Student Focuses on ACT Prep and Trigonometry

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Executive Summary

This case study is about a high school junior living in Evanston, outside of Chicago.  She worked with two separate MyGuru tutors simultaneously on improving her ACT score and increasing her Trigonometry grade.  At the end of 15 hours, both tutor situations were positive and beneficial.

Introduction: Why We Develop Case Studies

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 MyGuru’s Case Studies is to illustrate how a particular student benefited from private tutoring.  Of course, your or your child’s particular situation is different – but if you can draw some comparisons and identify some similarities, you might be able to envision how private tutoring would benefit you.

Student Situation

Initially, the student’s father contacted MyGuru in regards to requesting an ACT tutor for his daughter.  They were interested in a typical long-term tutoring arrangement, investing in 15 hours of instruction.  After later evaluation, this student asked MyGuru for further help with her Trigonometry class.  The ACT tutoring had been going well and the family realized she was struggling with the concepts in class. Turning to MyGuru for added instruction was the decided direction this student went in.

The Tutor(s)

The tutor we paired with the female student was Mike Z.  He is a PhD student at the University of Michigan and has a strong, longstanding tutoring background.  The tutor is a graduate of the University of Miami and has achieved high standardized test scores.  Mostly an ACT, SAT, or GRE tutor with MyGuru, Mike is also capable of tutoring mathematics up through Calculus II.

When the parents requested a Trigonometry tutor, we suggested that Mike continue tutoring the student due to the fact that they had developed a rapport and he was qualified through Calc II.  However, Mike came back to MyGuru with the admission that a tutor with more of a Trigonometry specialization would suit the student better.

Therefore, we immediately paired the student with another tutor with a PhD in physics with a background in teaching physics and mathematics at both Northeastern University and Loyola University for 15 years.  They began working to improve her grade right away.

Tutoring Approach

Mike worked with the student on improving her ACT score.  Before meeting, this individual took a practice test to allow Mike to develop a unique study plan adapted to her specific needs and weaknesses.  This way, the student knew what would be covered during each session.  She was assigned applicable homework problems and practice tests so that Mike could quantitatively gauge her progress.  Mike would then review the homework and tests to show her which concepts she didn’t understand and demonstrate to the student the best way to overcome her weaknesses. 

Through an ongoing relationship, the tutor was able to establish a connection with the student.  The father remarked that besides the numerical ACT score increase; Mike gave his daughter a fantastic and effective pep talk prior to the test, helping her to build confidence in herself and her ability.

Simultaneously, over 5 hours, the MyGuru trigonometry tutor helped the individual become more confident with the subject concepts and grow in her knowledge of how to approach test questions and problems.

Results Achieved

This student made tremendous progress in both areas. Her ACT score increased by a few points and she achieved a B+ on her Trigonometry final after being stuck in the low C range for most of the semester.  More than that, a mentoring relationship had evolved with her ACT tutor that went beyond academics and allowed her to believe in herself.

As shown by this case, MyGuru prides itself on connecting students with a really good fit for every and any given subject.  Even though her ACT tutor ultimately was not the best fit for her when it came to Trigonometry, we made sure to find her another tutor that would be.  Our tutors are willing to pass up additional tutoring hours to make sure the student gets the most out of each tutoring experience.

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