We highly recommend Academic Approach. They always think of everything. Our first child used their services and did great; now it is our daughter's turn, and 8 years later they are still just as good at what they do. From the very first day, Academic Approach delivered. You were awesome to work with, made these tests so easy to understand for us, and took care of all of my daughter's testing and academic needs. You are the best! Thank you so much. read more

Hands down would not be where I am today without Academic Approach. They helped me decide between taking the ACT or SAT. Once we decided on the ACT they helped me raise my score by eight points. I was able to get into the college of my choice early decision. It's within walking distance or a short bus ride from at 3-4 nearby high schools so it was super easy for me to get there after school on my own. I really appreciated being able to take a timed practice test about once a month. Come test day I was super comfortable with the timing and was able to perform my best. It's pricey but it's one of the bet investments my parents made. read more

Do not trust other people's reviews and avoid Academic Approach at all costs--or pay the same price my son and my son's friends paid: I paid $6,000 to see my son's scores actually go down. Unless you're looking for your child to become as standardized and robotic as the tests they purport to teach, steer clear of Academic Approach. At the recommendation of their high school, my son and his friends went to Academic Approach for one-on-one ACT prep. When they arrived at Academic Approach, it felt like a factory. It feels so much like a large corporate machine--the kind that processes and churns out students without regard to their personalities or individual differences. We soon also discovered that Academic Approach tutors are inexperienced, unprofessional, and untrained. Academic Approach makes their own tests, which my son and his friends felt didn'temotely resemble actual exams. My son's first AA exam was dramatically harder (and more strictly scored) than any of his later practice exams (make of that what you will). My son's tutor didn't teach my son any strategies and gave him text-book length lessons on math and grammar material that didn't show up on the test. When my son would ask about difficult math concepts, his tutor often looked up the answers on Google and frequently did not understand them well enough for explanation. Another tutor admitted to one of my son's friends that she'd never actually taught the Science section of the ACT! AA claims to increase students' scores by an average of 4 points (for a $6,000) investment, but parents tell me that AA rarely raises students' scores by more than a point. $6,000 per point is what they are delivering. So learn from our mistakes! If we had only done our due diligence, we could have found some place better and seen much better results. As it turned out, Academic Approach was not only a complete waste of money; it produced anxiety and heartache that have continued on into my son and his friends' senior year. read more

A friend recommended the Winnetka location as a good resource to help our daughter prepare to take the ACT. Everyone at the facility, from receptionist to salesperson (they've got another term, like "placement counselor" or some-such) to billing department was always extremely friendly and personable. Unfortunately, that's about the only positive I can list. My daughter's tutor canceled several times and it seemed that many of the tutors live and work in the city and have difficulty getting out to the 'burbs on a reliable basis. Add in that AA is incredibly, almost laughably expensive, and that my daughter did no better on her first ACT test than she did on her pre-AA practice test, and I am pretty unhappy. My daughter now uses a small, private practice tutor who is less than half the price (!) and has never missed an appointment, and her confidence and practice test scores are now soaring. Please note, my friend who recommended AA has a son who is extremely bright and he found AA to be wonderful in brushing up for top scores on the ACT and AP exams. For my daughter, however, a very hard working B+ student, Academic Approach was an expensive disappointment. Lesson learned. read more

We go to the Academic approach in Lincoln Park. We were very fortunate with both sets of tutors. We found everyone to be responsive. Our son's ACT score increased substantially. I know that Academic Approach was hugely instrumental in preparing him and getting him comfortable with the test. Thank you! read more

I think academic approach is a wonderful tutoring center, and the founder Matthew Pietrafetta is a brilliant man who cares so much about his students and their success. He is constantly trying to make changes to academic approaches' curriculum. After working with Matthew, I did immensely better on my ACT test and he helped me with all sections of the test. I improved greatly on the reading sections and on my ability to think critically, as well as on my math skills. I learned how to navigate the test and how to properly pace myself. I have worked with another tutor there, Andrew, and I also have nothing but great things to say about him. He was my math tutor in pre-calculus and calculus, and he definitely knew his stuff and helped me excel in these courses. Overall although academic approach is pricey, it's definitely worth it. You can't get that type of tutoring/test-taking skills anywhere else in the city, and I even know people who use academic approaches' services from other states. Go here for tutoring!!! read more

