Our daughter used Compass (Bay Area) for three exams during her junior year of high school: the…read morePSAT, the ACT, and one AP (calculus). Her results speak for themselves: National Merit eligibility on the PSAT, a 36 on the ACT (single-sitting), and a 5 on the calc AP. As caveats, she is extremely bright and is an inherently good test-taker, and we were proactive about selecting her tutors to match her personality and scheduling needs. That said, I had no significant complaints. Jill and Alex were responsive and worked to conform to our requests, and our daughter found her assigned tutors engaging. And she, in turn, did the assigned work. We originally found Compass via recommendation by parents of an older student who had already used them. We, in turn, have now recommended them to parents of younger students whom we know. We told them the same thing I'll now tell you: Compass isn't the cheapest option, but I suggest you use them anyway. To us, the results were well worth the expense.

I highly recommend Compass Education Group. They helped my son with the Reading and Writing…read moresections of the SAT, and his score improved drastically from 620 to 760 (99th percentile).

I have never encountered a business owner with such integrity and professionalism as Jai Flicker,…read moreowner of LifeWorks, possesses. I had my son tutored one on one for about 6 sessions with Tyler to prepare for the SAT in June. My son had taken the SAT once before and wanted to increase his score. He took the June SAT and sadly his score dropped. It was a huge surprise for my son because he felt confident that he had done well on the test and actually had time to go over his answers. We even contacted the SAT board and had his test hand graded to make sure there was no mistake. I'm not sure what happened but I was not anticipating that his score would go down, especially after all the tutoring that my son had. However, I posted a review on Yelp explaining my experience with Lifeworks. Jai then reached out to me personally to see how we could remedy this situation. He very much wanted my experience with LifeWorks to be a positive one. He listened to my concerns and my side of the story and then shared his side and offered to meet me half way on a reimbursement. I was grateful that he was willing to do this and felt like that was a fair outcome for both of us. I have a number of friends whose kids were tutored at Lifeworks and have done well. Even though my son didn't do as well on the SAT as we would have liked, my experience with the customer service at Lifeworks was exceptional.

Jai at LifeWorks has been transformative for our son. He is not just a tutor but a counselor,…read moreadvisor and friend. He is a trusted adult for our son where he feels comfortable sharing his struggles with school. Based on that trust Jai can help guide and provide first class educational support. My son now loves math! Thank you!

Sylvia is an amazing tutor who challenged my son to grow as a reader. In a short time she boosted…read morehis ability. She identified key areas in advanced coding where he needed help and mitigated them. Out of many Marin tutors we tried (at least 5) - she was the best. Sylvia had the most clear insight into his habits, strengths and deficits that could be remediated. In a short time he got better. I highly recommend her. Worth every penny (and then some)! If we have tutoring needs in the future we will come back.

Five years ago, I worked with Sylvia during 6th grade, and it had a profound impact on my academic…read morejourney. Surprisingly, last year, I found Algebra 2 to be my favorite subject, despite not being a math enthusiast. Now, I'm tutoring other students in math and even contemplating a future as a doctor. Currently, I'm working with Sylvia again for SAT preparation, and I can see how it's positively influencing my work. I can't emphasize enough how beneficial it is to work with Sylvia - she is a great and knowledgeable tutor.

Caroline helped all of my kids (3, 2 boys and a girl) with their test prep and most importantly…read moretheir college essays. All of my children liked working with her and found her assistance invaluable. They all wrote great essays (and they wrote them, she guided and edited only) for their applications and got in to great schools. She also tutored them with AP english and ACT test prep and was equally skilled in helping them navigate through all the ins and out. They never complained and to this day speak highly of her and her guidance. Speaking as a parent she is communicative and very professional. One of the best in Marin.

Caroline's summer college essay group was a great way to get our student started early on college…read moreapplications. I would definitely recommend this to other parents to avoid the stress of last-minute essay writing. Especially for those early action college apps due Nov. 1.

Throughout my entire life, going to college and starting my own life has always been a big dream of…read moremine. I just never knew how I was going to achieve that. Both of my parents are immigrants and as they try their hardest to help me achieve my goals, they did not have much information on how to apply to colleges or what colleges I should even apply to. That was when my friend referred me to the college planning center where I was given my very own college counselor, named Rajani Rao who showed a deep care in seeing my success in this college process. Every step of the way she gave me direction and deadlines ensuring I would get all of my applications done on time. Whenever I needed help with anything I was able to turn to her incredible knowledge and get a fast, swift, and helpful answer. She made the college application process, which is an extremely stressful one, more enjoyable, easy and she showed that she believed in me throughout every step of the way. I ended up getting in to one of my dream schools and I could not have done it without the college planning center's and Rajani's incredible help. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone looking for help and guidance through their college application process! -Selihom Kibrom, Class of 2024 Going to Cal Poly Slo!

