the medical school admissions process, guiding students on how to maximize what they learn in their pre-med classes to be ready to prepare for the MCAT, online teaching, and how to perform basic (and sometimes not so basic) maintenance on your car and home.

Tell Us About Yourself

After more than two decades at Kaplan, I am often asked, “What keeps you here?” The answer is simultaneously simple and complex, but for now, I will keep it simple: it’s the people I interact with―advisors, students, and my colleagues, and the opportunities our programs and services open for students. 

Like many of my colleagues, I started at Kaplan as a teacher―specifically, teaching SAT classes as part of our partnership with the Oakland Unified School District whose students had historically been underserved and had not had access to SAT preparation programs, (and at the time, was one of the worst performing districts in the nation.) Right from the start, I saw the impact that our programs had on changing the trajectory of a student’s life. In my first cohort, all of my students went on to be the first in their family to attend college, including many who went on to some of the most selective colleges nationwide. To put it plainly, I was hooked. 

From there, one opportunity led to another. I started teaching MCAT as well as the other Pre-Health exams, then started training our new pre-health instructors, managed and supported our faculty teams locally and regionally, worked on curriculum development, etc. In 2009, a new opportunity arose as we identified the next evolution of education and our organization―live online instruction. I was lucky enough to be part of (at the time) a small group that forged the way into the future. 

With the major change to the MCAT coming in 2015, I moved over to our Pre-Health product team to shape and revolutionize our MCAT programs―leaning on and collaborating with my talented colleagues to learn and craft the most personalized learning experience for our pre-med students. And while my “day” job has shifted away from teaching, I have never stopped teaching―chances are I will cross paths with your students on the MCAT Channel!

So in addition to the people, it’s the constant evolution of Kaplan and our programs that keeps me here―the work to create the most efficient and positive learning outcomes will never be complete, and that is what wakes me up in the morning (and sometimes keeps me up very late into the evening.)

Over the course of this year, we are going to introduce you to the “people” of Kaplan―the experts across a wide variety of fields and teams . It’s my honor to call them colleagues, and I look forward to you getting to know them. For the last 8 years, one of the big focuses of my role has been the relationships we have with the advisor community, and how we can work together to open opportunities for your students as well as support you in the success of your roles. I hope getting to know the team at Kaplan will help with that endeavor. 

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