What are your fees and how do I schedule a lesson?
My fees are $50 per hour of private one-on-one tutoring. However, under certain circumstances, these fees may be negotiable. Please contact me for more information or if you would like to schedule a lesson.
When are you available for tutoring?
I live in the Los Angeles area and work there during the week, so for students in Los Angeles, weekday evenings are ideal, though evenings during the weekend will also generally work.
I usually make it out to the Conejo Valley area for the weekend, and can tutor any time throughout the day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Usually, unless a student has a particularly hectic schedule, we can find a time that's convenient for the both of us.
That being said, with juggling students, my schedule constantly changes. I honor requests on a first-come-first-served basis, the sooner a student schedules a lesson, the easier it is to fit him in.
Where should we meet for tutoring?
Typically, in the convenience of your own home. If, for some reason, you don't feel your home is ideal, we can meet at a public library, Starbucks, or Barnes & Noble, etc. Anywhere you'd like to meet is fine, though quieter environments are generally better for learning.
What kind of improvement can I expect to see?
As with anything, it varies from person to person, but an increase of a whole letter grade in the class is not unreasonable. One of the most important things to understand is that neither Math nor Physics is a "cram" subject. The earlier someone is brought in for help, the larger the improvement is going to be.
My student's teacher says that private tutors will confuse my student even more by teaching him the same concepts in a different way. Is this true?
Believe it or not, I've actually heard this on several different occassions. My personal feeling is that if a student is not understanding something in class, then for whatever reason, the teacher is not getting through to him. A new approach might be required, or, in many cases, a one-on-one tutor watching the student work might be enough to see where he's gone wrong. I've found private tutoring very helpful for students who are struggling, and have yet to encounter a student who has found it to be more confusing than the school lesson alone.
Why should I have my son/daughter tutored by a private tutor for the SAT as opposed to a Test Prep Company?
There are any number of reasons. For starters, I used to work for an SAT Prep company, so you are essentially getting the same service as if you had called up that company and gotten a tutor. My fee is also lower than what they charge, so you're getting the same service, but for less. Although many of them claim to have a personalized service, the personalization is very limited. Every student goes through the same Test Prep booklet in the same order. With me, we start out by taking a Diagnostic Test and from there, I can tell which areas we need to focus on to get the greatest improvement in test scores.
Additionally, because of copyright restrictions, none of the major Prep companies can use official SAT questions. They all have to make up their questions in house. While most of them do a pretty good job, there are still frequent typos and problems with questions in their books. I use The Official SAT Study Guide, which is published by the CollegeBoard and includes tests created by the same people as the real SAT. It doesn't get more realistic than that.