Although my son has since graduated college, Academic Approach helped him when we retook the ACT. His goal was a 30 and with their tutoring he achieved it. If I had another child I would use their services again. read more

I am thoroughly impressed with the tutoring my son has received from Academic Approach for SAT and ACT tutoring. They took the time to pair us with a tutor in our price range that was also a great personality fit. Our tutor, Alex, is a fantastic teacher and genuinely enthusiastic about learning. He has been such a positive influence and gone out of his way to work with our schedule. My son is a Junior and smart kid but not academically ambitious unless he has to be. He says he has learned more from Alex than any of his other teachers (or tutors) and is really enjoying the experience. I couldn't be happier, thank you! read more

We had a fantastic experience with experience with Academic Approach. From our first phone call until the end of the process the service was top of the line. The initial consultation really made us feel comfortable with our decision. They asked a lot of great questions and really worked closely with us to understand our student and to determine what would be the most effective tutoring plan. They offer free diagnostic testing for both the ACT and SAT to assess whether it would be more productive for a student to focus on one test or the other (or potentially both). This is a great feature and I would highly recommend families take advantage of it. After completing the diagnostic testing and getting the results they customized a tailored plan to address our student's learning needs. We went ahead with a plan for the ACT with a heavier focus on math and science (our student performed fairly well on the English and reading portions and didn't need as much attention in those areas). They assigned a really great tutor who connected well with our student and did a great job of building a relationship, engaging with and motivating our student. Our student couldn't speak more highly of the tutor. Our student received his scores recently and saw a nice increase, specifically in the math and science portions, and was ecstatic. What I am even more impressed with is they teach skill building and development, which our student will continue to use in class moving forward into college. They were also always very flexible with accommodating our student's schedule. I'd definitely recommend Academic Approach to families interested in a high quality tutoring service. read more

Tutoring was exceptional- not just content but test taking skills that were invaluable. I received thorough and timely feedback after each session. Overall a great experience. read more

Invaluable assistance for the high school admission process and college testing. Preparation for the ACT was excellent to the point that when it came time to take the first offered ACT, the score was exactly what was needed so that no further testing was needed. This took all the pressure off the testing process which allowed attention towards selecting schools and writing applications. read more

Definitely worth it. I grew my ACT score a lot and got into my top college!

Although it has been a couple of years since my son graduated from high school, Academic Approach was invaluable in the preparation for the college entrance test (ACT) My son was able to increase his score from 28 to 32. This helped to increase his eligibility and acceptance opportunities to many of the Colleges and Universities he applied. Ultimately he was accepted to and enrolled at Northwestern University one of his top choices. read more

December 18 , 2014 review: Whatever value that tutoring might provide was lost with multiple instances of non-response from Academic Approach in trying to engage their services The problems with customer service send endemic to the organization (note: only emails to the president would elicit a reply) and delayed the tutoring process to point of no value/negative value. ----- Update in response to Erin February 9, 2015 : I have provided extensive feedback already to Andrew F from Academic Approach who, while acknowledging all the problems (and only after emails to the president from myself and the HS college counselor, did very little to address the underlying issues or provide resolution. read more

We've had two kids go through Academic Approach's programs for ACT prep. Our older child took a class that AA offered at his school. Our second child's school offered ACT prep through its faculty. As we were pleased with the preparation that our older child received, we inquired about tutoring for our second child. After the diagnostic test, they told us he missed a number of questions due to not knowing how to use commas. They also pin-pointed some other areas that he needed to work on. The staff was so knowledgeable about the exam and how our child could improve that it would have been difficult to not go with them. Due to our budget, we signed up for ten tutoring sessions over 14 weeks. Two weeks were taken up by practice ACT exams offered by AA and two weeks by the national ACT test. Taking full-length practice exams are really helpful as it helped build test-taking endurance. We found the tutor to be very helpful and good at communicating with us. Prior to each tutoring session, our child had to complete about one and a half hours of practice tests. During the tutoring session, they would go over each question and the tutor would explain the right answers. Almost all of the Yelp scores are based on how much a student improved. We had heard that their goal in ACT tutoring is to get a student halfway to 36 from their initial diagnostic score. This happened for both of our kids and gave them a shot at admission for their colleges of choice. We have one more child and will likely enroll her with AA when it is time for college testing. read more

My son, a senior, was tutored there for ACT and they did a great job in 4-5 months. congrats !

