�eon Wang knows how time-consuming it can be to prepare for the SAT — hetook them in November 2020 . Afterward , he decided to share strategies he learned , and began making 1-minute tutorial videos for TikTok .“ Instead ofhaving to look up everything in astudy guide , Imade one screenshot that you can just memorize ,” says Wang , now 1� and starting his freshman year at �niversity of Michigan . At �rst , the videos posted on Tiktok . com �leonthetutor received around 100 to 300 likes each . Then the algorithm started recommending his videos onthe platform ’ s “ �or you ” section , and their popularity exploded . One of his videos , which was advertising his channel as away to study for the SAT , went viral in March 2021 , gaining 3million views and �00,000 likes . This also made his follower count grow to 1�0,000 people ( he currently has nearly 200,000 ).
After hestarted his channel , Wang spent hours trying to answer questions that high school students sent him about studying for the SAT , and it became increasingly hard to help each one personally . That ’ swhen he had another idea : toopen his own SAT remote tutoring business . To make it affordable tohis peers , he set his rate at ��5 per hour ( tutors commonly charge ��0 to�200 an hour for their services ). Henamed his business Leonthetutor �rivate Tutoring after his TikTok handle . Here are �things to know about Leon Wang .
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HE ALWAYS LOVED TUTORING� �rowing up , Wang tended to �nish assignments ahead of his classmates , and liked to help those around him . He discovered that he enjoyed teaching , and has made it part of his life ever since . He began tutoring his classmates in middle school .
Then the COVID-1� pandemic hit . His tutoring slowed down , as he didn ’ t have the ability to meet in person . He started using social media more , sometimes being on his phone 1� hours aday during quarantine . One day , he had an idea : why not combine his love of social media and tutoring into one business�
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HE IS NOT PREOCCUPIED WITH INCREASINGTHE NUM�ER OF HIS FOLLOWERS� “ One day Ihad 2,000 followers and the next day I had 20,000 ,” says Wang . Since starting his TikTok channel , he has made around �00 videos many ofwhich focus primarily on how to take the math and English portions of the SAT .
At �rst , Wang focused on growing his channel , but he later realized it wasn ’ t worth caring about the numbers . “ If Ialready have 1�0,000 people Ican help , that is way more than enough ,” he says . “ If I make a video and 20 people �nd it helpful , that ’ s good enough for me . Ijust want to help as many people as Ican .”
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COURTESY OF LEON WANG |