Maria A. says, "I screened quite a few different tutors before I found Felipe. When he mentioned over the phone that he was a very organized person, that immediately caught my attention. I had a strong, intuitive hunch that Felipe would be an excellent fit for our daughter, and family, as an SAT and ACT tutor/coach. We hired him on the spot, and have been exceedingly happy that we did, ever since. Thanks to Felipe's tireless, dedicated efforts, our daughter Leila, now aged 17, has gained the critical skills, confidence and deeper knowledge of the subjects covered in both tests. Leila is a shy, polite, soft-spoken young woman, who struggles with test anxiety. Although she enjoys learning, she is not the bold sort of student who eagerly raises her hand in class. She would rather quietly, discreetly ask the teacher questions after all the other students have left. Her hesitancy to seek help, which often involves muscling her way through the throng around the teacher, and her anxiety during tests have been a challenge for her throughout high school.
Leila's grades suffered in her junior year, and her baseline PSAT results were weak. After months of intensive work with Felipe, Leila brought her SAT test results (taken in a practice session) up by an amazing, whopping 450 points! If Leila is able to achieve anything close to similar results on the actual exams, it will open doors to colleges that would have been otherwise out of her reach entirely. Felipe began working with Leila months ago, in the winter of 2019/2020, prior to the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus pandemic. As soon as the schools moved to virtual format, Felipe switched gears without missing a beat, and continued tutoring Leila virtually, which worked out equally well. Felipe has proven to be quite an extraordinary tutor, mentor, and person.
To begin with, yes, Felipe is indeed highly, wonderfully organized, and structured in his approach to tutoring. He systematically works through the material, ever sensitive to our daughter's needs. Equally fluent in all the subjects--English, Science, and Math--Felipe is consistently patient, thorough, supportive, articulate, compassionate, concise, and able to explain concepts seven ways to Sunday, until Leila is able to grasp them. Comprehensively familiar with every part of both standardized tests, Felipe taught Leila countless tips and tricks on how to approach the different kinds of questions she would encounter. He showed her how to separate the wheat from the chaff--the key information from the extraneous. He taught her how to save time on the tests, how to quickly, confidently rule out obviously incorrect answers that hitherto would have given her pause.
Felipe has been unfailingly courteous, prompt, attentive, trustworthy and reliable through these long, challenging months. He has managed to consistently exceed our expectations while traveling back and forth between the midwest and the east coast, in the midst of the pandemic crisis, caring for his ailing mother and managing his obligations both at his parents' home, and in MA.
It is evident to us that Felipe is a true professional who truly, sincerely cares about his students, and their success. Finally, I'd like to add that Felipe is a likable person--he is flexible, warm, witty, empathetic, modest, and kind. He has a wonderful way with young people--he was able to build a foundation of trust, and ease with Leila, who is admittedly rather a tough nut to crack. More at ease with women, Leila is highly reserved, and unaccustomed to conversing with young men, in general. I knew Felipe would face a challenge in getting past Leila's guard. I also knew it would be a beneficial life skill, ultimately, for her to learn how to be more self-assertive vocally and intellectually with a young gentleman.
Initially, she was hesitant to ask questions, respond, or interact much with him. As she learned to trust Felipe, she started to improve in her skills, which in turn helped her gain confidence, and she found her voice. Leila learned over time that with Felipe, there are no wrong or stupid questions. She was no longer afraid to ask for clarification when she was confused. Watching Leila's self-confidence, self-assertiveness, and determination grow has been the most gratifying part of this whole experience for us, as parents. And to be sure, we are wildly pleased with her dramatically improved test results, thus far. Enormously proud of her hard work, and of her personal and academic growth, we are tremendously grateful to Felipe for his remarkable, skilled guidance. We plan to utilize Felipe's expertise even after Leila takes the ACT and SAT exams, as she will study physics and math in the fall. It is our pleasure to recommend Felipe as a tutor wholeheartedly, and unreservedly." Read more
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