PR Tutoring: Our Experience Journal

<p>I posted the bottom portion of this entry in another post, but decided to start a new one for the purpose of keeping a journal of my son's experiences with the PR tutors we'd just hired.</p>

<p>Some background: My 16 1/2 year old son is very bright, very interested (in lots of things) and enthusiastic human being. He has always loved school as well as life (which basically means he sometimes needs to be reminded that school work needs to be done first, before running off to explore our local arboretum). He's a junior and has 2 AP classes, 2 Honors classes and 2 CP classes. He is a solid B+ student, officially his GPA is 3.959 W. His strongest subjects have always been reading, writing, science and history. Math is his more difficult subject, although he usually maintains a B or B+ in a CP class. (Hon. Chemistry (very math oriented) was his toughest class last year - his first C in high school). He had taken the PSAT last fall as a sophomore and received a 47M, 53V and 59W... not too bad for a kid that was not thinking of the importance of the test last fall at 8am in the morning... but, certainly not very good for a young man who really wants to be a doctor some day. </p>

<p>So, after I was bitten by the college bug over the summer and stumbled upon this website (in addition to some others), I started to realize the importance of the SATs in addition to everything else he was doing (or not doing), both in and out of school as it relates to him getting into a great college (great in the sense that it would be a wonderful place for him to do wonderful things, not necessarilly great as in famous). My interest, concern and enthusiasm became contagious and my son & husband are now right by my side in this whole process of exploring and preparing for the right college for my son.</p>

<p>I started doing some research and decided, based on all that I'd read and heard from others, the Princeton Review One-on-One Tutoring would be the right plan for my son. I did not want to have to take him to a class 2-4 times a week with kids that may be too fast or too slow for him. I really liked the idea of someone working with him one on one so he couldn't hide behind others in a class - if he weren't sure of himself at times. </p>

<p>Before the tutors would come, PR wanted me to give my son a PSAT Diagnostic Test. I did, and he received a 54M, 60V and 57W... Nice little improvement from a year ago with no tutoring. I guess he learned something from his CP Geometry class last year!</p>

<p>10/11/04
Well, my son's PR Math Tutor was here last night. We LOVE him! Not only is he BRILLIANT in math, he can RELATE & TEACH as well!!! He spent a good half hour talking with our family, then settled in with my son for about an hour and a half. This first meeting was to prep my son for the PSAT he'll be taking next week, the remainder of his tutoring will be spent dealing with the New Sat. </p>

<p>Our home is quite small so I was able to hear some enthusiastic dialogue between them at times... but the truth was revealed when the tutor left and my son thanked my husband and myself for getting him tutors: He said at first it was a bit awkward working with someone one on one, as he was used to one teacher with 20 to 30 students in school... BUT, soon the awkward feelings subsided and he got so much out of this brilliant man! My son said with just that one session, he felt he could tackle math problems he had had difficulty with before and also learned techniques to enable him to do far better than he had done initially! My son also said he felt bad that more kids couldn't have the privilege of having a tutor to help prepare for the PSATs/SATs, because he felt many would be at a disadvantage, like he was last year when he took his first PSAT.</p>

<p>So far, so GREAT! In a week or two we will be starting with the verbal tutor and I'll report back on how both are going!</p>

<p>this is useful : ).
What're costs like?</p>

<p>The cost for the 24 hour (12 hours with a math tutor & 12 hours with a verbal tutor) is $2700... not inexpensive by any means... but my husband and I felt it was what would be best for our son. </p>

<p>They also offer more expensive packages... We chose the "Standard" Tutor which is an "experienced class instructor." The other options would be the "Master" Tutor which is their "most experienced - minimum of 2 years" costing $4000 (same amount of time) and their "Premier" Tutor their "Rolls Royce"... I didn't bother to find out the cost of that one!!!</p>

<p>Their "Standard's" qualifications was more than adequate... I felt that even the most experienced or most brilliant person does not necessarily convey or relate the best. As it happened, we got a math tutor that is brilliant and does relate extremely well with my son for the "Standard" fee. We'll be meeting his verbal tutor in a few weeks. She is an English major who has been working for PR for 5 years... we shall see.</p>

<p>By the way, they do offer other packages, some for those who only need either math or verbal; refresher courses, etc.</p>

<p>Awesome post, and very encouraging! I've got the PR books and they're really good, but I get stuck in some areas and a tutor would be a good idea. Hadn't thought about that before, so thanks.</p>

<p>Your son is very lucky to have such great parents!!</p>