My daughter started working with Margaret and Laura on her SATs last summer and their tutoring made…read moresuch a difference. My daughter's score ended up increasing by a little over 200 points and they helped her with her test taking anxiety. We decided to also work with Margaret and Laura on my daughter's college applications and they helped her get into her top school. They've checked in with her a few times now that she's headed off to college and I think she really appreciates their support.

From the owner: Admission Allies provides comprehensive and customized college admissions and standardized test…read morepreparation services. Founded and run by two Harvard PhDs, Admission Allies gives you ivy-level admissions prep and advice. **Taking the August SAT?** Enroll in our 4 week SAT Boot Camp Sign up at admissionallies.com/satbootcamp **ALSO now enrolling students for our virtual College App Essay Boot Camp, running 7/31/21 - 8/21/21** For more details: admissionallies.com/essaybootcamp

Our family has worked with NWES for the last 4+ years. We started when our son needed a proctored…read moreexam for the online ed advanced Algebra class he took over the summer before starting high school and he continued to work regularly/weekly with NWES tutor Jason on various things for which he needed guidance over the 4 years in high school. Their sessions were centered on strategy and learning how to organize and develop good study habits and while content teaching was a part of it, our son's growth into a confident student was the most important benefit. The last session with Jason is next week. Our son will be graduating from Ballard High School next Wednesday (with straight As) and in fall he is starting at UW Engineering - majoring in MechEng and Industrial Design. My husband and I are very grateful to Greg and Jason for all the support in last 4+ years. It was really great to know that even though our sone would not really listen to us, Jason will likely get through him and point him in the right direction. It was wonderful to work with NWES. finding them was one of the luckiest accidents!

We worked with NWES from our son's middle school years through high school. He received support for…read morehis math courses. The coaches that our son worked with were consistently excellent. He developed strong relationships with all of them. The rest of the team is excellent too. Everything about the place makes getting help easy. Can't recommend strongly enough!

I had a very good experience with private GRE tutoring sessions with Steve. I first took the GRE 20…read moreyears ago when I pursued my Master's in Electrical Engineering and am now planning to pursue a PhD. I had always been a solid standardized test taker and achieved good scores through self-study with books from Princeton Review, but that approach did not work for me this time (likely due to me being out of an academic environment and out of engineering for 10+ years). A family member suggested I try a prep class or tutoring, and I'm so glad I did. I opted for the private tutoring with Steve (the founder/owner) because I felt it would be more effective for me given my specific GRE strengths and weaknesses, and I also thought it would be a more efficient use of my limited time. It worked great for me on both these points. The additional strategies and structure, combined with personalized instruction from Steve were just what I needed. In addition to very good instruction about the overall test and strategies for different sections, Steve added tremendous value by walking me through the diagnostic assessment for each of the 4 or 5 additional online practice tests I completed. This aspect of the test prep was hugely helpful, as it pointed out where I was spending too much time, which types of questions I tended to get right or wrong, where I needed to focus on answering faster but still accurately, and more. Overall, the weeks of tutoring, homework, practice tests, and reviews were excellent training that helped prepare me for the actual test; it was kind of like training for a marathon or other big event. In the end, my scores saw a significant improvement, and I'm thankful to Steve for the coaching and instruction and to everyone at the office for the positive encouragement throughout. A few minor things I think could improve the overall experience: 1/ I was caught by surprise on test day when a 3rd quant section popped up. I had read about the "experimental section" but had forgotten, and all of the practice tests had just the 2 Verbal and 2 Quant, so I had gotten used to that. I'm generally okay under pressure, but would have preferred no surprises in the actual test. This note is mostly for test takers to be aware, but maybe Sandweiss could also provide a little reminder about this during the practice test reviews, or something. 2/ I wish I had done another tutoring session just focused on the essays; in two of my test review sessions, Steve reviewed my Issue and Argument essays and provided useful feedback, but I did not feel as well-prepared on that section of the test. Perhaps an extra session on that would have helped me feel better prepared. 3/ This is nitpicky, but the office building is fairly old. Would be nicer if the offices were in a newer building with nicer facilities and more parking, but I understand this adds cost and all-else being equal, I'd rather keep the rates low and deal with an older building.

Both my girls took a free evaluation test (which is good practice and information in itself!) and…read moreupon Steve's recommendation, skipped the class and did a few private session. They had flexible scheduling, were easy to work with and the girls appreciated the sessions - there was no feet dragging when it came to appointment time. Both improved their ACT scores by at least 4 points. Definitely worth the time and money.

