My 15-year-old son has been working with a Strive Path counselor for several years. The benefits of…read morethis program have been amazing for him. He has learned about many classes and clubs that he has been able to navigate successfully thanks to the guidance provided by his counselor. He is currently on the youth commission and looking to apply to top universities in the upcoming years. If you are serious about your child's education and the need for college guidance, this is the company!

Sunny and his team are amazing. Very helpful for students to have a third party outside of the home…read moreto help with the college application process. The sports recruiting addition is excellent and very helpful. Highly recommend!

Terrible experience with Nisha and Blaine who practically sabotaged my child preparation for SAT…read more Super unreliable operation - promise a lot and don't even show up to scheduled meetings - terrible!!

Matt Pickup is an amazing tutor for any social science and history/government related courses. He…read moreconstantly went above and beyond, even emailing me constantly with last minute personalized tips the night before my APUSH exam. He helped me go from getting my first bad semester grade in AP World first semester to getting an A the 2nd semester and a 5 on the exam. He was so good that i went back to him for APUSH, helping me score straight As and a 5 on that exam as well. He personally asked me what I needed specifically to improve and gave me tons of practice resources that we went through together and i got so used to the exam question types that It helped me with every other AP I've taken since then. He truly cares about his students!

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!

Both my boys took their test prep with Ryan Pelkey and scored excellent in both SAT and ACT. He was…read morethorough, patient and helpful. I highly recommend Ryan. He helped them build their confidence in test taking, and made it a great personal experience for both . Thanks Ryan !

Ryan has helped my two kids with SAT test prep in the last 4 years. He is very patient,…read moreencouraging, and passionate about helping students succeed. Both kids improved their scores significantly thanks to his help!

Tutor/student desks are very crowded, requiring tutor and student to sit side by side with…read moreshoulders practically touching. I had explicitly asked that the tutor help my high schooler with study skills that would help her with all classes, biology in particular. During the first session the tutor just asked my daughter what she wanted to work on. Not having worked with a tutor, she wasn't sure what to ask for, especially as it was the beginning of the semester so she had no homework for biology. They chatted for about 20 minutes, but not about study skills. Then the session was ended early since my daughter didn't have anything else to ask for, even though I had been required to pay for a full session beforehand. Study skills were never discussed. Also the tutor told my daughter that she (the tutor) didn't have much background in biology and was more of a physics tutor. All around disappointing. The owner did follow up with me directly after I complained and asked for a refund. He listened patiently, acknowledged that the requested focus on study skills had been a miss and apologized for the poor experience. His handling of the situation is why I gave a 2 star instead of 1 star.

Looking for a tutor for my daughter before a Chemistry exam. OTL got her in right away. She liked…read morethe tutor and was able to find a time slot once a week for tutoring. I had some issues on my end regarding scheduling/paying and the owner called me to walk me through it. Highly recommend OTL for tutoring.

"It takes a village to raise a child" and Lafayette Academy was a part of that village in our…read morehousehold. Weekly tutoring, college counseling, and ACT/SAT prep is why our three children attended Lafayette Academy from the beginning of high school through graduation. The math tutoring was the "extra" they needed to thoroughly grasp the lessons and excel on their tests. In addition, Kathy and Mark Bressler made college planning and ACT/SAT prep successful for our kids by keeping them on track and motivated. Our children attended UC Berkeley, UC Davis and Saint Mary's College; the latter two awarded large academic scholarships. We know they would not have had that level of success without the Bresslers' knowledge, dedication and experience, in partnership with their team of professional tutors at Lafayette Academy.

4th grader and 7th grader needed extra help in math so we have been trying Lafayette Academy. It…read morewas really easy to sign up and they got us in for appointments at the times that worked for me. The tutors are great and the kids are really learning a lot. I highly recommend it!!

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).

My son has been going to Alpha College Prep for almost 2 years utilizing chemistry and math…read moretutoring with Robert, SAT test prep with Taylor and now college essay writing with Jennifer. Both of us have been quite happy with the tutors and staff at Alpha. Academically, my son has raised his gpa, test scores and equally important, learned the subject matter. The tutors understand how to work with teenagers and my son feels more confident in the subject areas after his tutoring sessions. Lastly, their rates are reasonable and hours are flexible to suit the needs of students. We've been to other tutoring centers in Berkeley and El Cerrito, but none of them has produced as great a result as Alpha.

During my senior year of high school, I went to Alpha College Prep to seek help with my college…read moreapps and help with the overall process that can be very overwhelming. I worked with Jennifer, who was absolutely wonderful, and she managed to help me write my college apps that got me into top universities like UC Berkeley, Northeastern, and UCLA. With this, I also got scholarships from other universities I applied to and had an overall amazing college application experience. She helped me facilitate and better explain my ideas on paper which helped a lot. Also, before the SATs got cancelled, I used the Alpha College Prep to mainly help with the math portion of the SAT and after the first session my score improved by 50 points. I would recommend Alpha College Prep for students who are looking for some guidance during the college admission process or looking for overall tutoring in any area. I will be a freshman at UC Berkeley this fall and thank Alpha College Prep for helping me write and formulate strong essays as I couldn't have done it without them.

We have utilized Lafayette Academy's services for ten years (possibly more). Their centers are…read morestaffed with experienced and knowledgeable tutors who can assist with tutoring in all academic areas along with ACT and SAT test prep, exam crams and more. I have two girls, who benefitted greatly over the years from their services. From middle school work to college level courses (they even helped my daughter who attended Cal Berkeley with her Business Statistics Course and my other daughter's Chemistry Course through San Diego State) Lafayette Academy had the appropriate staff on hand to assist with all of their needs. Their success can be attributed to the owners. The owner Mark B. with whom I conversed with regularly, is involved in his business and takes great care to ensure his clients are provided with excellent service. He and his staff are responsive and always have found the right fit for our daughters to ensure their academic success. I highly recommend Lafayette Academy! Simply put..they are the best! Aimee P. Alamo, CA

Love this place and highly recommended! So easy the work with. Both the tutor and the young…read moregentleman (sorry, I didn't get his name) at the front desk are so nice and friendly. My son got sick over the weekend, and Monday was his session, but he was too sick to attend. Just one phone call and it was changed to Tuesday. Thank you!

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.