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Elena
Certified SSAT Tutor
Elena
BA Cornell University • Juris Doctor, Law University of Chicago Law School
1+ Years Tutoring

I am a second year law student at the University of Chicago who hails from the San Francisco Bay Area! I tutor the SAT, ESL, and Spanish. I was an AVID tutor in high school, and after college I taught an ESL class and tutored a high school student in Spanish. In law school, I am involved with the Lawyers in the Classroom program. My tutoring philosophy is based on listening to students work through problems and helping them to spot their confusions or incorrect assumptions. I believe students learn much better when they aren't simply told the right answer or right reasoning; they need to get there on their own.

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Anna
Certified SSAT Tutor
Anna
BA Northwestern University • Graduated (Honors Program in Medical Education) Northwestern University
8+ Years Tutoring

I'm Anna! I'm currently a student in the MD/MBA program between Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and the Kellogg School of Management, and graduated from Northwestern University as part of the Honors Program in Medical Education. I attended the Bergen County Academies in New Jersey, a selective, application-based magnet school, for high school.

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Viktor
BA University of Chicago
7+ Years Tutoring

I'm referring to math, of course, but I didn't always like the subject. Until about age 16, I thought of math as a boring, mind-numbing process of blindly memorizing formulas and then forgetting them after the test, but a series of wonderful teachers showed me the truth. I had thought that everything in math was invented arbitrarily just to torture students, but actually it all made sense in a deep way. When I caught a glimpse of what math really was, I found it irresistible and I ended up majoring in math in college at UChicago. I'm currently a Master's student in Computer Science at NYU.

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Asta
BA University of Chicago
1+ Years Tutoring

I am a graduate of the University of Chicago where I received my undergraduate degree in political science. Right after graduation, I worked as an academic and test prep tutor as well as admissions consultant in Hong Kong. For the past two years, I worked with a number of students to help prepare them for college in the United States.

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Oliver
Engineer Northwestern University
6+ Years Tutoring

I'm a current student at Northwestern University and standardized test tutor. I've been tutoring for the past 3 years and have helped many students score well on the SAT, ACT, PSAT, and similar exams. I am also fluent in French.

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Spencer
BA University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
6+ Years Tutoring

I am a math tutor who is currently attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and majoring in Environmental Engineering. I have been tutoring math for over four years, both at Fenwick High School (where I attended) as a peer tutor and with Mathnasium. I teach Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Geometry, Pre-Calc, and Calculus 1 + 2, and I also cover all sections of the ACT. I prefer to take an involved approach to tutoring -- that is, rather than have my students sit and listen to me talk, I prefer to actively engage them with problems. I believe that the best way to learn is to do, and I love to use this philosophy in my tutoring. However, I am willing to adapt to whatever style my students prefer -- if my students learn best from lectures, then lectures will be what we do. Working with clients to discover the way they learn best is one of my favorite parts of tutoring.

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Jeff
MS University of California-Berkeley • BA Princeton University
10+ Years Tutoring

I am a life-long proponent of education and learning. I graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in philosophy. After working for a few years, including in book publishing, I returned to school and completed my M.A. in history at the University of California, Berkeley. While there, I taught history and philosophy classes to undergraduates. I also taught Standardized Test Prep (SAT and GRE) for Summit Tutors and Kaplan.

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Emily
BA Oberlin College
10+ Years Tutoring

I'm a recent graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory, where I studied Jazz Trumpet and Environmental Studies. I tutor in a wide range of subjects, including math, French, English, environmental science, and standardized test prep. I have experience teaching academic subjects and music in both classroom and individual settings, and I have worked with middle school through college-aged students. As a teacher, I strive to be flexible and approachable, getting to know my students and constantly reassessing my approach based on the needs of the individual student I am working with.

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Sahibzada
MS Northwestern University
7+ Years Tutoring

I've been working with students for over seven years, from middle school all the way through college, across subjects like math, calculus, statistics, linear algebra, chemistry, and physics, with a lot of SAT and ACT prep mixed in. My background is perhaps a little unconventional. I have two bachelor's degrees, one in Engineering and one in Communication Studies, plus a Master's in Design. That combination means I can guide you through challenging technical material and communicate it in a way that is easy to grasp. What I care most about is helping students get to a place where they don't need me anymore. I know that sounds like a strange thing for a tutor to say, but I think it's the right goal. I'm not here to walk you through steps to copy down. I want you to understand why something works, because that's what holds up under pressure, on a test you haven't seen before. If you're ready to ace that test or prove that theorem that's been bugging you, reach out and let's work together

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Evan
BA Harvard University • Current Grad Student, Statistics Harvard University
9+ Years Tutoring

I'm thrilled to work with anybody on any subjects of interest, reach out with any questions!

