We are proud of our son and grateful for his admission to Bentley University. However, calling it "a top university with a significant merit scholarship" is an obvious attempt to inflate the outcome. A $10,000 merit award is fairly common among Lexington High School seniors. Our son's dream school was Babson College, and that was the goal we worked toward for years. After several years of working with Livius, his final SAT score was 1350. That is not a terrible score, but it is not impressive in Lexington, especially among Asian students. We ultimately sought additional support elsewhere. It is inappropriate to now imply that the entire result is solely your achievement. The core issue remains the sales process. We were strongly persuaded to purchase a large prepaid package, and were told at the time that it might even be insufficient for what our son would need. Based on that representation, we signed the so-called "non-refundable" agreement. After years of services, we still have more than 10 unused hours left. That alone speaks for itself. When we recently inquired about the remaining balance, the response was dismissive and focused only on the contract clause, without any acknowledgment of the inaccurate projections used to sell the package. Repeating "you signed a contract" while ignoring the context is not customer care -- it is deflection. Using ambiguous language to magnify results and take credit, while dismissing legitimate concerns about unused prepaid services, reflects poorly on a company that charges premium prices. We stand by our review. read more

Not good. Unimpressive instructors, poor customer service when issues. Expensive. If we had to do it over again we'd have gone in a different direction. read more

My tutor at Chyten, Lance, was superb and was more than capable of assisting me through the college process; from Skype sessions to inpromptu texts and calls, Lance was able to help me every step of the way. Previously, I had another tutor, Ms. Alevy, who had helped me through the standarized testing process a few years ago, and I'm glad to say that both tutors have gone above and beyond to assist me whenever I asked. The tutors at Chyten are all well qualified, and I'm glad I enrolled their services to help me get through the college admissions process, for without them, I feel as if I definitely would've gotten lost along the way. Thanks guys. read more

As a high school student attending school abroad, applying to US universities was quite challenging for me, but Chyten's services made the process much easier to navigate. My tutor, Mr Beverly, was very understanding and kind to work with, as he helped me along the way during the application process. In addition, he was always readily available for me to contact (whether it was via Skype, email, or by phone) which made the process go by more efficiently. I'm really glad I chose their services! read more

I tutored with Chyten before taking the SAT's. I did pretty well on my PSAT's and even the first time i took the SAT's I did okay but after tutoring with Chyten before taking them for the second time my scores nearly doubled. They helped so much! We all know the SAT's are stressful and make students very anxious because your scores will make or break your chances of getting into a good school, but the tutors at Chyten really help you conquer your fears and prepare you for the test. They focus on little things like teaching you to not waste time on a question you don't know the answer to, and the big things like how to develop an essay that will wow anyone who reads it. I would certainly recommend Chyten Test Prep to anyone who is dedicated to their child's success! read more

So far so good! Chyten has been informative, professional and caring in their recommendations. I have no doubt that my daughter will have a leg up thanks to their work and her work. read more

Its advertising in a Boston Chinese newspaper in Chinese is misleading. It claims that over 150 MIT and Harvard professors, Tufts university and Lesley College department heads, Harvard admission dean, Fortune 100 CEO's, Obama advisors etc etc were among the some 40,000 members benefited from Chyten classes. In its online ad, it says over 150 MIT and Harvard professors etc etc have sent their children to take the courses. I guess these folks were benefited in one way. May be it is lost in translation but should be clarified. read more

We had good results with the tutors that we used esp Cheryl at Wellesley for writing. My one criticism is that it is quite expensive. They worked hard to accommodate our time restrictions. Liz C read more

For some personal reason I can not participate my rest of the classes. But chyten does not return the remaining tutoring fee. After I called them and emailed to them. read more

We used Chyten when my son couldn't write his college application essay. The counselor there (Lynda) was just terrific. She got him organized, helped him pick out a topic, kept him on track, and he ended up with a great essay that he was really happy with. She also helped him prepare for his college interviews. Knows a lot about the process, and had good advice about how to do his applications. The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is the cost, but I guess compared to the cost of tuition it's a good investment. read more

