No. Subject expertise is critical. Certainly, there are a rare few people who perform well themselves in many areas, but to teach at the highest level, and to teach students of varying abilities, you need to have deep conceptual understanding of your subject. You rarely find mathematicians conversant in dangling modifiers, and writers waxing poetic on quadratic equations. But you will always have Valerie as your main “point person” to help coordinate sessions and make sure that everything works smoothly. We take great pride in providing a high quality, convenient, and low-stress experience for our students and parents.

Not necessarily. Most of our clients actually spend less on individual ACT/SAT tutoring than the cost of a class — sometimes much less. How?

1. We are more efficient than a class because our time is 100% geared toward your student’s needs. So, we can accomplish more with your child in one 45 minutes - 1 hour than what's typically accomplished in four hours of classroom time

2. We are more effective than other tutors because we are experienced in our subjects, in the test. Excellent classroom math/English teachers don’t necessarily understand the nuances of teaching for standardized tests.

3. We get teens -as educators and as parents. We’re experienced in noticing and helping students manage and overcome other issues that can get in the way of classroom or test performance such as confidence, anxiety, organization/time management issues.

Yes, 100%.  We love meeting kids in person, but there’s no difference in the results we're able to achieve; our students form trusting bonds with us whether we meet in person or online. In fact, sometimes students feel more relaxed during virtual tutoring sessions. Online sessions are also SUPER convenient because nobody has to drive, and we never need to cancel due to inclement weather.

The best way to decide which test is right for you is to do a practice ACT and a practice SAT and then compare the results -- which is what we encourage all of our students to do.  And we can help you with that! The practice tests are free and are very easy to complete at home or at some other quiet place.  Read more about that on our blog here.

That really depends on your starting point and how much work you put in between sessions.  We've had students who've only needed two sessions just to tweak a few test-taking strategies, and others who've required a few months of help because they had significant knowledge gaps.  The more work students do on their own  - with our guidance of course - in between sessions, the fewer sessions they generally need.  But we never do more sessions than are needed. When your student is done and ready, we will say so!

Most people opt 1-hour sessions, but we tailor sessions to your goals, timing, budget, and how your student is feeling that day.  Sometimes students want to work longer because they're motivated, we're on a roll, covering a lot of ground.  Other times, a student comes to meet with us and it's clear he/she isn't feeling well (usually evidenced by them making new and uncharacteristic mistakes). Or, perhaps we’ve gotten to the point where we've given your student a "green light" that he/she is done and ready, so may just do a 20-minute check in.  But what you can be sure of is that we are always mindful of your teen's needs and time, as well as your budget.  And you will always be in the loop about what we're doing and progress.

Our tutors and college admissions guides have very specialized backgrounds. And we’ve all been tutoring for a minimum of 7 years.