The biology teacher never showed up, didn't give compensation, not worth it! Kaplan is betterread more

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE: Signed my son up for the Ultimate SAT Prep course. They sent the…read morematerials for class a few business days before class with an ETA to arrive after class has started. I noticed this and tried to have it delivered on time but the only answer I got was "I'm sorry". They don't fix the problem, they tell you to send an email but don't answer them, they seem to care more about their profits than students.

My son GREATLY benefitted from the tutoring services he received from the teachers at Next Steps…read moreTutoring. We were referred by a friend and have since discovered that other friendsalso love this gem of a learning center. We started with this tutoring company when my son was a Junior in High School. We wanted him to work on self-management and on specific writing and math skills. He was getting a little lazy and scattered. Most importantly, we wanted our son to set some goals for himself and work toward those goals. The support that he received from Next Steps was just what he needed. The staff are highly qualified and really gave our son what he needed, from so many disciplines. Week by week we benefitted from teachers who specialize in math/science, writing, executive functioning, college/career planning and selection, and college essay writing. The pre-college planning for SAT and college essay writing took a lot of time but it was a tremendous growth experience. My son became a student who persisted in finding resources to complete what was necessary at school managed his own assignments and work. His self reliance skills really improved, and his motivation and pride in his work grew. Now that my son is recently graduated from high school and will be entering the college of his choice, I look back and know for a fact that the expert, personalized, focused help that he received from Next Steps Tutoring played a significant role in his success. As he enters college I know that he has tools to manage himself and his learning. In the near future my son will have some pre-college tutoring / success planning from his teachers at Next Steps Tutoring, just to strategize and prepare for his first year at college. I know that these teachers are available by phone or Skype in the future for him. It is so wonderful from a parent's perspective to see the growth of a young person. Seattle folks, give these teachers a call!

We were recommended Verge by the parents of a close friend of our son. When applying for junior…read morehigh school, we did not utilize any services and our son got into none of his top choices. We did not want to make the same mistake for high school and going with Patti and Verge was the best decision! Patti helped us not only with narrowing down high schools based upon our son's interests, but she helped him with essays, school visits and with reviewing accepted schools. Patti also keeps the focus on the students and what they want/need. Our son got into his dream high school and we couldn't have done it without her. We could not have done it without Patti and Verge!

From the owner: With over 25 years of experience in Seattle independent schools, Verge supports schools,…read moreorganizations, and families with the following: school admissions consulting. professional development. strategic planning. leadership coaching.

If you do work with Phyl, I would be very careful to be clear about what it is you want from her,…read moreespecially if you are a transfer student. I met with her several times and decided to apply to colleges based on some of the information she had given me, and she only told me that she thought a particular college was a bad fit for me after I had already applied and gotten in there. On a related note, she also didn't seem to have a very good understanding of professional boundaries. It seemed to me that she was trying to be everything to me, other than what I hired her for. She thought that setting up a meeting with my therapist (for herself or both of us) would be appropriate, but she did not draw up or help me create a list of colleges, based on my preferences, and her knowledge, during the year that I met with her. There may be areas in which she does have expertise, but many she did not, but acted so confident that I began to doubt myself. For example, when I told her that Germany was offering tuition-free school for international students (in 2016-17, a few years after its inception in 2014), she kept maintaining that it was "not actually free". She had no sources for this, and I repeatedly clarified that I was only talking about tuition, not living expenses. Although not as related to her field, in discussing my plans for the possibility of law school after I finished my degree, I told her I was interested in becoming a law professor. She said, "Well, they won't let you be a law professor if you haven't practiced law". I mentioned this to law school graduates I know, and learned that this wasn't true. I do not want to get into a philosophical debate about whether allowing law professors to be completely inexperienced is the best system, I just found it to be a discouraging remark. If I hadn't been able to find more accurate information, I may have eliminated one of my biggest dreams based on misinformation! Finally, she did not seem to understand my family's financial situation, though both my mom and I tried to convey it to her multiple times. For example, when I was thinking of going to the above-mentioned college (that she didn't recommend), she suggested that I take only one course to start, which would have meant that I would not qualify for financial aid at an out-of-state school. In fairness, I may have been a difficult client to work with, and she was able to help me with some applications at the last minute, which was much appreciated.

From the owner: college consultantread more