FOR BERGEN COUNTY PARENTS OF STUDENTS IN GRADES 5 THROUGH 8
How Bergen County Families Are Winning Seats at BCA and Bergen Tech Without the Guesswork, the Rumors, or the Last-Minute Scramble
The 2026 Complete Guide to Bergen County High School Admissions is a walkthrough of the BCA and Bergen Tech admissions process created by MEK Review, which has helped thousands of students gain acceptance since 1997. Instant digital download.
Regularly $20, today only $9.
"Mary Valloni and Mike Kim offer a clear, actionable plan that yields noticeable results. As both a support raiser and a trainer in the field, I highly recommend Fully Funded for its exceptional guidance and effectiveness."
Delyn Cole
Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, USA
"Personally, it took me from 60% to 120% of my budget in a year. If your support-raising feels stuck, this is exactly what you need."
Dr. Don Allen
Missionary & Coach
"Fully Funded is the 'secret decoder ring' missionaries have been waiting for. Mike and Mary go beyond concepts and get right down to the tactical how-to part of fundraising. I could hand this book to a new missionary with no other training and simply advise, 'Read this and do everything it says.' That missionary would be fully funded."
James Harrington
CEO, Ugandan Water Project
More Than 2,000 Bergen County Students Compete Directly Against Each Other for Roughly 460 to 480 Combined Seats
The BCA and Bergen Tech entrance exam is not a public test. Unlike the SAT or ACT, there are no official practice tests, no published scoring guides, and no content breakdowns from the district. The process that decides where your child spends the next four years operates, from a parent's point of view, almost entirely behind a curtain.
The stakes on the other side of that curtain are real. There is no passing score and no cutoff; only the top 20% of test-takers advance to an interview. Sometimes the difference between an interview invitation and a rejection is just one or two math questions, or the quality of a single essay paragraph.
With no official information available, most families do what any parent would. They ask around, and the advice usually sounds like this:
A neighbor whose son was accepted three years ago shares what worked for him.
A group chat passes along a rumor about what the essay graders want.
A generic workbook promises "magnet school prep," written by someone who has never seen this exam.
An online forum insists the test changed this year, or maybe last year, or maybe not at all.
Advice like this is usually well intentioned, but it comes from one or two experiences with a process that changes from year to year. This guide exists to end the guessing.
The Same Questions Come Up Every Admissions Cycle. This Guide Contains our Answers.
Ann Ahn, MEK Review's Head Academic Counselor, has personally guided MEK's high school admissions program from its earliest years. Over that time, she has had the same conversations with Bergen County parents hundreds of times: How does the test work? What is actually on it? When should we start? Is my child ready? What happens if they do not get in?
The 2026 Complete Guide to Bergen County High School Admissions puts everything we know into a single resource, one that families can reference from the moment they begin thinking about high school through the day decisions arrive.
We are also honest about where that knowledge comes from. The entrance exam is not a publicly released test, so the insights in these pages are based on our interpretation of the admissions process: direct experience preparing students for this specific exam, cumulative feedback from the thousands of students who have gone through the process with us, and more than two decades of tracking admissions outcomes.
The results of that experience from the 2025 cycle alone: 39 MEK students accepted to BCA, representing approximately 1 out of every 7 freshmen in the incoming class, 19 more accepted to Bergen Tech, and a 92% interview invitation rate compared to the general rate of approximately 20%.
49
MEK students accepted
to BCA in 2025
22
accepted to
Bergen Tech
92%
interview rate vs
20% general rate
"Mary Valloni and Mike Kim offer a clear, actionable plan that yields noticeable results. As both a support raiser and a trainer in the field, I highly recommend Fully Funded for its exceptional guidance and effectiveness."
Delyn Cole
Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, USA
"Personally, it took me from 60% to 120% of my budget in a year. If your support-raising feels stuck, this is exactly what you need."
Dr. Don Allen
Missionary & Coach
"Fully Funded is the 'secret decoder ring' missionaries have been waiting for. Mike and Mary go beyond concepts and get right down to the tactical how-to part of fundraising. I could hand this book to a new missionary with no other training and simply advise, 'Read this and do everything it says.' That missionary would be fully funded."