Through this tedious college process, I found myself quite lost and overwhelmed with the weight of…read morecollege applications and the stress it had on me. In reaching out to the college planning center, Rajani reluctantly was willing to take me on late into the process. She was extremely organized, timely, and helped me get all of my early applications done far before the deadlines. She was very informative and helpful when reviewing my writing and truly guided me to putting my best work forward. Her tentative support and care for my applications and future truly shown through. She was quite patient with all my fears, concerns, and desires as well as being excited and encouraging with me through it all. With Rajani's help, I was accepted into 9 out of the 10 schools I applied to! I believe that anyone who is lucky enough to have Rajani as their college career counselor will have the swiftest, stress free college application process, alongside someone who truly cares about your ambitions and passions. Without her guidance, advice, organization, peer review, and heartening support, I wouldn't have ended up where I am today. :) -Ava McMinn, senior in high school

Absolutely loved the environment. It was the first time I was ACTUALLY enthusiastic about going to…read moretutoring. One of my favorite experiences was the group tutoring sessions where we collaborated on ideas and assignments. For once.... learning math was fun!!

We've had a fantastic experience with Sage Educators. My son is in middle school, and their support…read morehas made a real difference. They not only help him stay on top of his schoolwork, but they also go beyond that by supplementing his curriculum with focused lessons in the areas where he needs the most help. They assist with homework, reinforce key concepts, and--best of all--he actually enjoys going to tutoring! The tutors are patient, knowledgeable, and truly invested in his success. We've seen a noticeable boost in his confidence and academic progress. I highly recommend Sage Educators to any family looking for high-quality, personalized academic support.

Chris is an original -- and a transformative asset to anyone seeking to further develop their test…read moretaking skills. Chris helped my son improve his SAT score by an impactful 90 points (+40 verbal and +50 math). In my son's words: "Chris' difference is that he coaches for a mindset edge. I had never thought of approaching the test that way previously. He is also superb at determining precisely where each student should be working. There is no guesswork. He has his method down to a science." We truly enjoyed Chris' personality and expertise and are extremely gratified by the outcome. We are delighted to recommend Chris' services without reservation -- and will be repeat clients.

Great experience working with Chris! He's very patient and didactic, adapting his strategies to…read moreeach individual student. My daughter did great on her ACTs. Thank you, Chris!

Allen tutors our two daughters (middle and high school) in math and writing while coaching me and…read moremy husband through a step-by step process on how to implement a project-based home curriculum. Now that we are both working from home, and with school closures in effect with no end in sight, Allen has been helping us create a home learning environment for our daughters. When we first started with Allen, he set us up with a daily schedule, which has helped us set routines for ourselves and for our children. The daily schedule has been a game changer for us. Personally, my own stress has been reduced because Allen has empowered me with the advice, skills, and patience to work with my own children in an academic homeschooling kind of way. 100% recommend Allen!! Wonderful and intelligent individual!

I highly recommend Allen Kushinsky. Allen came in to help my 9th grade son transition to his high…read moreschool studies. In particular, I wanted a strong writing instructor for one-on-one writing development. Allen is super easy-going and approachable, and he connected quickly with my son. He was wonderful at helping sort through the various class platforms (for grading, homework assignments, resources, etc.) which can be quite confusing at Drake. He was super patient, giving thoughtful and helpful feedback to my son. He also helped my son devise study systems for each of his classes, making the course load much more manageable. We hope to continue with Allen on a project basis, and then restart weekly meetings once winter sports are over.

Did not use the service, but communication was very poor in scheduling a consultation. They…read morecancelled on my daughter and I last minute with no advanced notice. With so many alternatives available I recommend avoiding

Look no further....East Bay Prep is the absolutely the BEST ACT Prep Class!…read more The test prep course worked along with my daughter's heavy Junior/Senior year academic load, on top of their weekly test prep lessons. The team was excellent at listening, communicating and following the needs of my daughter "individually" to help her succeed. The tutoring was flexible to her competitive sport schedule, as this was also key to the demands of succeeding in academics + sport. The consistency of the team to give effective feedback & guidance so that she could understand "how" to be a good test taker was priceless and best of all she is bringing these skills test-taking skills into her AP class test-taking. Honestly parents....my daughter went from feeling anxiety with taking the ACT to a confident and smart test taker, BEYOND the ACT!!! The team at East Bay Prep is one-of-kind. Best value...best outcomes...thank you East Bay Prep!

I had Alex proof read my Essay/UC Application and I got accepted to all the UCs I applied to: UCLA…read moreUCSB UCD UCSD. I really think his revisions on my essays and application were what got me in and helped me stand out, as friends with similar stats and majors were not accepted. Thanks Alex!

good service, helped my little bro get into amherst and cal. they did act test prep and college…read morecounseling help (worked on essys and school choice). thought their prices were a bit high, but i guess you pay for goob results..