Our experience with Chyten tutoring services has been excellent. My son began tutoring at Chyten for the PSAT last year and was able to score high enough to be a National Merit Semifinalist. He is a smart kid and works hard but Chyten definitely deserves a large part of the credit. We used Chyten for his SATs and subject tests and the results far exceeded the numbers we hoped to see. Chyten has top-notch tutors and an excellent system that had my son extremely well prepared for his tests. Chyten is definitely expensive but you really get what you pay for. It seemed like a lot of money as we were going through the regular tutoring sessions, but now that the scores are all in and my son is preparing college applications it really feels like it was a great investment. read more

Once again, excellent results while working with Chyten. This time, for my daughter. She took the SSAT and just got back her results: 90th percentile! Now, private schools are a real possibility, given that she has decent grades. I would definitely recommend Chyten of Lexington. I have not used the other ones, so I cant say if they are as good. If they are like Lexington, they by all means I would recommend them as well. read more

I did a course in the Chyten center in Beverly, and it was horrible. What they say about indivisualized tutoring is a lie because they teach same the same useless strategies, with little to no flexibility to a student's special needs. In particular, there is a strategy where they make you memorize parts of your essay to use it interchangeably with any prompt. The lessons are for the most part, a waste of time, spending 3 hours drilling through practice tests with barely and actual teaching going on. The owner made a condencending remark about I wanted to do career wise, which set the tone of my overall experience. The course emphasizes strategies and teaches little about the content, and the strategies themselves are, as I said useless, with tutors at other tutoring SAT prep companies telling me that strategy is bad, and ends up teaching me something helpful. I talked to many of fellow students in the class, and former students, including one who did one-one tutoring, all were at least dissatisfied, if not completely hating the course, and most of the students scores remained the same, with some actually lowering after taking the course. Mine did, and my confidence in my ability to successfully take the SATs was lowered due to Chyten complicating the test for me. Don't waste your money parents, nor your children's time. read more

The nearest Chyten center to me in California is Arcadia, but I have family in Boston and decided to prepare for SATs with Chyten in Lexington, MA. Very happy! Fantastic. So, my test scores went up 320! 320? That is crazy, but I am very very pleased! On writing, I got a 770 with an essay score of 11. That is ridiculous! English is not my first language! Roger Reader strategy is beyond belief! I am not very good writer and got a great score. Frankly, I didn't work as hard as I could have on the reading, because I already had a good score before, but still went up 70 points to a 710. I believe these test scores will put me well within the range of any of the schools I am considering. Thank GOD the SATs are over, but actually, going to Chyten at least made it fun and worthwhile. Math ended up with a 690, but for me that is really excellent!. I easily give them 5 stars, but just gave them 4 because, well, I think 5 should be for like an 800 point gain! Only kidding, but they were very good. They are also patient. I was late a few times due to traffic on the Route 95, but they still gave me full 90 minutes. And the time went by so fast! I worked hard, but it really paid off. The prep is expensive, but a college education is worth it and now I get to go to a MUCH better college. So, my family was willing to pay the difference (not huge, but still!). And what a difference it made. I have a pretty good shot at the Ivys, so I could not be any happier. Thank you, Mr Chyten (I actually met him while I was tutoring in Lexington)! Maybe I'll be back for LSATs!! read more

Chyten has worked well for my 2 kids...They both gained 100 or more pts after the tutoring...It's expensive, but may be worth it, esp if your kid is close to, but just below a test # that will get him /her into a higher category of schools....this was the case for my 2 kids...One thing, we sprang for the more expensive, experienced tutors. I don't know how good the lower priced tutors are, but the experienced ones are good...I think Chyten has a formula, but it seems to work a lot of the time....ANother good thing, they did an evaluative pre-test so that the tutoring was focused on what my kids didn't know instead of spending time on a canned lesson that the kid might already know half of...My only complaint is the price..its REALLY expensive...for that price, i think they should come to your house! Overall, if you can afford it, i think your kid will get as high as they can go with this style of tutoring, but you may be eating dog food for the next year to afford it! (fyi, the 2 kids ended up at brown and williams, amd i'm pretty sure they would have ended up at less selective schools without this tutoring.I can't be sure of that, but it's my hunch.) read more