I focus on teaching the content of exams -- for example, the actual individual topics of mathematics and grammar -- rather than just tips for taking the test. There is no substitute for this wholesome, old-fashioned learning, and meeting one-on-one means that instruction will be efficient and customized. A "crash course" or short-term group class, while better than nothing at all, does not compare to detailed instruction from an experienced private tutor.

Absolutely not! We all have different skills and personalities. If you're ready to pay attention, I will teach you and guide you to a college where you fit.

There is no package and no upfront cost. You are free to stop at any time. You pay only for my time, plus a small flat fee to take each proctored exam at the office (usually on weekend mornings). You will receive a monthly invoice and can send payment via physical mail or bring a check to the office.

Not in the sense of professing expertise about a large number of individual colleges. While I can show you tools for researching colleges, many families independently seek out a separate professional for college counseling. I can recommend someone excellent who advises about the application process to each college based on enormous personal expertise. I spend the majority of my time teaching exams. I do, however, often help students compose their college essays, because by the summer before 12th grade I've developed a good rapport with students and understand their academic and personal strengths as well as their writing styles.

We establish a standing 75-min weekly appointment time and repeat unless there is a conflict. In some cases -- such as when a student begins the process late -- we may meet twice per week. Most students meet consistently throughout the majority 11th grade, then break for two-three months for summer, then meet for another two-three months to finish the college essays process during the early part of 12th grade.

Yes, but the quality matters more than the quantity. I won't ask you to do more than one hour per week outside of our meetings. I'd rather you give 20 minutes of your undivided focus than three hours of only moderate effort. For the first few meetings the homework will be the materials I've designed myself to reinforce individual concepts. The really huge time commitment will come when you have to do practice tests on weekend morning in addition to continuing with weekly meetings.

Mainly just the willingness to focus and the desire drive to improve. And your TI-83 or higher calculator. I have designed my own instructional materials and refined them carefully over the years. I will give you a notebook, paper, pens, etc, and all the practice materials you need.

It varies widely, but I've seen diligent students improve by several hundred points on the SAT. I have also had many students receive a perfect 800 on the MathII ("Math Level Two") SAT Subject Test. Often just the experience of sitting for practice tests and then reviewing it entirely goes a long way.

No, but it is rare for students not to improve meaningfully -- in both understanding of the content and confidence in test-taking -- over the course of months of weekly meetings and completion of several timed practice tests.

If he or she took the PSAT or PLAN in 10th grade, we will use that as a baseline. In some situations it helps to do a diagnostic SAT or ACT before starting instruction. In any case, I make it a point to consistently call parents and explain how their child appears to be doing. Then when it comes time for practice tests, you will see the progression of his or her scores in exact detail.

Yes! I have taught adults -- often previous high school students -- to take the GMAT and the GRE, and to apply for advanced degrees. I have taught younger students (middle school) to prepare for the exams to apply to private or religious high schools (SSAT/ISEE/HSPT). I have even taught troubled teens under house arrest to achieve their high school equivalency certificate (CHSPE)

Yes! I am happy to tutor à la carte in most high school subjects including Mathematics, Calculus, English and Essay Composition, Spanish, and US History. (If I could make a living at it, I'd do Tennis, Chess, Piano, and Guitar too!) For Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, I help students review the results of their practice Subject Tests, and guide them to improve on key areas, but do not consider myself an advanced subject matter tutor. I help high schoolers and adults alike write résumés. If you have a really challenging assignment -- such as a lengthy paper or report -- I'll ask that you send me the assignment and your work ahead of time so that we can be most efficient.

Sometimes, but the majority of my students are local and come to the office in person. I've found that nothing builds the rapport and effective learning dynamic as well as face-to-face instruction. That said, for students who don't live nearby, or who aren't nearby for a certain weekend or holiday, Zoom meetings work best.

The PSAT is a slightly shorter, slightly easier version of the SAT that does not include an essay. You should take the PSAT during October of 11th grade. The results are not reported to colleges, with the exception of scores in the top 1%, which will qualify you for National Merit consideration. Confusingly, the PSAT is scored out of 1520 rather than 1600. There is now also a "PSAT 10" for 10th graders and a "PSAT 8/9" for eight and ninth graders. Here is an article on the PSAT: https://blog.prepscholar.com/what-is-the-psat-test

When you start working with me at the beginning of 11th grade, bring along the results of your PSAT 10, if you took it. Otherwise, we will have you ready -- even by just October of 11th grade -- to feel more comfortable with the PSAT and use it to gain testing confidence.

