When it comes to virtual teaching, Wes Carroll is brilliant. In fact, he is so helpful that even other educators continue to benefit from his tutelage. As a teacher, Wes knows his audience and is always enthusiastic about the subject matter. In addition, he not only offers well-organized online courses but also video-conference tutoring. As one who has witnessed one of Wes's virtual sessions, I have seen how his expertise with technology can reach multiple students and help them remotely. read more

We first heard of Wes through his math puzzle podcast, where we found out that he was also a math tutor. That was a stroke of luck, since at the time we were looking for a way to extend our daughter's strong interest in math while shoring up her understanding in a few areas. I think it can be challenging to work with kids who are already doing well through natural ability but who might have further potential, because it can be difficult to know how to get them to go farther than they're already going. Wes has been an excellent guide in this regard in a number of ways. He's been working with our daughter for about nine months, helping her with self-study for acceleration in her school curriculum as well as exposing her to more advanced concepts and problems. He's approached our daughter on her own terms, identifying areas of strength and weakness, and tailoring his approach as he went along to fit her needs and potential. He's worked with her on the standard curriculum, but has also challenged her to go beyond it, putting her schoolwork in a broader context and giving her more insight into creative mathematical thinking by working on advanced math competition problems. In addition to working on raw math and problem-solving skills, he's also started to work on giving her tools and techniques for getting farther on her own, trying to figure out how to help her improve her own general learning processes. Besides being very strong at math, Wes is smart, thoughtful, efficient, encouraging, clear and precise in communication, and very pleasant to work with. He's very good at coming at a problem or concept from multiple directions to see what will work for our daughter. He's also very welcoming of parent involvement, and I've enjoyed learning from him too when I have the time to sit in on sessions. I'm looking forward to seeing how far my daughter can go as she continues to work with Wes. read more

This is not strictly related to SAT or math, but it sort of is, so bear with me a sec. I've known Wes for years, but until today he'd never "formally" taught me anything. He spent an hour today helping me learn to play the drums, and it was probably the most effective hour of instruction about *anything* I've ever had. And that's including 15 years of piano lessons, 6 years of clarinet/saxophone, and all kinds of other things I'd spent time trying to learn over the years. Why? The process sounds simple. First, he spent some time to figure out what I knew and didn't know. Second, he zeroed in on the areas where I was having problems, and broke them into a lot of smaller pieces. Third, he gave me concrete things to do to make each of those individual pieces easier to understand, and easier to practice. Fourth, he showed me how to start recombining those pieces, after practice, so I could fit the puzzle back together again having improved each individual piece. It *sounds* simple, but I think in practice it's quite difficult for most people to do in a way that feels constructive, positive, and encouraging. At each step, I felt like I was given the tools I needed to continue working on this on my own, and a clear path to improvement. I've been poking around trying to learn how to play the drums for a few years. In an hour, I learned more, and built up my capacity to learn more, than I would ever have imagined. Utterly spectacular. I think if you've got the chance to learn from Wes, regardless of the subject, you should take it. If you have a kid who's looking to learn math, or test prep, his approach is what I *wish* my teachers did when I was younger. It'd have helped me love the process of learning, not just focus on the test in front of me. Fantastic. read more

Surprise! It's another 5-star review for Wes. I'm a tutoring peer of Wes, not one of his students. That gives me a different perspective, one that's hopefully valuable to you, fellow internet user. Wes has the ironclad content knowledge vital to being a professional tutor/teacher/instructor, but he also has the (rarer) ability to understand how you understand something. Sit with that for a second...make sure that makes sense, because it's absolutely essential to high-value tutoring. Wes knows if you understand something or if you don't. If you don't, he will (instantaneously) devise another way of explaining it to you, via metaphor, via comparison, via personal experience...whatever method that will resonate with you. Guess what happens next? Yep: you understand it. The world is blessed with too few people who have the intellect, passion, and empathy to teach at the level that Wes can. I recommend him with confidence and conviction. read more

I cannot say enough great things about Wes Carroll. Due to Wes, my son was accepted into his first choice college, despite falling short of the normal admission criteria. My son was thisclose to being able to qualify for admission, but needed a little nudge. Wes worked w/my son and thanks to Wes' wonderful teaching skills, my son did exceedingly well on his tests and is an incoming freshman this fall. We're so grateful to Wes and so thankful to Elizabeth LaScala at Doingcollege.com for referring us to Wes. He is patient and very thorough in his explanations. He takes time w/each student to go over each question and helps them figure out the correct answers. Furthermore, Wes follows through with his students, because he truly cares. Long after the tests were done Wes was there to offer support and encouragement to my son. When my son got into his favorite choice, Wes was there to celebrate him, too. We're a very excited and happy family and we owe so much of our gratitude to Wes Carroll. As a bonus, Wes Carroll's office is a simple Bart ride away. His office is a few doors down from BART, so you don't have to drive and the walk is minimal. Call him. You'll be very pleased with his results for your child. read more

