I used Strive2Learn tutoring services to prepare for my applications to clinical psychology PhD programs. Josephine tutored me for the GRE Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing sections. I had taken the GRE previously, but struggled to reach my goal score in those two sections by studying on my own. I appreciated Josephine's individualized approach and the detailed feedback that she offered, particularly for the Analytical Writing section. After working with Josephine, my Quantitative Reasoning score improved from 158 to 160 (68th to 74th percentile) and my Analytical Writing score improved from 4.0 to 4.5 (59th to 82nd percentile). I also worked with Melinda, their graduate school consultant, to develop my curriculum vitae and personal statement. This was a daunting task and I had only received vague, 'big picture' advice from professors. Melinda, on the other hand, provided in-depth feedback on my writing--down to suggestions like "let's bold this sentence" or "we need a more effective adjective here." This was exactly the type of advice I needed at the time! I have now finished my applications and accepted an offer at a top-tier program that is APA-accredited and offers a full tuition waiver plus stipend. This program was also my first choice! read more

If you are seeking a tutor/counselor for the college test prep/application process - your search is over. My son met with Josephine once a week for about 2 months prior to taking the ACT and SAT. Working with her in that timeframe raised his scores significantly - he was shooting for a 33 and he scored a 35 on the ACT. He now meets the admissions requirements for Ivy League and top tiered schools and we will soon be working with her on the college application process. Josephine and her entire team are EXTREMELY knowledgeable, patient, friendly and dedicated. They truly care about each and every student they work with and want to see them succeed. Students are given the tools they need to achieve the highest scores possible and to reach their best potential. We also liked the fact that Strive to Learn is transparent when it comes to pricing, unlike some of the larger corporate testing services that are out there. We were more than happy to support a local business. I highly recommend Strive to Learn. If your child is willing to do their part, you'll see their scores increase along with their academic confidence. Our son's scores exceeded our expectations... we are very proud of him. Thanks Josephine - You are the best! read more

Strive to Learn is the only place I would ever recommend for college counseling, tutoring, or test prep (and I've done all three over the years with various tutors/counselors). Honestly, some companies are so corrupt and really just want to exploit people's anxiety about college admissions and test scores. In the three years since I started with a tutor at StL, I have only ever felt empowered and encouraged by the whole team. I could talk forever about the value of their services, or the amazing community outreach, or the fact that my ACT composite score went from a 26 to a 32 with their help. It all boils down to their devotion to their students - my friends and I all were matched with different counselors, and each of the five of us felt that we got high quality support to write the best essays, be our best selves at interviews, and find the best financial aid opportunities. School prestige obviously isn't everything, but in case you care: I'm now attending a top 20 university in the US, with a 15% acceptance rate (and a 3.5% acceptance rate within my specific major). I owe it all to them, and I can't recommend this company enough. Thank you Strive!! read more

Our family lives in Germany but for business we come twice a year to Southern California. As our daughter now is in school and compulsory school attendance is handled very strict in Germany we needed to find a private teacher for the hours and content she would miss in her class in Germany. We googled Josefine and from the beginning it was a very smooth and cooperative experience. She called our school in Germany to discuss all the details and then we met her finally at our hotel beginning of May 2014. Our daughter felt quickly in love with her as Josefine has a great and warm personality. She was well prepared with own materials and has very good methodical skills. In addition to one-on-one lessons in a hotel room she walked around with our daughter and improved her English skills substantially. Josefine and our daughter covered much more things during the week than requested by our school and at the end we received also a detailed summary that we provided to our school. We cannot think about any details that could be handled better and will for sure use Josefine's services again when we are back to the US in October. read more

I first started at Strive to Learn for SAT prep, and my score jumped over 150 points. The atmosphere created here was amazing and I never dreaded going. It felt like I was going to speak with an old friend once or twice a week who was also helping me out with math and english. I later went back for college counseling and this is where I really fell in love with the place. The bound I have created with my tutor was great making it so easy to be vulnerable ensuring I wrote the best possible essays. Never once did I feel stress about getting my applications in and done on time. My schedule was planned out to a T and it couldn't have gone more smoothly. I would not recommend anyone to go anywhere else. The way my tutors made me feel as if I was the most important student and they were there for me not only throughout these stressful periods in my high school career but also in my everyday life is something that I appreciated so much. I cannot imagine this process going nearly as well as it did without the help of the wonderful staff at Strive to Learn! read more

