Megan S. - student

"Sara helped me not only raise my ACT score but become more confident in my skills.  She is extremely thoughtful and knowledgeable and guided my through the ins and outs of the ACT.  I started with a 28 and raised my score to a 32 the first time I took the actual test.  Sara is very reliable and created a tailored plan to help me raise my score.  I highly recommend Sara without hesitation."

Dena T. - parent

“Sara exceeded all of our expectations in helping our daughter prepare for her first ACT test!  She has a very approachable and patient teaching style that helped to build confidence from the initial session.  With her individualized tutoring strategy she was able to efficiently customize sessions to focus on our daughter's specific needs and to set weekly study goals that were challenging yet achievable. After working with Sara, our daughter’s score went up 7 points!”

Beth g. - parent

“We had a short time frame and an aggressive improvement goal for my daughter’s SAT score. Sara was amazing; she was positive and encouraging but direct and professional in setting expectations around the hours and work required for the desired outcome. I was extremely impressed with her efficiency and ability to hone in on my daughter’s strengths and weaknesses specifically related to the SAT. My daughter’s score improvement exceeded our expectations! We would highly recommend Sara and plan to hire her for our youngest daughter as well.”

Lauren F. - STUDENT

"Sara is the best ACT tutor out there. Prior to working with Sara, I went to an ACT/SAT prep course every Saturday and learned nothing new. Sara teaches you things that not many other tutors know. She helped me to raise my composite ACT score from a 27 to a 31 (32 superscored), and one of my sub scores 10 points. She has organized study plans tailored for every student, and helps you through one of the most stressful times as a teenager! I recommend her to anyone looking for an ACT/SAT tutor." 

anita s. - parent

“I hired Sara at a time when my daughter was losing all hope in her ability to bring up her ACT score. She was frustrated and stuck. Her confidence was shot. Sara’s package offering was the perfect solution; she created a consistent schedule to meet with my daughter, gave her a rigorous study plan and from the first meeting, my daughter’s confidence increased. Sara is intelligent, and can see through the clutter and get to the heart of the emotional and mental “blocks” kids experience around these standardized tests. She has a deep understanding of the mechanics, structure and approach each individual should take. With Sara’s help, my daughter brought up the math, science and english sections by a whopping three points each. My daughter is now in the running for the colleges she had previously lost hope in. Sara is truly the best.”

Jane W. - parent

"Sara is a wonderful tutor.  She is extremely knowledgable.  Sara determined which test was best suited for my daughter, who was applying to a private high school.  My daughter was provided a timeline to learn the sections required and guided on how to do this.  Sara was always reliable, encouraging, and patient.  I am lucky to have found Sara to guide us through this crazy world of standardized tests."

Leigh W. - parent

“Hiring Sara was the best investment we could have made in preparing Natalie for the ACT exam.  Prior to working with Sara, Natalie had rarely performed well on standardized exams.  Her father and I were concerned that Natalie’s ACT score would be a detriment to her chances of being admitted to her top college choices. Sara implemented the perfect plan for Natalie to not only do well her first time taking the exam, but to improve her composite score by 4 points the second time.  We recommend Sara without hesitation – she is extremely knowledgeable, professional, and responsive.  We could not have been happier with the service she provided.”

Natalie W. - student

"Sara was a great tutor! On my first ACT, I scored a 28 with a 26 on the reading section. After seeing where I needed improvement, Sarah and I focused on reading and interpreting texts. The second time I took the ACT, I scored a 32 with a 36 on the reading section. That's right! With help from Sarah, I was able to increase one of my section scores by 10 points!"

Maripat M. - Parent

“My son and I were both very pleased with Sara's help preparing for the ACT.  She was calm, organized, professional and focused when she worked with him.  Sara was able to identify the areas that he needed to focus on, from content to test-taking-planning.  There was work between sessions, but it was so targeted and relevant that my son did not mind doing it.  Most importantly, after working with Sara my son felt like he had a plan and was capable of doing well on the test.  And he did!  I have recommended Sara to others, and wish I had known about her for my oldest two!” 