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Mahalia
BA Northwestern University
9+ Years Tutoring

I am comfortable tutoring a variety of subjects, I am most passionate about writing and language, and I truly believe that strong writing skills are an asset in every area of life. Through my experience as an after-school program manager, I learned to build relationships and work well with students, parents, and teachers to meet student goals. In response to the pandemic, I quickly learned ways to adapt my educational youth work to a virtual setting. My social work background helps me connect with students on a personal and social-emotional level, which lays a trusting foundation for real growth and learning.

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Ilana
MS Northwestern University • BA Northwestern University
1+ Years Tutoring

I am a graduate of Northwestern University, where I completed a BA in Cognitive Science (Neuroscience concentration) as well as a BMus and Masters degree in Voice and Opera Performance. I tutor test prep for the SATs and ACTs, as well as math for all ages. I excel particularly in writing and editing and love tutoring in the humanities. My teaching philosophy is one of guidance rather than direct instruction, helping students to discover answers on their own. I am very patient and understand that sometimes all it takes to understand a difficult concept is to explain it in a few different ways. We all learn differently, so I aim to develop an individualized approach for each student in order to make the most of our time together.

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Heejin has been very patient with me. I work a full time job sometimes even on the weekends. It has been a slow process with my Korean classes, but Heejin has been wonderful and patient.

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Worked with a SSAT Tutor

I've been working with my tutor for a few months now and the progress has been remarkable. The personalized attention and tailored lessons made all the difference compared to in-classroom learning.

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Michael Chen
Worked with a SSAT Tutor

The flexibility of scheduling combined with the quality of instruction is unmatched. I can get help exactly when I need it, whether that's late at night or early in the morning before a test.

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Priya Patel
Worked with a SSAT Tutor

My daughter went from dreading her sessions to looking forward to them. The tutor made the material engaging and built her confidence in ways I never thought possible. Highly recommend.

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Rebecca Williams

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Frequently Asked Questions

Score improvement depends on your starting point and how consistently you work with a tutor. Many students see 50-100 point increases with focused preparation, especially when working on specific weak areas like reading comprehension or quantitative reasoning. The key is identifying which sections need the most attention and developing targeted strategies for those areas. With personalized 1-on-1 instruction, tutors can pinpoint your exact challenges and create a study plan that addresses them systematically.

Many students struggle with pacing, especially on the Reading section where they run out of time before finishing all passages and questions. The Quantitative sections also trip up students who second-guess themselves or spend too long on difficult problems. Expert tutors help you develop efficient time management strategies—like learning which questions to tackle first, when to skip and return to harder items, and how to pace yourself across sections. Practice tests are essential for building this timing fluency before test day.

Yes, the writing section is unscored, but you should still prepare for it because it's sent to the schools you're applying to. Admissions officers use it to evaluate your communication skills and writing ability in a timed setting. Tutors can help you develop a clear essay structure, practice managing your time in the 25-minute window, and learn how to brainstorm and organize your thoughts quickly. Even though it doesn't affect your numerical score, a strong writing sample strengthens your overall application.

SSAT reading passages are challenging because they test comprehension, inference, and vocabulary in sophisticated texts—often from literature, science, and history. Students often struggle to identify main ideas while managing dense material and time pressure. Effective strategies include active reading (annotating as you go), understanding question types before reading the passage, and practicing retrieval of key information. Tutors teach you to distinguish between detail questions, inference questions, and vocabulary-in-context questions so you approach each strategically rather than spending equal time on every question.

The SSAT quantitative sections test standard math concepts, but the multiple-choice format and time constraints can trip up strong math students. The key is learning the specific question types—particularly quantitative comparisons, which don't exist in regular school math. Tutors help you understand what each question format is testing, develop shortcuts and estimation techniques that save time, and practice eliminating obviously wrong answers. Many students also benefit from learning when to use calculators strategically and when mental math or quick estimation is faster.

Most students prepare for 2-3 months with consistent effort. A realistic schedule includes 2-3 tutoring sessions per week combined with independent practice between sessions—typically 1-2 hours of focused work outside tutoring. The first month usually focuses on understanding question formats and building foundational skills, the second month targets weak areas with practice problems, and the final month emphasizes full-length practice tests and test-day strategies. Starting earlier gives you more flexibility and reduces pressure, especially if you're balancing this with school coursework.

Practice tests do three critical things: they reveal your actual strengths and weaknesses under timed conditions, help you build stamina for a full 3+ hour exam, and reduce test anxiety by making the format and timing feel familiar on test day. Full-length practice tests also show patterns in your mistakes—whether you're missing inference questions, rushing through quantitative sections, or struggling with specific vocabulary. Tutors use your practice test results to guide what you focus on next, making your study time much more efficient than reviewing random topics.

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