I cannot express my gratitude to Matthew P and his staff for instilling the confidence to excel in my children. The results of their tutoring sessions (which they looked forward too) were superior scores on their exams and entry into the colleges of their choice. Many thanks! read more

All I can say is, my kid had a 19 on his practice ACT and after 4 months with tutor Chris Call from Academic Approach, he had a 27 (after getting a 25 in between) and got into 6 very solid colleges. Our experience with Academic Approach was wonderful all the way around, from scheduling, to billing (they twice called me and told me I had over-paid and sent me my checks back), to the actual tutoring. Chris Call is an amazing tutor--kind, patient and so very caring. I HIGHLY recommend trying Academic Approach. We used to WInnetka office and had the tutoring in Highland Park, two miles from our home. Expensive, but if you can afford it TOTALLY worth it! read more

My daughter is now a senior in college. I was asked to write a review randomly by email. She used the Lincoln Park location. We were very satisfied with the service. They offer a free initial practice test and review by a counselor. Then a recommendation for a tutor. Prices vary. Some tutors are much more expensive than others. Our first tutor moved part way through the process but they were willing to provide another. I put a cap on what I wanted to spend per hour and they found a tutor within my price limits. They allow you to take unlimited practice tests in real type settings. My daughter raised her score from a 27 on her initial practice test first semester junior year to a 34 after tutoring and a 3rd test taken fall of senior year. I can recommend them but they can be pricey! read more

I highly recommend Academic Approach. We met with Brian and he paired my son with Troy for one on one SAT test prep. Troy was a great fit! He helped my son figure out the SAT was best test for him. My son was driven to get a top score on the SAT and he achieved it with Academic Approach. Troy was accommodating to my son's schedule so they could meet weekly for intense test prep. The practice SAT tests that AA offers on the weekends were invaluable for preparing my son for the actual test. My son was comfortable with the timing and pace of the SAT because of the practice SATs he took. He scored higher than his target score on his first time taking the SAT getting a score of over 1500 total. He was one and done when he took the SAT in March so he had time to prepare for finals and move on to the essay and common app. Academic Approach is well worth the investment! read more

I highly recommend Academic Approach. I sent my 3 children there for prep for ACT and SAT. Very professionally run program, always responsive, very dedicated tutors who work hard to prepare the students and go above and beyond. Most recently had experience with Derek who was just amazing. He worked so hard with my daughter and taught her a lot, especially in math which she hadn't learned well in high school. Derek was very supportive and just great to work with. My daughter, who is not a natural test taker, improved her ACT score by 4 points. This was all due to Derek's tutoring and emotional support. He is great as is Academic Approach. Worth every penny! read more

The Winnetka facility seemed competent at first, providing a free diagnostic ACT and a meeting to go over it. However, call after call to Carolyn to schedule tutoring sessions went unreturned. I guess they are just too busy to take on new business. Fortunately, there are a million ACT tutors around here more than happy to tutor our child, so we went elsewhere. Really incompetent person running this office. read more

I attended the Academic Approach for high school class tutoring as well as ACT prep tutoring. I cannot express how much Academic Approach helped me achieve good grades and high success on the ACT. For ACT prep, they teach your children time management and how to be efficient in each section of the test. If you did not understand a concept they would not move on until they made sure you were comfortable with it. I took my first practice ACT test at Academic Approach and I scored a 24. I only had to take the actual ACT twice. I received a 27 on the first test and a 31 on my final go around. I was able to go to my first choice school in the Northeast because my ACT score put me in that admin pool. I cannot express how much the Academic Approach helped me develop a skill set that was needed to be successful on the ACT. I would not have gotten into the Colleges that I did if I did not go to the Academic Approach. For normal high school class tutoring, they were the extra step needed to fully understand problems or concepts from class. Most teachers do not have the time to meet one on one with their students, or students do not respond well to their teachers' style. The Academic Approach has a number of tutors with different backgrounds to help your child in any area they are having problems in. I met with Andrew Ferguson and he was able to help me through any science courses. His background is science so I would highly recommend him if you need any help with Biology, Chemistry, Physics or any other upper level science course. I met with Matthew Pietrafetta for english and college essay writing. He pushed my writing style from C grades to A-/B+ grades. Learning how to write papers for high school is hard enough. He was able to develop and expand my writing, which allowed me to maintain those high grades in college as well. They are not going to do your child's science experiment for them. They will make sure you child develops the necessary skills to be successful now, but also in the future. read more