FAQs

Sheer efficiency. My unique selling point is being the tutor who gets the biggest improvements in the fewest sessions.

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 (before accounting for time spent completing homework and taking practice tests).

By contrast, my typical student sees significant gains within 6 - 12 hours of tutoring. While taking practice tests on a regular basis and completing homework diligently are still mandatory, I pride myself on eliminating as much of the mindless “busy work” as possible from my already-overworked students’ lives.

The results speak for themselves. Overall, my average student gains:

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

• 120 - 300 points on the SAT (versus the industry standard of 60 - 100 points)

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

I have been a full-time tutor specializing in standardized test prep for 18+ years! My experience includes working for some of the most well-known boutique tutoring companies in NJ & NY (two very academically competitive states), where I taught classes, led workshops, conducted private lessons, trained teachers, & wrote curriculum. The cost of services (including mine) at some of these firms ran from $375 - $500+ per hour. For my private clients, I can provide the same efficiency at around half the cost.

In addition, I have a dual background in both STEM and in Literature/Writing, thus providing me with a strong foundation to teach the Verbal AND the Mathematical aspects of each exam for which I provide coaching. Most importantly, however, I have a track record that consistently exceeds the industry standard by a wide margin (see answer to “What sets you apart from other tutors or test prep options?”)

For much more detailed information on my background and qualifications, please visit the About Me page.

The first problem with many test prep tutors and companies (though certainly not all) is that they tend to err on the side of one of two extremes:

(a) Being Overly Academic - that is, they approach the exam in a rather “text-book” manner that does very little to help students understand the material intuitively or apply it strategically.

(b) Being Overly “Gimmicky” - notably, their approach is overly focused on “tips and tricks”, many of which are either:

• too broad to cover all cases

• too case-specific, only applying to one question-type which could easily be (& frequently is) changed or varied by the test-makers

• just rephrasings of common sense advice.

The other problem with most of the other providers is that they often use question banks and practice tests that are their own in-house creations. While these may resemble the actual exam to the casual eye, they often contain profound differences from the real thing, which translate into notable differences in performance on test day.

By contrast, my approach is:

• Process-Oriented, with a strong focus on “learning by doing” rather than via formal academic study or memorizing a mere bag of tricks.

• Based ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY on using real exams and questions from the actual test-makers.

A typical session sees a student and I working off of REAL practice tests. In the beginning, I will focus heavily on strategy demos & guided practice; as we progress, the sessions will focus more on:

(a) real-time short drills to target weaknesses, followed by immediate feedback

(b) learning from mistakes made on homework assignments and practice tests.

My results justify the departure from the norm: my students typically improve 5-9 points on the ACT, 100-300 points on the SAT, and 9-20 points on the GRE.