James Harrington
CEO, Ugandan Water Project
What Is The FULLY FUNDED Method?
The Fully Funded Method is a field-tested system for raising full financial support — without begging, burning through your contact list, or relying on outdated tactics that leave you exhausted and under-funded.
The best part about this method?
It's the only system built specifically for how donors actually give in today's world — designed by a 20+ year fundraising professional and a former pastor and bestselling messaging strategist, then refined through years of real-world fundraising with thousands of missionaries actively raising support today.
Yet most support raisers have never been taught anything like it.
It finally makes it possible for you to raise full support without having to...
❌ Carry the whole thing alone — with no support team opening doors, no warm introductions, and no one helping you reach people you don't already know.
❌ Guess at the ask — making inconsistent requests, never naming a specific monthly amount, and watching one-time givers disappear after a year because there's no real follow-up.
❌ Feel like asking for support is asking for a favor — apologizing for every email, dreading every conversation, and quietly wondering if you're just "not wired" for this.
Here's exactly how the Fully Funded Method works:
First, you'll read a short book — 155 pages, packed with clarity — that lays out what's actually changed in today's fundraising landscape, and why most of the "solutions" missionaries have tried no longer work.
Then, you'll be guided through a simple, step-by-step process: the same one used by thousands of missionaries to clarify their vision, enlist a support team, sharpen their message, and organize their ask.
And if you choose, you can work with us directly inside Fully Funded Academy — using the same coaching system that's helped thousands of missionaries go from under-supported to fully funded, confident, and free to focus on ministry.
(Yes, we’ve built everything so it works with or without 1:1 care.)
Once you begin, you'll start to see real progress... and stop wondering if you're just "not wired" for raising support, or if God forgot about your financial needs.
As a result, this method frees you up to focus on what really matters:
Serving the people God has called you to reach — without the constant pull of fundraising in the back of your mind
Being present with your family — without the weight of next month's budget hanging over every dinner conversation
Walking into donor conversations with the same confidence you bring to your ministry — clear, guilt-free, and ready to make the ask
…instead of only reaching out when you need money, apologizing for every ask, or watching supporters quietly drop off after a year.
This is the power of the Fully Funded Method.
🛡️ Backed by our 100% Money Back Guarantee.
Inside The 2026 Complete Guide, You Will Discover How To...
Take control of the admissions process and finally stop relying on group-chat rumors, secondhand advice, and generic workbooks written by people who have never seen this exam.
Prepare for the exam, the essay, and the interview using a proven, step-by-step process refined across thousands of Bergen County students since 1997.
Go from overwhelmed and uncertain to informed and confident, with a clear picture of how admissions actually works right now, so you know whether your child is ahead or behind.
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🛡️ Backed by our 100% Money Back Guarantee.
"Mary Valloni and Mike Kim offer a clear, actionable plan that yields noticeable results. As both a support raiser and a trainer in the field, I highly recommend Fully Funded for its exceptional guidance and effectiveness."
Delyn Cole
Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, USA
"Personally, it took me from 60% to 120% of my budget in a year. If your support-raising feels stuck, this is exactly what you need."
Dr. Don Allen
Missionary & Coach
"Fully Funded is the 'secret decoder ring' missionaries have been waiting for. Mike and Mary go beyond concepts and get right down to the tactical how-to part of fundraising. I could hand this book to a new missionary with no other training and simply advise, 'Read this and do everything it says.' That missionary would be fully funded."
James Harrington
CEO, Ugandan Water Project
"Fully Funded offers a clear, actionable plan that yields noticeable results. As both a support raiser and a trainer in the field, I highly recommend Fully Funded for its exceptional guidance and effectiveness."
Delyn Cole
Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, USA
"Fully Funded is the 'secret decoder ring' missionaries have been waiting for. I could hand this book to a new missionary and simply advise, 'Do everything it says.' That person would be fully funded."