It depends on a variety of factors and it's generally hard to say without trying both exams. Since the contents largely overlap, many highly-motivated students take both. It's most common for students to take the SAT first and then also take the ACT. When you come in for a consultation, I will show you in detail how the tests compare. SAT/ACT Chart: https://blog.prepscholar.com/act-to-sat-conversion

Timing tends to be tougher on the ACT -- especially the Reading and Science sections. So if you are granted extra time on both the SAT and ACT, then you should probably focus on the ACT. (Note that the application process for extended time is separate.)

To try the ACT on your own for free and get a feel for its content and timing, scroll to the bottom of the following link under "Practice for Each Subject": http://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-preparation.html This link also contains an excellent series of examples of ACT Essay responses that received different scores.

If you believe you have a diagnosable learning difference, then yes, of course. Otherwise, it's up to you. A growing number of people see extended time accommodations as a way to boost their chances. The process is expensive and involves documentation from a licensed educational psychologist (I can recommend someone local). If you're going to apply, do it immediately, because the turnaround time can be months. Here is a good article about accommodations for the SAT and ACT: https://www.compassprep.com/accommodations-requests-sat-vs-act/

Normally twice. For example, if you started preparing for the SAT in the fall of 2018, you should take the real exam on 12/1/18 and then again on 3/19/19; alternatively you could do 3/19/19 and then retake it 5/4/19. However, you normally want to save the last two dates of 11th grade (5/4/19 and 6/1/19) for the SAT Subject Tests, because they correspond with the course you've been in that year and perhaps also with the AP Exams.

ScoreChoice means that you do not immediately report your score upon taking an exam, but rather amass your scores from across all sittings for that exam and then decide which score(s) to send. You should use this to your advantage. However, note that there are exceptions -- notably Stanford and Yale -- that require you to send all of your scores.

SuperScore means that a college considers your score on a particular exam to be the sum of the highest scores in each subsection. The UCs do not do SuperScore, but most of the private colleges in the United States do. This is a key reason why it works to your advantage to take any exam twice (or more, although hopefully that's not necessarily). For the retake, we can focus our preparation on the lower section(s). Here is a good article on Score Choice and SuperScore: https://www.compassprep.com/superscore-and-score-choice/

Yes! Nothing allows you -- and your tutor -- to more directly understand what you missed on the SAT/ACT than seeing the actual test questions, your wrong answers, and a copy of the essay you wrote by hand. This feature costs about $20 but helps a lot. Here are the links explaining how to order these extra features of score reporting:

SAT: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/about/scores/reporting

ACT: https://www.powerscore.com/act/help/can-you-get-a-copy-of-your-act-exam.cfm

The essay is technically optional on both, but it looks lazy if you don't do it. Also, learning a good format for a compelling essay allows you to show off your communication skills, creativity, and diligence. The SAT and ACT essay scores are now both separate from the overall ("composite") score. Two human beings look at your essay and assign you marks for different subtopics. Here are the respective links: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/scores/understanding-scores/essay

https://blog.prepscholar.com/act-essay-scoring-completely-explained

If you want to be a competitive applicant to big-name universities, then pretty much. Even if not technically required, it shows discipline and effort (not to mention actually expertise in the subject matter) to do well on at least two SAT Subject Tests. If you want to major in Science, Engineering, or Mathematics, the Subject Tests may well be required in order to apply (e.g. Tufts). Confusingly, many universities are still vague, such as UC Berkeley's policy: "Recommended: Scores from SAT Subject Tests can be used to showcase academic mastery." Here is an article on the topic: https://blog.prepscholar.com/complete-list-of-colleges-that-require-sat-subject-tests

Most of my diligent students end up taking the MathII ("Math Level Two") exam. They take this exam twice -- on the last two dates of 11th grade, in May and June. This is the most teachable of the SAT Subject Tests and some of its more basic material overlaps with that of the SAT and ACT Math.

