FAQs

  • Sheer efficiency. I’m always thrilled by how rapidly my students seem to grow (provided they do the work), and I pride myself on consistently beating the industry standard in this regard. Most prep courses and private tutoring programs require 30-60 hours of instruction time alone, and even then the results hardly justify the investment. By contrast, my typical student sees significant gains within 6-12 hours of tutoring.

    In particular, my average student gains:

    • 5 - 9 points on the ACT (versus the industry standard of 2 - 4 points)

    • 100 - 300 points on the SAT (versus the industry standard of 60 - 80 points)

    • 9 - 20 points on the GRE (versus the industry standard of 4 - 8 points)

  • For information on my background and qualifications, please visit the About Me page.

  • For information on how I teach each of those tests (and what the advantages of my approach are), please visit my Methodology page.

Why Me?

  • I’ll answer this in two ways:

    a)      What they are NOT:

    • LECTURES that simply convey information and facts

    • CLASSES that are syllabus-guided or built around completion of modules and objectives like a course or class-room experience

    b)     What they ARE:

    • STRATEGY SESSIONS (especially in the beginning of the process) designed to instill in each student the best APPROACH to the sections for demonstrable and dramatic score improvements that will be apparent very quickly

    • TARGETED REVIEW SESSIONS that aim to cover areas of content weakness in the most efficient and digestible manner possible.

    • COACHING SESSIONS (especially toward the end of the process) built around:

      • doing questions together

      • intensively reviewing the questions immediately after the student’s attempt

      • giving personalized, real-time feedback on how they handled that question

      • and having the student integrate the feedback into their performance on the next question.

  • Undoubtedly. That said, I am sensitive to the demands people already have on their time, and I try to keep the homework down to very manageable levels. Most students report that it takes less than 40 minutes per day, 4-5 days a week, to complete the homework (not including practice tests). My philosophy regarding homework is that consistency beats quantity.

  • Every case is different. Having said that, the bulk of my students need somewhere between:

    ---8 to 12 weeks (with an average of 1 session per week) for the ACT or SAT. The ones who start closer to their target can often get away with 6 sessions or fewer.

    ---8 to 16 weeks (with an average of 1-2 sessions per week) for the GRE or GMAT. The ones who start closer to their target AND/OR are not presently encumbered by either a full-time work schedule or a full-time college course load might see a substantial gain in about 1 month, depending on their level.

  • At present, I am only available for online tutoring.

  • The minimum duration of a session is one hour and the maximum duration is two hours.

    The most typical schedule most students keep with me is one hour a week. Students who have more material to cover may opt to begin with 2+ hours a week and then decrease to one hour a week later.

    I am sensitive to how incredibly overworked most students are, and I try to deliver the best value in the least possible time.

How it works

  • There are 2 ways to purchase sessions:

    • Paying for individual hours on a pay-as-you-go basis (at the default rate).

    • Making an upfront payment for a package of hours (at discounted rates).

    Every package option contains a multiple of 4 hours, since most students do one hour of tutoring per week and there are 4 weeks to a month. That said, you are, of course, welcome to distribute the hours however you choose.

    The prices are as follows:

    • Pay-as-you-go (individual sessions): $250/hour

    • 4-hour package (1 month of sessions, 1 hour a week): $225/hour x 4 hours = $900

    • 8-hour package (2 months of sessions, 1 hour a week): $200/hour x 8 hours = $1600

    • 12-hour package (3 months of sessions, 1 hour a week): $175/hour x 12 hours = $2100.

    • Any hours that need to be purchased beyond the 12 hours in the 12-hour package can be purchased at the rate of $150/hour. This price is ONLY available to clients who have already previously purchased the 12-hour package, either in one payment or via upgrades from the 4-hour and 8-hour options (see below).

    ***UPGRADE POLICY: If you purchase either the 4-hour or 8-hour package, you may upgrade it to an 8-hour or 12-hour package at any time simply by paying the difference between the price of your current package and the higher package. PLEASE NOTE that any hours purchased on a Pay-as-you-go basis may NOT be applied to package purchases.

    ***NO-REFUND POLICY: Please note that all purchases are FINAL and NON-REFUNDABLE. Any unused hours purchased as part of a package do NOT expire and can be repurposed for a younger sibling, help with college admissions essays, etc.

  • For SAT/ACT prep, all materials - including practice tests - are included. For GRE/GMAT prep, much will be provided by me, but certain materials will still have to be purchased from the test makers.

  • A minimum of 24 hours’ notice must be given in the event of a cancellation. Lessons cancelled or rescheduled with at least 24 hours' notice may be cancelled or rescheduled with no fee incurred. Cancellations with less than 24 hours’ notice but prior to the start of the session are subject to a fee upto (but not exceeding) 50% of the would-be lesson fee. No-shows (or cancellations made after the start of the session) incur the full charge of the would-be lesson. In the case of students who have purchased packages, the equivalent number of hours will be deducted from the package.

  • When you purchase a package of hours, a discounted rate is automatically applied. See above.

    Beyond that, I also have a referral policy whereby students may claim 1 free hour of tutoring (in addition to any they have already purchased) for every referral that results in a lesson with a referred student.

Pricing & Policies