James Harrington
CEO, Ugandan Water Project
"Personally, the strategies inside Fully Funded took me from 60% to 120% of my budget in just a year. If your support-raising feels stuck, Fully Funded and what Mike & Mary teach is exactly what you need."
Dr. Don Allen
Missionary & Coach
Straight A's Do Not Guarantee Admissions Success
Every year, more than 2,000 Bergen County students compete for roughly 460 to 480 combined seats at Bergen County Academies and Bergen Tech, and only the top 20% of test-takers advance to an interview.
The students who fall short are often talented, with strong grades and families who care deeply. The exam is simply built to a different standard: familiar concepts in unfamiliar formats, multi-step reasoning under strict time limits, and a timed critical essay most 8th graders have never faced.
Long before we wrote this guide, we watched that misconception repeat at our campuses, cycle after cycle, in the families who came to us late.
For nearly three decades, our team has worked on this problem from two different angles.
Ann Ahn, our Head Academic Counselor, has guided MEK's high school admissions program from its earliest years, walking thousands of Bergen County families through every step of the process, from the first school-choice conversation to the day decisions arrive.
Gunn Ahn, our headmaster, built the math curriculum that established MEK's reputation, training students to reason through problems that fit no memorized formula, which is precisely the skill the entrance exam is designed to test.
We saw the conventional approach play out over and over: the last-minute cram, the generic "magnet school prep" workbook, the advice handed down from a family whose child tested three years ago, and the months of math drilling that ignored the essay entirely.
The problem is that none of it worked consistently.
Family after family followed the same sequence: preparing from rumors, discovering the exam's real demands too late, and watching a capable student walk into a seat-competitive exam underprepared for the essay section, which carries equal weight with the math.
That experience pushed us to help families stop guessing and start preparing from an accurate picture of the process.
After nearly three decades of preparing Bergen County students for this specific exam, tracking outcomes across thousands of students, and refining our approach cycle after cycle, we systematized everything we know into the guide you are about to read.
INCLUDED WITH YOUR ORDER
The 2026 Complete Guide (the ebook)
The full, no-fluff guide to the unified BCA and Bergen Tech admissions process, written by the team behind 49 BCA and 22 Bergen Tech acceptances in 2025 alone.
PLUS, GET THESE 3 FREE BONUSES
BCA Mock Admission Test + 30 Minute Consultation
Order now and your child can experience a full BCA Mock Admission Test. Seats available only between August 17th and 28th. This is a full-length mock admission test administered under true testing conditions, followed by a private 30-minute consultation with our counseling team. You and your child will know exactly where things stand and where there are opportunities to improve their chances for acceptance.
The 40-Month Project Roadmap
A printable overview of the path from 9th grade to college acceptance, drawn from The 40-Month Project, our college admissions consulting program: course selection, extracurricular strategy, testing milestones, and application season. You will see what the four years after acceptance ask of your child before those years begin.
The Grade-by-Grade Preparation Checklist
The guide's timeline condensed to a single printable page: what to focus on in 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, season by season. Post it at home and you will always know what matters now, what comes next, and whether your child is on schedule.
Get All This For Only $9 Now
Here's A Sneak Peek At Some Of The Insights And Strategies You'll Find Inside The Book...
📖 How to consistently grow your donor base and raise more support by following a proven 7-step plan, even if you've felt stuck for years.
→ Chapters 1-7
📖 Two critical mistakes missionaries make when trying to raise support on their own — and why they may be unknowingly pushing donors away.
→ Chapter 2
📖 The real reason most missionaries stay stuck in a cycle of under-funding, even after years of support raising — and why it's not your fault.
→ Start Here Chapter
📖 The dangerous lies missionaries tell themselves about money that keep them from ever reaching full support — and how to break free from each one
→ Start Here Chapter
📖 The one scary statistic about missionary attrition that your sending organization likely didn't tell you — and exactly what to do about it before it's too late.
→ Start Here Chapter
📖 The easiest way to know if the Fully Funded Method will work for you, even if you've tried every fundraising training, conference, or book before.