Josefine has made my first year in college an incredible learning experience! She has tutored me for many of my college classes at OCC, making confusing subjects extremely clear, especially Statistics, Psychology, and Anthropology. Her schedule is very flexible and she always does everything she can to fit you in, even if it is last minute. She has taught me valuable study and time management skills to get through my full course load. Without her, I would not have gotten on the Dean's List with a GPA of 3.8 after my first semester. This is a great improvement for me compared to my results in high school! Josefine has also helped me apply to four-year universities as a transfer student. She has made the complicated application process very approachable, leading me through the application, talking about the essay, helping me compile all the necessary documents, and advising me on possible majors. Definitely give Josefine a call if you need any help with your schoolwork, whether you're still in school or already in college! You won't regret it! read more

Strive to Learn has done so much to help me in this college process. I have pretty much don't it all with them! I started with just test prep which they were very helpful with. They were able to help me decide whether the SAT or ACT was best fit for me and from the they really helped me gain raise my SAT score significantly. I worked with both Luc and Josephine for test prep tutoring and they were both amazing. It is really a personal experience and they are able to help you focus in on the areas you need improve. I also worked with STL for college counseling which was extremely helpful during the stressful process. They provided great guidance in deciding what type of school you are looking for and create a solid list of schools you want to apply to. Included in this, I worked with Melinda, an essay coach, who really helped guide me and stimulate creativity when it comes to the Common App and supplemental essays. My overall experience at Strive to Learn was great and they provided great service and the very stressful college process!! read more

This is one of the best tutoring services there is. I searched for SAT help for my son and after calling and researching many services, I found Strive to Learn. Josefine was flexible and worked around my son's sports and school schedule She spent good quality one on one time with him, giving him practice tests and reviewing the results until he was confident and understood it thoroughly. I think it was truly worth the price, we tried expensive group SAT prep programs elsewhere, but nothing compares to the quality of the Strive to Learn tutoring services. Josefine was patient and easy to work with. My son used the essay skills she taught him to not only improve his SAT score, but to be successful in his AP English course the next year! My son received an outstanding SAT score thanks to Strive to Learn! He was accepted to 4 universities and will be attending college on full scholarship in the fall. I would highly recommend Strive to Learn, it is worth every penny! read more

In need of GRE tutoring, I was referred to Strive to Learn by a helpful friend. Josefine took me in and was wonderful! She is experienced and can tutor in a variety of manners allowing your service to be quite personalized. This is exactly what I was looking for and I was very satisfied. She suggested a number of resources for me to use while studying which were also very helpful. During my time with her I had a limited schedule and she was flexible with this. My favorite thing about Strive to Learn is that you can write directly onto the glass tables with dry erase markers. It seems corny, but is actually very helpful and makes it fun! If I had to find a complaint, it would be that her office was a little hard to find on my first visit. It is on the second floor and is difficult to see from below. With that said, this is definitely something I can look past for the quality of service I received here. Thank you Josefine! read more

The tutors at Strive to Learn are awesome!! I desperately needed help on getting my GED and the tutors have helped immensely with getting me started on Math as well as Language Arts and Social Studies. The hours are flexible, and the help is impeccable. My tutor adjusted her schedule to fit my needs and even gives out little cappuccinos for early morning sessions and we even had salmon and cucumber one time! I also received a book as a gift from one of the teachers and that book has affected my life in a positive way. The tutoring is very personalized and effective without being too overwhelming. I would definitely recommend these services if you are feeling swamped with schoolwork or need to get your GED or SAT done. The location was convenient because it's just a few blocks down from my house in the neighborhood of East 17th Street. Come on over for a quaint, in-depth personalized tutoring experience! read more

Our daughter had a fantastic experience with Strive To Learn. We utilized their tutoring and college counseling services. Josephine and team took the time to get to know our daughter to really helped her filter through all of the college options available to her. My daughter went into the process "sure" of where she wanted to attend college. By the end of the process with Strive To Learn she had expanded her list to include a few schools that she was not initially familiar with but seemed like reaches. During the application process Strive To Learn provided her great feedback on her entrance essays that challenged her to do more with them then she would have done otherwise. The work of Strive To Learn help make the college application process a relatively stress free experience and my daughter, with the assistance of Strive To Learn, ended up having a number of college options available to her. read more

