About
The Baology Prep Course is designed to be the biology course that our instructors wished they had access to when they were students. All of our instructors are not only alumni of competitive biology programs, but also competed at the top levels in them. While this course is designed for students of all levels including beginners, many find the content most easily absorbed if they do the assigned readings for each class prior the lecture. Our goal is to take our official textbook, Campbell Biology, and use it as a framework to build more advanced topics. As such our class will benefit students both introductory and advanced. We pride ourselves on three principles when teaching our course:
Whenever possible we strive to cover more and not less material. We will often hold additional sessions, review classes, and even community activities for students of the course
We think that with any competition as intensive and involved as an olympiad, half the battle is finding the motivation to study. By fostering a community of fellow biology enthusiasts we find that students find studying no longer a chore but a fun challenge to undertake
Study smarter not harder is a common adage, and we strive to bring the “smart” to the table. As former high-performers ourselves, we know the stress of dealing with other extracurriculars, challenging classes, and a social life, so we try to focus a big part of the class on strategy and skills so even if you don’t have time to master all the content you can see improvements to your performance.
Kevin is a current PhD Student in the prestigious UW Madison Genetics Training Program. He got his Bachelor of the Arts in Integrative Biology from Harvard University in 2019. During high school, he was a three time biology finalist, earning bronze and silver medals during his career. He was also Captain of Troy High School’s Science Olympiad Team, winning numerous personal awards in events like Cell Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, and Designer Genes. During his tenure, he led the team to two National Titles. He later also founded the Harvard Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament. Kevin has had extensive experience teaching advanced biology.
Joseph is an alumni Vagelos Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. During his time in high school, Joseph qualified as a top 20 finalist and earned a silver medal (national Top 8). As a leading member of the Troy Science Olympiad team, he helped lead the team to become national champions twice. He has also won numerous individual national medals such as 1st place in Disease Detectives, 2nd place in Anatomy & Physiology, and 3rd place in Designer Genes. He plans to use his +6 years of teaching experience to make this course enjoyable and enriching.
Lawrence is a junior at MIT and planning to major in bioengineering. He is thoroughly experienced in biology competitions, having qualified as a Top 50 Semifinalist in 2020, a Top 20 National Finalist in 2021, and a Top 4 Team member in 2022. During his time as a high schooler at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley (BISV), he was a core member and contributor of the BISV Science Bowl team, leading the team to top four in one of the most competitive National Science Bowl regions. He is excited to share his years of testing experience with students and help them succeed in their goals.
Greycen is a junior at MIT studying biology. He has competed in biology in all four years of high school, while qualifying as a Finalist in 2021 and 2022. Greycen has also been heavily involved in Science Olympiad, both as a competitor for his high school and as a test writer. He is very excited to share his love of frogs and biology to many new students.
Jason is a freshman at Harvard studying Applied Math and Biology. He has competed in USABO and qualified for finals every year from 2021-2024. In 2022 and 2024, he was selected twice as a Team USA member and recently won gold for the US at the 2024 IBO. As an alumnus of Baology since 2020, Jason is excited to teach the next generation of finalists, sharing his insight and long experience with the USABO.
Ian is a sophomore at Carleton College, where he plans to pursue dual majors in Biology and Statistics. With a deep-rooted passion for biological sciences, Ian qualified as a finalist in 2023. As an alumnus of Baology, he is excited to contribute to the community that played a pivotal role in his academic development, bringing his unique insights and experiences to the prep course.