David helped by daughter master the content in her Lowell Algebra 2 class. He was able to support…read moreher fill in the gaps in understanding in her pandemic Algebra 1 knowledge. She appreciated his focus and patience. He took the time to thoroughly explain concepts. David helped grow her confidence and esteem around math. He was flexible with scheduling, if we were out of town he was happy to work over Zoom. The Noe Valley location meant my daughter could use public transportation to reach the office. David is a great resource for your high schooler in S.F.

Helped my son, a Lick-Wilmerding sophomore, improve his math grade…read more Super chill, easy to work with in terms of scheduling, and really reasonably priced. No high pressure sell. Just a genuine guy wanting to help students do their best. I plan on using him for SAT test practice. Truly, it doesn't get much better. Super bright guy. Writes the books on the stuff he tutors. Icing on the cake!

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.

My grandson in college was falling behind in both Calculus and Statistics, having had some prior…read moreknowledge gaps. He became panicky about keeping up his grade point average. Finding Dan through Yelp turned him around. As a therapist, I know that the way Dan approached and encouraged him throughout the process was uniquely different from other tutors. My grandson went from panicky to self-confident. That is rare in a tutor. Barbara H. Irving, LCSW, ACSW

Dan is intelligent, organized and most of all patient and those are the qualities you need in a…read moretutor that you are going to trust with the education and future of your child! I highly recommend Dan, reach out to him and see what a difference he can make for you and your family and your future

We have been really pleased with this tutoring center. Our child is in 5th grade applying to…read moreindependent middle schools and had to take the ISEE. His math practice tests were going poorly, and he was also struggling with math schoolwork (especially word problems). Our tutor has been Chase, a very nice young guy who is able to explain complex ideas in clear and simple ways. Paul said he was good with younger kids, and we agree - he's very friendly, positive and patient, and our child really liked working with him immediately. In addition, he's been super flexible with schedule changes, and really a calm, low key pleasure to work with. And he has produced results: In Dec 2016 our son took the SSAT as a practice run, and scored well on verbal but sub par on math - with very minimal prep and only 2 meetings with Chase. Several weeks later he took the ISEE and scored about the same on verbal (which Chase did not focus on), but improved almost 100% on math, especially those pesky word problems! His score almost DOUBLED on the quantitative tests. In this instance he'd prepped for a little over a month, with maybe 6-7 hrs max devoted to math prep. That's a big jump up, and of course, it's helping with schoolwork as well. Chase has seriously done a great job and we recommend him unreservedly. I am giving 4 stars because some of what other posters have said is true - in other ways this center could stand some improvement - billing seems chaotic and to this day I really don't know what we've actually paid and what we have not. Their billing person seems haphazard. Also, Paul said he would evaluate our child himself and never did, and has not offered any feedback on his learning style, which he promised he would give in our first, lengthy, conversation. In addition, the center on Piedmont is often without heat - a major issue this winter, so bring a coat!

Paul is the best tutor one could go to, especially if that one is a concerned parent looking to…read moreposition their child with the best possible tools. He does not teach math, he explains the logic of math. Paul is a principle based teacher, he teaches the logic of the subject matter so the student learns the underlying principles essential for true understanding; I.E. no memorization, but real, god honest understanding of the material. Just to give you a very, very basic example, instead of saying 5 times 24, Paul would propose something akin to: what if you have 5 groups of 24? And if that didn't work, he would draw diagrams, adapt his language further, and seemed to actually enjoy trying to explain the subject matter; he has a real passion for teaching, is more or less what I am saying, and, for my (older now) and many other/future/your? childrens' sake, it is an effective passion for teaching. Paul is the crème de la crème of tutors, you could not do better, and would notice an immediate difference, to your relief I am sure. This guy can take a D student and make them an A student, he is a miracle worker, so long as the child has some spark left for learning, he can be the fire starter. Not to mention that ultimately, I actually saved more money from Paul's SAT tutoring in the form of scholarships than I paid for the tutoring! Just in case you are wondering, this an honest review, that is dead on accurate. It's literally been years since I have talked to Paul (7 or 6) and I still sometimes reflect on how much I learned from him. In college and even the work place, his guidance at that point in my life is now invaluable. ++++ he is a really cool guy that teenagers/kids will like.

Amazing tutors, I can't rate them high enough. Tobi is the only tutor I will use along with my…read morefuture kids. The tutors make real genuine connections with the students and help them out to the best of their ability. Moreover, their prices are a steal for the quality of their work. I worked with Tobi on admission essays, and I never knew how far my personal statement could go without his help. I really can't thank them enough!

Highest recommendation. Tobi helped both our kids with their essays during the high school…read moreapplication process and their writing skills have flourished in English Honors classes in high school. Both kids often request time with Tobi to help with big essay assignments in high school. He's the best.

I had the opportunity to take lessons from Christian about every other week for the last year. He's…read morea great teacher who focuses on teaching how the German language works, not just drilling the vocabulary. I am moving to Germany in a few weeks and I can honestly say I am better off and more comfortable now because of my Saturday morning tutoring with Christian. Friendly, flexible, extremely helpful and a wonderful teacher. I would highly recommend Christian to anyone.

I've been taking German lessons with Christian for about 6 months. He teaches in a very methodical…read moreway which progresses you by learning grammar instead of just phrases. This has been so helpful to me because I initially started to try to learn through Duolingo which didn't connect for me. I find German to be a difficult language but Christian is good at setting a pace that works with your ability and schedule. The homework is fun and just the right amount to reinforce the lesson. There have been times when I have thought the language was too difficult and I wanted to stop, and once I even had Christian repeat a whole lesson for me because I wasn't understanding it. I think this is part of the process though - some bits are easier and some are more challenging, but if you stick with it, you *will* progress! I do feel like I am missing out on practicing talking with people (something you might get in a class setting), but I prefer being able to go at my own pace and not being graded on my work. Meeting with Christian in the Main Library is convenient and parking is relatively easy. Highly recommend!

My tutor Nihal was able to to help me understand the fundamentals for the Math portion of the ACT…read more With his help I was able to change my score to a 34 for just one month of his help. I am grateful for the help he has given me and work recommended his services to anyone who needs help with math.

When it comes to virtual teaching, Wes Carroll is brilliant. In fact, he is so helpful that even…read moreother 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.

This is not strictly related to SAT or math, but it sort of is, so bear with me a sec. I've known…read moreWes 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.