Hema D. - PARENT

"With Sara’s guidance, my son’s ACT score increased from 28 to 34.  Sara was very professional, always on time, well prepared, and knows how to work with teenagers.  I was very worried about standardized tests but Sara’s vast experience in this area helped us tremendously.  She advised us on which test would be more appropriate,  focused the tutoring on areas he needed to improve once she assessed his capabilities, and recommended if he should take the test again after reviewing his results.  I was always pleasantly surprised to see my son’s results. I am lucky to find Sara and genuinely recommend her."

Helen R. - student

“Once I decided to take the GRE, I immediately reached out to Sara. She had tutored me for the SAT 10 years ago and I still remembered what a positive impact our work had on my score and what a pleasure it was to work with her. Preparing for the GRE was a similarly positive experience. Sara is extremely organized and prepares tutoring and homework in a logical, forthright way which creates no extra work and maximizes efficiency. She has a total mastery of not only the material covered on the test, but also (and arguably more importantly) how to take the test. She is encouraging and makes tutoring and studying as fun as it could possibly be. From the first online practice test I took to the actual GRE, my overall score increased by 14 points (seven in verbal and seven in quantative) and my percentiles increased by 25% and 20%, respectively. I know that these increases are a direct result of working with Sara and cannot recommend her enough.”

IZZY P. - student

"Sara is an amazing tutor! From the first time we met she was able to quickly and effectively identify and work with the areas in which I had the most room for growth. She is extremely knowledgeable about a wide variety of tests and the strategies that correspond to them, and was able to take me from 30 [on the] ACT  to a 34. She is fantastic and even though it was a tutoring session it was always engaging and never boring."

David R. - PARENT

“Two separate co-workers recommended Sara. She had helped their daughters improve their test scores. Both girls wound up with precisely the gains that Sara had predicted. She managed to achieve the same feat in our case. In a mere six weeks, our daughter’s standardized math score went from 77th percentile to 94th percentile.  Sara is an expert at diagnosing and rectifying kids’ precise weaknesses and learning gaps. I highly recommend her services.”

elizabeth R. - student

"I absolutely adore Sara!  She was incredibly helpful to me in preparing for the SAT.  I would recommend her to anyone because she was simply fabulous.  Her style of teaching is wonderful and she was really accommodating."

Mandy W. - parent

“Our experience with Sara was one worth sharing with others! My daughter’s scores on her first round of tests was not at all reflective of her academic career and she was extremely worried about how they would affect her college applications. Luckily we connected with Sara and she fit us in for the 8 weeks prior to the next ACT. During that time, Sara not only taught concepts, but gave very clear direction regarding how to take the test… providing easy-to-remember examples for specific concepts, pointing out areas designed to trick test-takers and how to tackle them, boiling down key rules to remember and helping identify when to move on. She was incredibly encouraging and always focused on the positive - never making my daughter feel stressed or not smart enough. She was also very accessible - providing her phone number and email in case any questions arose between sessions. Most impressive was the fact that after the very first session, instead of dreading it, my daughter actually looked forward to it & enjoyed their sessions because she felt like she was learning & gaining so much confidence. In the end, she gained 5 points on her ACT - pushing her into a range that is more aligned with her abilities and the colleges in which she’s interested. It was worth every single penny invested! And on top of her delivering results and being super knowledgable, encouraging and easy to work with, she’s a nice person that we enjoyed getting to know.”

Andrew G. - Parent

“Sara did a wonderful job with [our son].  Her insight into the standardized test-taking methodology was fantastic, and she taught our son some great test-taking strategies - tailor-made just for him.  She is the consummate professional - always on time, great communicator, and she gave us just the right amount of updates to let us know our son’s progress.  Most importantly, she was very effective at engaging our son and working with him on the wide range of test material.  And yes, his scores improved greatly as a direct result of her work.  We highly recommend Sara without reservation!”

TED L. - STudent

"I credit my tutor with helping me raise my score eleven points from my diagnostic. She was a strong teacher who was always available and willing to help on a moment's notice."

EMMA P. - Student

"My parents hired Dr. Sara Nicholson to work with me. Sara's professional demeanor, her outstanding knowledge, and her ability to teach in a calm and relaxing way, made her a cut above the rest!"