Elite Academic Coaching in Law, History, Writing, and Admissions

Harvard and Yale-trained teacher helping students tackle high-stakes challenges — from bar prep and legal writing to AP History and college admissions.

Credentials at a Glance:

  • Harvard College, A.B. in History, summa cum laude, 2014

  • Tutor, Harvard Writing Center, 2011-2014

  • Yale Law School, J.D., 2017

  • Admitted to Massachusetts Bar, 2017

  • AP European History, American History, and AP Macroeconomics Teacher, Medfield High School, 2017-Present

  • Medfield High School Inspiration Award Winner, 2019

  • 5.0 Star Rating on Wyzant.com

What Law Students Say

“Mike is a genuinely caring person who clearly loves helping others. He has a great ability to break down complex material into simpler, more understandable terms, which made learning much easier for me. He’s very enthusiastic and brings a positive energy to each session, which helped make even the most stressful topics feel manageable. I truly appreciated his patience and encouragement—he made a big difference in my learning experience.” - Gwyn O., Law Student

What High Schoolers and Parents Say

“Mr. Cotter is without a doubt the best teacher I’ve ever had. But, beyond the actual lessons in class, he cares for his students at the next level: not only as learners, but as growing people.” - Medfield High School Senior

“Mike is a great teacher. My daughter had a few sessions with him for AP Euro, and he was excellent at reviewing and testing her knowledge of specific content. But he also helped her to refine her test-taking approach with specific feedback to her tendencies. He's really nice, chill, encouraging - highly recommend!” - T.J., Parent

“When it became clear that my son's AP European History classroom teacher was not effective, Mike's tutoring became essential for his success. Meeting twice weekly for the better part of a semester, Mike systematically worked through textbook material with my son and provided comprehensive practice across all AP test question formats. Beyond content mastery, Mike excelled at teaching practical study strategies—for example, showing our son how to effectively read and process the dense textbook material. These targeted approaches made a real difference: our son's in-class performance and test scores improved significantly, and even more importantly, he shifted from avoiding the subject to approaching it with greater confidence.

Mike has a fantastic combination of academic expertise and genuine care for his students. He's highly educated and clearly knows the material inside and out, but he's also remarkably kind, understanding, and flexible in his approach. Mike was always proactive about communication—letting us know well in advance if he had scheduling conflicts and reaching out when we forgot to schedule sessions. His positive attitude and responsiveness to emails made the entire tutoring experience smooth and stress-free for our family. We're so grateful for the great academic foundation and confidence Mike helped our son build.” - Chad T., Parent