My son returned to Sylan after taking a break for a few years. I liked Sylvan before, and I am…read moreparticularly impressed by the current staff there. When I told my son we were going to re-start sessions at Sylvan for his writing, he entered the building crying. Anthony the Center Director was very patient, developed a good rapport with him that calmed him down, and spoke to him in a way that put him at ease. He seemed to sincerely care about understanding what was going on, to be sure my son was seen, and make that connection. I feel that conversation started my son on the right foot. He believes the staff really cares about his success and about him as a person. My son now really likes (!) going to Sylvan because he sees it as a positive place where people are looking out for him. He has told me a few times that Sylvan exactly prepared him for the work he was doing in class. He had a private tutor before this, but he feels Sylvan's methodology and staff are much more effective for him. His writing is much improved, and the results in his report card show it! The other aspects of what I appreciate about Sylvan compared to a private tutor is that there are several teachers, so there is no missed lesson if schedules don't align with one person ... there is always someone who can give a lesson. Some of the staff are / were school teachers so they are very skilled. Also, you can easily ramp up or down with more or less sessions as you need, and sometimes they can easily identify when other aspects (e.g. grammar) get in the way of the skill you're trying to improve (e.g. writing). I really like that flexibility and those resources with a great staff. During Covid, Sylvan was quick to seamlessly move to online tutoring so students did not need to miss any education. I think Sylvan Piedmont is very well run, with a talented and caring team. I highly recommend it!

We enrolled at Sylvan to assist our daughter with her transition to 6th grade and the increase in…read moreschoolwork that came with it. They have really helped her with the fundamentals of the math and writing that she was struggling with upon arriving to Middle School. The teachers are nice, friendly and give her the motivation that she needed to power through. Thanks Sylvan!

I called Piedmont Tutoring looking for help in Chemistry. My course at Berkeley was not unusually…read moredifficult but after a month in I had a high C, no not the drink. The regional manager was very knowledgeable and took some background info in order to assign someone for me. The tutor ended up working out really well. Alex was able to meet me at the school library around once a week (sometimes more for tests and quizzes). He actually graduated from Berkeley and had taken the same course before. Sometimes scheduling didn't work but he made sure I was taken care of at least once a week. Never hired a tutor before so the experience overall was enjoyable. I believe they do offer to change tutors if you aren't happy but I didn't have to deal with that. Will call again but hopefully won't have to!

My daughter Angie wasn't doing well in her calculus course during her first year of college. We…read moreweren't sure if we should drop or continue. I reached out to Piedmont Tutoring for a tutor that can help us out. Andrew was our "first responder" and helped us right away. Our assigned tutor worked well with Angie and has improved her confidence and her grades over the last few months. He has been flexible and easy to communicate with. We kept a consistent schedule throughout the year which was best for both parties. Would recommend to others looking for tutoring in the area.

Emily and her staff have helped our family through both high school homework help, organizational…read moreskills, and college SAT prep in uniquely professional and thorough ways. The process for understanding who your child is, who your family is, what is at the core of the need, and adjusting and checking in along the way are beyond compare. I am an educator, and worked with many tutors and tutoring services over many years, and these folks, with Emily at the mast, really find a unique and effective balance. They have a no nonsense approach, are goal oriented, target with professional skills, and have a human approach. They know how to meet families and kids where they are, wont shy from giving advice, and they really know the landscape of all the different schools in the area, even down to the curriculum expectations; they know students they serve well. This experience of local schools alone is a huge experiential leg up. I am an elementary educator, but they helped me with my two very different high school kids journeys. I am VERY confident they can do it all, K-12! This place is the BEST!

Study Smarter was terrific in helping our daughter (and her parents!) through the college…read moreapplication process. Everyone we worked with -- Ariel, Joel, Mel -- was professional, thoughtful, and connected well with our daughter. They built trust with our teenager, coached her throughout the process (school selection, test prep and essay writing), listened to her and evolved their recommendations as they got to know her. The bottom line: Reduced stress in the process and (we firmly believe) better results in admissions and financial aid offers than our daughter would have achieved without their help.

Camy is truly the best tutor ever! Warm, sensitive to the student's needs, flexible in approach,…read morewilling to try new things, highly communicative... and super smart to boot (fluent in English and French, and even speaks Mandarin!). Highly recommend. My son and needed help with English writing: he had lots of creative ideas, but structuring those ideas, bringing them to life, finer points of grammar, vocabulary etc. were challenging. Camy devised a series of classes where he would write elaborate fiction over a few sessions, with each writing session focusing on different skills. Result: his writing tightened up, vocabulary improved, and he felt more confident in English. On top of this, Camy made the classes enjoyable. My son LOVED his sessions with them. He used to say classes were so fun that he would lose track of time. Thanks Camy!

We had a wonderful experience working with Camille. She tutored my son for the essay writing prep…read more She was very effective in working on his areas of improvements and organizing thought process. Camille is an exceptional tutor for ISEE.