→ Chapter 1
📖 The single strategy that has led to 100% of people getting fully funded — and why most missionaries overlook it entirely.
→ Chapter 3
📖 The simple shift that gets your donors to feel like partners, not ATMs — without cutting out the personal touch that makes your ministry special.
→ Chapter 4
📖 How to write a winning support letter that actually gets read, gets a response, and gets results — without sounding desperate or pushy.
→ Chapter 8
📖 How to plan a record-setting year-end fundraising campaign just by implementing one often-missed strategy that top-funded missionaries use every single year.
→ Chapter 9
📖 How to host an irresistible in-person fundraising event — and real success stories that prove it's never too late to reach full support.
→ Chapter 10
📖 How to leverage social media to cultivate real relationships with donors — not just post updates that nobody reads.
→ Chapter 4
📖 How to avoid confusion and overwhelm by focusing on just 7 clear steps that show real progress in your support raising.
→ Fully Funded Method
📖 The most important thing you must do to begin raising full support — and why waiting is costing you more than you think.
→ Chapter 3
📖 A clear breakdown of how to follow this method from anywhere in the world — even if you're brand new to support raising, serving overseas, or have a small network.
→ Chapters 1-10
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Frequently Asked Questions
About The 2026 Complete Guide to Bergen County High School Admissions
What if we have already started preparing on our own and it is not working?
Most self-directed preparation stalls because families are working without accurate information about what the exam tests and how it is scored. The guide lays out the whole process in order, shows you what each stage actually demands, and carries a 30-day money-back guarantee if it does not deliver that clarity.
Will this help if we are brand new to the admissions process?
The guide was written for exactly this situation. Chapter 1 maps every option available to Bergen County families (BCA, Bergen Tech, private day schools, boarding schools, parochial schools, and your district high school), and Chapter 5 gives you a grade-by-grade timeline, so a family starting from zero knows precisely what matters now and what can wait.
What exactly do I get when I order?
You receive the complete digital guide plus all three bonuses: the BCA Mock Admission Test with a 30-minute consultation, the 40-Month Project Roadmap, and the Grade-by-Grade Preparation Checklist. Everything arrives by email within minutes of purchase and is readable on any device.
What if I am busy? Will I have time to get through this?
The guide is built for busy parents. Start with Chapter 5, find your child's grade, and you will know where your family stands within ten minutes; the workshop replay covers the full landscape in a single evening whenever you are ready for more.
My child is only in 5th or 6th grade. Is it too early for this guide?
It is the ideal time. The grade-by-grade timeline in Chapter 5 begins in 5th grade, when the highest-leverage work is reading habits, arithmetic fluency, and early writing skills rather than test drills. Families who understand the process years in advance make the calmest decisions when the application window arrives.
Why can we not just buy a BCA prep book instead?
No such book exists. BCA and Bergen Tech are public magnet schools whose entrance exam is not publicly released, so there are no official practice tests and no commercial prep books written for it; the "magnet school" workbooks sold online were built for other tests entirely. This guide exists precisely because no other resource does: it is MEK's interpretation of the process, built from preparing Bergen County students for this specific exam since 1997.
Will I need to buy anything else to follow the plan in the guide?
No purchase beyond the guide is required; the guide and bonuses stand on their own. MEK's structured programs exist for families who want expert instruction and accountability, and Chapter 6 gives you an honest assessment of which students benefit from structured preparation and which students do not.
Inside the Guide, You Will Discover the Following.
📖 Why Bergen Tech is not a "backup" to BCA, and why treating the two schools as equal options gives your family a real strategic advantage.
→ Introduction
📖 The complete six-step admissions timeline from 7th grade foundations to the interview, including the application window most families discover too late.
→ Chapter 2
📖 The English section almost no middle schooler has ever faced: a 600-to-800-word literary response essay, written in 45 minutes, on a high-school-level passage.
→ Chapter 3
📖 The five qualities interview panels evaluate, the question categories they draw from, and the common mistakes that undermine otherwise strong applicants.
