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Optimal Mindset
At City Test Prep, we pioneered the integration of mindset training into academic tutoring. While content mastery and test-taking strategy form the foundation of high performance, we go further—helping students build emotional regulation, focus, and resilience under pressure. Like sports psychology for students, our approach uses tools such as mindfulness, visualization, and time management to align the conscious and unconscious mind. This transforms anxiety into clarity and empowers students to succeed not just on test day, but throughout their academic and professional lives.
Align your desire to perform your best with your unconscious ‘operating system’
Your mind consists of two parts: the conscious, which is aware, deliberate, and engaged in the present moment, and the unconscious, which operates behind the scenes: shaping your habits, beliefs, emotional responses, and automatic behaviors. Think of your unconscious mind as the operating system, and your conscious mind as the interface through which you navigate the world. Both are essential, and when they’re aligned, you can access a state of calm focus and perform at your highest level.
When a task feels dull or overwhelming, the unconscious mind may disengage, leading to distraction, procrastination, or anxiety. And when stress hits, it’s easy to spiral without tools to interrupt that pattern. City Test Prep’s solution is our Full Potential process, an evidence-based approach that draws from holistic and mindful modalities including visualization, Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), sound therapy, breathwork, and meditation. We also integrate vagus nerve activation, bilateral stimulation, growth mindset training, positive psychology, and cognitive reframing to help students regulate stress, sharpen focus, and shift limiting beliefs. This work not only aligns the conscious and unconscious mind, it empowers students with tools for self-regulation and resilience that extend far beyond test day, so you can focus, stay calm, and get results. For many, it becomes the shortest, most impactful part of the study process, unlocking performance with clarity, confidence, and lasting personal growth.
Evidence-based practices
Our audio series combines exercises and visualizations with mood-enhancing soundscapes, guiding you through mindful, evidence-based practices that promote calm, clarity, and focus.
Our individual coaching is more intensive and fully customized, designed to help you quiet the inner critic, eliminate test anxiety, build confidence and a growth mindset, and release self-limiting beliefs.
Whether you’re studying, taking a high-stakes exam, or facing a professional or personal challenge, Full Potential tools help you concentrate more effectively, reduce anxiety, and improve your overall mindset. The result? Better performance and a more empowered focused version of yourself.
Full Potential Audio
Each audio features:
Full Potential Coaching: A Mindset Upgrade
At City Test Prep, we believe tests not only measure your knowledge, but also how well you perform under pressure. Tests can be stressful, and if you’ve felt anxious before an exam, interview or performance, you’re not alone.
Student anxiety has risen sharply in recent years. According to the 2023 Healthy Minds Study, about 36% of college students have been diagnosed with or treated for anxiety, and 76% report moderate to severe psychological distress. Among high school students, roughly 35% experience moderate to severe test anxiety, according to UWorld’s College Prep research. Studies show that anxiety can impair working memory and cognitive function, leading to a measurable drop in test scores—often by as much as 12%, as detailed by Hembree’s meta-analysis. That’s why it’s essential for students to approach studying and test-taking with tools that build confidence, emotional regulation, and a calm, focused mindset.
We are committed to helping students realize their full potential and Bara Sapir is uniquely qualified to do so. Bara holds a masters degree in education, certifications in hypnosis, Neuro-linguistic programming, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction(MBSR), Integrated Life Coaching, has had 30 years experience successfully improving students’ mindset, and an intimate knowledge of admissions tests. She helps students gain a peak performance mindset and embody a clear, stress free perspective. This includes relieving their test anxiety, eliminating their self-limiting beliefs, and firing their inner critic.
After having already amassed test knowledge and strategy, students employing her tools regularly perform to their potential rather than compromise their performance and score due to emotional duress. Her students have gained 100+ points on the GRE and SAT and up to 230 points on the GMAT up from prior tests, after meeting with her even the week or days before their exams. Her well resourced students have passed the USMLE Boards and The BAR Exam by incorporating her methods. She works with students of all ages, parents, and private clients who seek support to meet their goals.