After conducting extensive research to compare GMAT tutoring options in the Bay Area, I quickly…read moredown-selected TestCrackers based on my experience with the initial outreach call. Yuri took the time to patiently and thoroughly answer my long list of questions, understand my concerns and goals, and provide recommendations for the next phase of my test preparation. From then on, working with the TestCrackers tutors was a very high-touch, personalized experience. I signed up for 1:1 tutoring with Yuri and the 5-week Verbal course taught by Isaac. Both instructors went above and beyond to answer my questions, suggest alternative ways to approach challenging concepts and problems, and diagnose and help me understand the errors I was making. From these courses and tutoring sessions, I took away a structured study plan, resources for continued self-study (including the OG books and TestCrackers workbooks), and comprehensive strategies for approaching various types of GMAT questions. Throughout the entire experience, Yuri and Isaac were honest, reassuring, and patient with me when I felt discouraged or struggled with a concept, and they provided positive encouragement whenever I achieved a milestone. I would 100% recommend TestCrackers to anyone beginning their GMAT prep journey or looking to take their test prep to the next level.

I worked with Marty to prepare for the GRE and couldn't be happier with the results. He's…read moreincredibly knowledgeable and helped me break down math concepts in ways that I could remember. I was particularly struggling with the quant section of the test. Marty helped me make a significant jump in my score. His explanations were clear and patient and he will help you focus on the areas where you need improvement. On top of all of that, he's nice, friendly, and a true joy to work with every week. If you're looking for a GRE tutor who's skilled and easy to work with, go with Marty!

Achieve Learning and Resource Center is a dynamic organization built to serve young people and…read moretheir families as they navigate school based learning. I had the pleasure of working with Madison who took on the role of Tutor Coordinator and Regional Manager for our group of young men in Oakland. She provided an outstanding tutor and many resources for us to build on. Madison and Achieve still follow up and provide strategies and opportunities for our young men. I would recommend them to anyone looking for affordable, tutoring, SAT or College Prep assistance.

We are very disappointed in achieve learning and resource center SAT prep course. They have been…read morevery unorganized. The tutors are kids and they let kids leave early and chose to do or not do certain things. I paid good money and expected way more. They should be clear that they pretty much just hand out study guides ( which you could just buy and do on your own ) and have kids do them. I was expecting a little help on problem areas. No such luck. I would not recommend them.

Brittany and Ben are wonderful tutors and mentors, excellent at teaching both STEM and…read morehumanities/social studies subjects. I am someone who needs concepts explained to me in several different ways, and they are able to adjust their teaching style to fit my needs. I also have a difficult time staying focused, and they are good at keeping me engaged in whatever I'm working on. Brittany tutored me from 7th grade through the end of high school, and has even helped me with some of my college coursework. In middle school, I was a year behind in math, and she helped me catch up by tutoring me in Pre-Algebra over the summer before 8th grade. With her help, I passed a placement test that allowed me to take Algebra as an 8th grader. Brittany then helped me prepare for the ISEE in 8th grade, which got me into my top choice school, Head-Royce. When I started at Head-Royce in 9th grade, my classes were much harder than at my previous school, Oakland School for the Arts. Brittany helped me transition more easily to taking rigorous college-prep courses. She helped me with English and history throughout high school, including APUSH. She was also my SAT tutor and helped me with college application essays. Ben helped me with math during high school, and the math section of the SAT, and substituted for Brittany when she travelled to Guatemala. Unfortunately, they don't tutor high school science, so I had to get another tutor for Chemistry. During my first two years of college (I will be a junior this fall), Brittany gave me invaluable essay-writing strategies that not only helped me write large research papers, but personal statements for my transfer applications and for applying to the Honors College at my university. I highly recommend Ben and Brittany. I'm a strong student now and owe a lot of that to their constant guidance and support. I highly recommend them to any parent who wants tutors that will adjust to their kid's unique needs, and more importantly, truly care about them.

Brittany is an amazing tutor. She started helping me with geometry my sophomore year all the way to…read morecollege admissions. She is such a hard worker, and has helped me in so many different ways throughout high school. She's assisted me in geometry honors, precalculus honors, SAT prep, college applications and so much more. Brittany has been an invaluable source of knowledge and advise, and I can honestly say that I would not have succeeded as much as I did without her help. But the thing I cannot stress enough is that she has such a enormous heart, and truly cares deeply about the students she tutors. She will go above and beyond for each and every one of her students to make sure they succeed. Brittany is honestly one of a kind, and I am so incredibly grateful that my parents chose her to tutor me.

We used Aspire for several tutoring sessions, a practice exam, and exam review for our son who…read moreneeds to take the ISEE as part of the private high school admissions process. The one-on-one attention he received was invaluable and the cost was reasonable; but more than that, the flexibility to help our son even on a Sunday, having someone come in just to assist him, showed a commitment to his success that went beyond the other study services. In addition to tutoring for these and other exams, ASPIRE, as a non-profit, has a mission to enhance the opportunities for kids of low-income families. For us, it meant that we were supporting a good organization even while paying for high quality tutoring services. There was no trade off between the individual attention and the high quality our son received on the one hand and, on the other, their non-profit status. In fact, they complemented each other. It showed that this was more about Will's success and not a business transaction. Indeed, we were so grateful to the team there, we made a further donation to assist them in one of their programs: a volunteer-based literacy program for low income preschoolers in the East Bay. We highly recommend them.

I used Aspire back in 2014 when my daughter was preparing for the SAT. They did a great job…read moretutoring her and helping her maximize her score without an undue amount of stress. The staff were excellent, professional, and very knowledgeable. I liked it so much that later when I wanted to switch careers, I became a tutor at Aspire, and worked with students through them. It has been a privilege working with the very good, very talented staff there.