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Executive Summary
This testimonial tells the story of a GRE student preparing to take the revised version of the standardized exam. He needed private tutoring to make sure that he was prepared for any extra material or methods on this new test. By spending about eight weeks with one of our most dedicated Chicago MyGuru tutors, Mike, Conor was able to achieve desired results on all sections of the GRE.
Introduction: Why We Develop Case Studies and Testimonials
MyGuru students seek private tutoring for a variety of reasons.
Some are already scoring above the 90th percentile on a standardized test, but realize that getting into an Ivy League university or one of the top graduate, MBA, Law, or Medical schools is only getting more intense, and thus seek private tutoring to squeeze out a few extra points on the test. But, others are truly struggling, scoring well below average.
For some students, the key issues are knowledge-based –meaning the students don’t know certain facts or understand certain concepts that they need to master to perform better. But, in more cases than many people might realize, the issue is more emotional or psychological – the student just needs a private tutor to help them build confidence, relax, and perform.
The benefit of customized, private tutoring is that the particular situation, strengths, and weaknesses of the student can be understood and addressed by the tutor, thus improving performance. The purpose of case studies is to illustrate how a particular student benefited from private tutoring. Of course, your or your child’s particular situation is unique – but if you can draw some comparisons and identify some similarities, you might be able to envision how private tutoring would benefit you.
The Tutor
The tutor we matched with Conor was Mike Z. Mike has a BA in Political Science and History from University of Miami in Ohio. He is a recently minted PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan. He’s been tutoring for the ACT and SAT for quite some time, and scored in the 99th percentile on both tests. He has also had success with the GRE, scoring highly on that exam as well. Mike can also tutor Calculus, Algebra, Political Science, and History. He consistently gets very positive feedback.
Words from the GRE Student, Conor:
I very much enjoyed working with Mike. He is a great tutor. Like I said many emails ago, I tried out other tutors who were in the $120 range and Mike blew 'em out of the water.
I used Mike for nearly 2 months of GRE prep last summer. We began studying together at the end of the old GRE and continued together while I prepared to retake the test with the revised version.
First of all, from a character standpoint Mike is a very nice and amiable person whom is a pleasure to be around. Although the material is quite dry, Mike helps to make it a bit more interesting. From a tutoring standpoint, I thought Mike was incredible! I tried other tutors in the area that cost nearly twice as much (no exaggeration) and were nowhere near as good as Mike. Mike is really knowledgeable on the subject material, albeit very prepared, but in my opinion, is the best because he is fantastic at recognizing strengths in the student and personalizing instruction for that particular student.
The GRE is a frustrating test and tests your ability to take standardized tests. Maintaining a clear head, and approaching each question with a framework for selecting the proper answer is essential and that is what Mike works so hard to enable the student to do. None of the other tutors I tried before finding Mike had this type of approach that was so effective. In the end of working with Mike my score was nearly in the 90th percentile in math and writing and around 80th percentile in reading so from a quantitative review, he was very effective. The test went really well for me. Since the revised is so new, they only give ranges for test scores, not actual scores. Nonetheless, on verbal I got a range of 550-650 and on quant I got a range of 750-800, which certainly feels good.
All in all, Mike was absolutely great. I would highly recommend him.