I have tried countless tutors for my 16 year old daughter who has always struggled with math, and with organizing thoughts and information for essays and research papers. We've tried individual tutors as well as tutoring centers, and at best most of them helped her to squeak by. Josefine and Andrea are incredible, I have even joked to my friends that these ladies must have magic wands somewhere. My daughter has raised both her geometry and world lit grades, and best of all, she is more confident. When I pick her up from Strive to Learn she is on top of the world. Not only do they help her tremendously, but they also show interest in her as a person, which I believe shows her that she is valued. These girls are a blessing to my daughter, and to me; I would highly recommend them to anyone that needs a hand up. read more

I've been going to Strive to Learn for quite a few months now for college counseling. Before I came here, I had a really hard time writing about myself, but now I've learned how to do so effectively and how to express myself accurately. I would recommend them a thousand - a million - times if I could. William was a huge help to me in editing my essays, and I couldn't have done anything that I have without my main counselor. Thanks to Strive to Learn, I was accepted into my first choice university! As a side note, my brother also does tutoring here. His grades and his understanding of his AP classes have both been elevated unimaginably. They're patient, kind, and incredibly knowledgable. I owe my all to Strive to Learn and the dedicated people here who absolutely devote themselves to their students. read more

Hello: My name is Chris and I am a dad of one of the students at Strives Learning Centers. This is a message from my daughter Madison: "I started going to strive to learn my junior year of high school because I was struggling with math, my grade was a low D. The only chance of my grade pulling up to a C was to do well on a unit test and the the final. With the help of the amazing tutors at strive I was able to accomplish getting a whole letter grade up in roughly two months. I couldn't have done it without the help of the very patient tutors and with that I would definitely recommend strive to anyone who needs help with school, SAT/ACT help, and college planning." I am so grateful for the help she received from the Strive tutors and will continue to promote them to friends and family. Thank you. read more

I improved my SAT score 160 points with Strive to Learn! I worked with Luc, meeting three times a week for five weeks this summer. I came in with a 1300 on the SAT and no previous tutoring. Luc was incredible! We worked on areas I struggled with, specifically math, and focused on mastering my more proficient areas. I took the August SAT and improved to a 1460! I improved by 70 points on the math sections and 90 points on the reading and writing sections. They are also super flexible and accommodating to work with you to schedule around work, sports, or whatever busy schedule you may have, not to mention they always have good snacks in there. I am extremely grateful for Strive to Learn and cannot recommend them, specifically Luc, enough! Thank you! read more

Strive to learn came to my daughters school to host a PSAT for sophomores to get a better idea of the test feeling. My daughter was struggling with her SAT score, especially the math section. The tutoring place she was going to before strive to learn didn't really help her with her score. Once we reached out to strive they were so welcoming with a great group of people! Since my daughter was struggling in math she was recommended to have sessions with Luc which was a life saver! Luc really focuses on helping her actually understand the math and also reading and writing sections, and really makes sure that she is able to do it on her own. As of now her scores been going up since the few months she's been with him! Thank you strive! read more

Josefine has been an amazing tutor for the past few months. I've always struggled with Upper Division Spanish classes at UCI because it's not my native language, but she makes it very easy to understand assignments. She not only helps me visually map out the content I don't understand, but she teaches me new words to increase my fluency. She always makes sure that we're on the same page and that I understand everything before we move onto the next topic. Also, her flexibility makes it very easy to schedule sessions especially around my busy schedule. But the best part is that I've been getting A's on all my papers and tests! Because of her ability to tutor in various subjects, I would recommend her to anyone looking for a tutor! read more

We could not be more impressed. My son took his first ACT test without any prep work. He started working with Josefine and everything came together beautifully. He went into the test calm and with total confidence. His second score came up 5 points! If you haven't done the ACT's yet, that fantastic. He was happy with his score and did not take it again. He was accepted to all his school. We also did college counselling with Josefine. Most of his essays and applications were completed before the start of his senior year. I high recommend that approach. We learned that from our other kids that went to college before him. I would not hesitate to have any of my kids sign up with Strive to Learn. They are incredible! read more

My daughter has been with this center for a year now and has enjoyed working with all of the tutors there! She originally went there to prep for the ACT in her Junior year of High School, and proceeded to continue with them to prep for her college applications along with colleges essays. This has been a wonderful experience!!! The owner of the center goes above and beyond to ensure her staff is most qualified for each subject area required. I have personally recommended Strive to Learn to three other families who currently attend this facility. As you can read I cannot say enough of how great this center is! You will not regret your decision to have yourself or child attend this center for extra help!!! read more