Wes was fantastic! He is as good at understanding learning issues as he is at math. He did a great job in walking my daughter through a series of problems to understand exactly where she was having difficulty, and he figured out a way to point out the issue that sidestepped any resistance or defensiveness. His one session with my daughter solved the problem! She is documenting her work more thoroughly and is doing better on tests - partly because she makes fewer mistakes, and partly because when she does make a mistake she gets more partial credit due to having shown her work. She got an A in honors math last semester! read more

wes is ridiculously smart. i mean, sometimes i think i'm decently smart, but he makes me look like a doorknob. wes might actually be a math genius, but if not, he is definitely a math wizard. his brain works somewhat like a computer (in the way that you can almost watch the actual zeros and ones continually moving kinda like the matrix opening screen) and he processes info at warp speed. i think somewhere out there he got things named after him at mit or something, or he might've been that guy who went to lectures in college for the pure fun of challenging his prof instead of the other way around. the best part is that he is able to make the information accessible to your average lay-person, or 14 year old. un-math-related bonus: he's pretty cute to look at (if you're not 14 of course) read more

Wes is a fabulous teacher and tutor for your son or daughter - we used him with both for private math tutoring. In our daughter's case, we used him for 7th and 8th grade enrichment - she wasn't getting enough challenge at school. For our son, we used him between 9th and 10th grade - he taught my son an entire school year of Geometry so that he could place into Algebra II the fall of his sophomore year. It worked. Wes works with your child's direct needs-- zero's in on what the issues are, and corrects and helps them to succeed. As a parent, you sit in on the first session and pretty soon your kid and Wes are off into a math world all their own. For my high schooler, I told Wes that I did not want to be responsible for the effort - I did not want to have to spend the summer nagging my kid to do homework or getting him to a session etc etc. Wes worked with my son to ensure that my son understood this was entirely his effort, he was responsible for the homework, for getting the bus to Wes's house, for scheduling issues etc. Wes is reliable, never missed a session, and very engaging to his students. read more

I just wanted to update the review now that my son has finished all his testing. He ended up with a 36 on his ACTs and 800s on both Physics and Math2 subject tests. While we only actually engaged Wes to prepare for the Math2 test, his approach to studying... analyzing and categorizing errors... test strategy... time management... even tips on getting a good night's sleep were all internalized and brought to bear on the two exams that followed. These are skills my son will take with him to college and beyond. Thanks again for everything, Wes! read more

Wes helped my son in prepare for the SAT Math Subject II test. My son didn't have much experience preparing and studying for tests. Wes taught him important test taking strategies and helped him come up with a plan to prepare for the test that minimized the natural stress involved with taking these types of tests. Not only did my son score fantastic on the test, but he came away with the knowledge of how to better prepare for tests in the future. read more

Wes helped my granddaughter Bella in Ohio by using Facetime with her over a mere 18 days to prep for the ACT. Bella increased her score from a 32 to a 34 which made the difference in how much college scholarship money she was offered. Wes knows all the techniques and is so encouraging; Bella loved working with him. read more

Wes was a math tutor for both of our sons for about 5 years. He worked with them when they had problems and he worked with them when they did not, using that time to push them ahead into new material. What can you say about a math tutor who increases your children's aptitude, achievement and enjoyment of math? I guess, sensational. Wes is an extremely knowledgable and gifted teacher who is able to pass on the love of his subject to his students. Our boys actually enjoyed and looked forward to their sessions with Wes, and he was extremely helpful in all aspects of their math life, from school work to testing to new areas of inquiry. We could not recommend Wes more highly...he is truly a gentleman and a scholar. read more

Wes is absolutely fantastic! He figures out how your kid learns and teaches him or her the way they need to reach their goals. With my first kid, I wasted money with a commercial company and she cried when got little improvement with all the effort. With Wes, she learned not only the SAT, she learned to have confidence to do her best. I have never used any other service with my two other children ( be it SAT or math tutoring) except his English counterpart Justin. He is worth every penny and he teaches kids responsibility and goal setting. Wes thank you for your passion and expertise! read more

Wes is a profoundly gifted teacher. Aside from having the requisite brilliant understanding of math, Wes is able to explain complicated and often abstract concepts in a way that respects each student's specific learning style. What makes Wes so talented is his ability to speak many languages when it comes to math. My daughter found her meetings with Wes so inspiring and exciting that she is contemplating majoring in math in college! read more