The TAG program ("Transfer Admission Guarantee") may be perfect for you. It's a pathway for students to transfer seamlessly from a California Community College (there 113: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_California_Community_Colleges_by_enrollment ) to a UC halfway through their collegiate career. Note that Berkeley and UCLA do not use TAG, but the other six UCs do -- Irvine, Merced, David, Santa Cruz, San Diego, and Santa Barbara. I've had many students rescue their higher university trajectories through this program. As an additional bonus, CCCs are extremely cheap (2k/yr for CA residents) and you are basically guaranteed entry. While the closest CCC to the office is College of San Mateo, De Anza College in Cupertino has an outstanding faculty and reputation for funneling its students to UCs through the TAG program. Here are a couple links about TAG and De Anza's connection to the program:

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/transfer-admission-planner/index.html

http://cacollegetransfer.com/2017/08/16-things-you-need-to-know-to-tag-a-uc/

https://www.deanza.edu/transfercenter/resources/uc-tag.html

Yes! California boasts an amazing suite of public institutions of higher learning. There are three tiers:

• Eight UCs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California) costing about 14k/yr for in-state tuition
• 23 CSUs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_University) costing about 8k/yr for in-state tuition
• 113 CCCs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_California_Community_Colleges_by_enrollment) costing about 2k/yr for in-state tuition

Here is a link to a comparison of costs table: https://www.collegetuitioncompare.com/compare/tables/?state=CA

It varies widely depending on where you're applying, but here's the most typical scenario. For students applying to some private universities and some UCs, you will have to compose one "Personal Statement" -- 650 words -- for the private universities that use the CommonApp, as well as four shorter -- 350 words each -- essays for the UCs. Beyond that, there may be supplemental essays for individual colleges that either don't use the CommonApp or require a supplement to the CommonApp. Once you decide where you're applying, we will list all of your required admissions essays in a single document. Then we can carefully plan how to use the same essay to answer multiple prompts, so that you write as few unique composition as possible.

The CSUs (Cal State Universities) are the 23 colleges that form the "middle" tier of the California public higher education system. Whereas essentially anyone can attend a CCC, there are county residency restrictions and (moderate) admissions requirements for CSUs. If you have a GPA above 3.0 and live in San Mateo county, you are guaranteed admission to both Cal State San Francisco ("SF State") and Cal State Easy Bay(in Hayward) according to the following table: https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/freshman/documents/csulocaladmission-serviceareas.pdf Otherwise, you need a minimum SAT score based on your GPA in the following table : https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/eligibility-index/Documents/california-residents.pdf Because of high demand for certain programs and majors, as well as budgetary limitations, there is an "Impaction Matrix" for CSUs: http://www.calstate.edu/sas/documents/ImpactedProgramsMatrix.pdf

Yes. There is as entire online portal for calculating how credits for completed coursework will transfer: http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html

It's an electronic portal that lets you manage the information and admissions essays necessary to apply to a bunch of different colleges. It is entirely separate from the UC system. Here's a list of the CommonApp colleges: https://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/common_app_colleges.jhtml I suggest that you create a username and password as soon as possible on https://www.commonapp.org/ so that you can learn how the system works. For the purposes of receiving my help with applications, what matters most on the CommonApp website is that is lists all the supplemental essay questions.

You don't need letter of recommendation for the UCs. But for the Common Application, you need two. You indicate the teachers that you wish to have write your essays through the CommonApp portal (you can also do so through Naviance.) and they submit their recommendation letters electronically. You won't see the actual letter but you'll see that it's been submitted. Pick teachers with whom you have a good rapport and in whose classes you both excelled grade-wise and found passion. In general, humanities teachers -- English and APUSH -- write the most thoughtful and compelling letters of recommendation. But be aware that every year the same couple teachers get asked to write many more essays than they can. Ask your teachers early -- such as toward the end of 11th grade -- and make things easier for them by providing them with a list ("brag sheet") of your achievements in their class.

College Board lets you learn a lot for free. On www.collegeboard.org, under "Access", click on "College Search". The tools let you refine your search based on a number of criteria -- including your test scores SAT/ACT scores -- and to weight the importance of each of these factors. If your school has Naviance or another university research platform, that's great as well.

The approximately 9,000 high school students of the San Mateo Union High School District (Aragon, Burlingame, Capuchino, Hillsdale, Mills, Peninsula, and San Mateo High Schools) now use the Aeries platform (https://www.aeries.com/) to manage student records including academic performance and standardized test results.

It depends what you mean. Obviously your SAT score says nothing about whether you're a nice person or a great creative artist; it shouldn't define you. But if there's no test of general academic abilities -- such as being able to read and write English clearly -- how would you evaluate students for university? Usually I tell people to suggest an alternate content or format for a standardized test. For example, how about if everyone got a large rubber ball and a marker and had to draw the entire world -- with all its nations, capitals, oceans, rivers, and mountain ranges. Would this be a better test? Would you rather take this than the SAT? Would this be more "fair"?

Great! Email me and I will incorporate the fix or change as soon as possible.