→ Chapter 4
📖 A candid, both-sides answer to the question every parent asks: is structured prep actually worth it, and for which students is it the wrong choice.
→ Chapter 6
📖 A clear-eyed comparison of every path: BCA, Bergen Tech, private day schools, boarding schools, parochial schools, and the district high school most families underestimate.
→ Chapter 1
📖 What is actually on the entrance exam: the exact math content areas, the digital format, and why straight-A students often underperform on it.
→ Chapter 3
📖 The six most common test-taking mistakes, and how to spot them in your child's regular schoolwork before they become costly.
→ Chapter 3
📖 A grade-by-grade preparation timeline for 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, so you know exactly what matters now and what can wait.
→ Chapter 5
📖 A complete Plan B playbook if the results do not go your way, including why a rejection changes far less about college outcomes than most families fear.
→ Chapter 7
Inside the Guide, You Will Discover the Following.
📖 Why Bergen Tech is not a "backup" to BCA, and why treating the two schools as equal options gives your family a real strategic advantage
→ Introduction
📖 A clear-eyed comparison of every path: BCA, Bergen Tech, private day schools, boarding schools, parochial schools, and the district high school most families underestimate
→ Chapter 1
📖 The complete six-step admissions timeline from 7th grade foundations to the interview, including the application window most families discover too late
→ Chapter 2
📖 What is actually on the entrance exam: the exact math content areas, the digital format, and why straight-A students often underperform on it
→ Chapter 3
📖 The English section almost no middle schooler has ever faced: a 600-to-800-word literary response essay, written in 45 minutes, on a high-school-level passage
→ Chapter 3
📖 The six most common test-taking mistakes, and how to spot them in your child's regular schoolwork before they become costly
→ Chapter 3
📖 The five qualities interview panels evaluate, the question categories they draw from, and the common mistakes that undermine otherwise strong applicants
→ Chapter 4
📖 A grade-by-grade preparation timeline for 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, so you know exactly what matters now and what can wait
→ Chapter 5
📖 A candid, both-sides answer to the question every parent asks: is structured prep actually worth it, and for which students is it the wrong choice
→ Chapter 6
📖 A complete Plan B playbook if the results do not go your way, including why a rejection changes far less about college outcomes than most families fear
→ Chapter 7
🛡️ Backed by our 100% Money Back Guarantee.
Introducing The 2026 Complete Guide to Bergen County High School Admissions, to Help Families Navigate BCA and Bergen Tech Admissions
After reading the guide, you will have a clearer picture of the admissions process, know what to expect from the exam and the interview based on nearly three decades of MEK experience, and build a preparation plan matched to your child's grade, goals, and timeline.
A Complete Picture, Not Scattered Tips.
No more piecing together advice that contradicts itself. The guide walks you through the journey in order, so you understand why each stage matters and how the pieces fit.
One Guide. Every Stage.
Whether your child is choosing between BCA's various academies or Bergen Tech's programs, preparing for the exam, drafting the application essay, or practicing for the interview, one resource covers each step in sequence.
Skills That Outlast Test Day.
The abilities this process builds (timed analytical writing, multi-step problem-solving, composure under pressure) are the same abilities the SSAT, SAT, ACT, and college applications reward. Preparation compounds for six years, whichever school your child applies for.
Confidence Without Cramming.
YWith an accurate timeline and a clear picture of the exam, your child builds skills gradually and walks into the testing room calm, and calm shows up in the score.
Clarity Without Overwhelm
There is no shortage of advice about BCA and Bergen Tech admissions, and much of it conflicts. This guide organizes the whole journey into one clear sequence, so you can set aside the noise and focus on what matters for your child right now.
A Prepared Student (Without the Burnout).
There are no all-night drilling marathons here. The guide shows you how preparation spreads across a realistic timeline, so your child improves steadily and arrives at the exam ready rather than exhausted.
[PAGE COUNT] pages. No fluff. Everything Bergen County families need to know about BCA and Bergen Tech admissions, from the team that has prepared students since 1997.