A Message From Our Founder

by Brian R. McElroy

Dear Students and Parents,

It’s a universally known fact: one-on-one tutoring is an invaluable supplement to a truly great education. No student is too smart, too old or too young to benefit from private instruction, and no student should ever be ashamed to ask for extra help. Socrates tutored Plato, and Plato tutored Aristotle; today these three figures are considered some of the most influential thinkers in history.

Not only does private tutoring have the obvious benefit of helping students achieve higher scores on standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT, ISEE, GRE and GMAT, but it can also help shape them into truly well-rounded, intelligent and perceptive learners. Thus, the finest tutors are not only teachers in the strictest sense, but mentors and role models as well.

But where does one look to find an exceptional tutor? Naturally, the Internet seems like a great place to start. Problem is, it’s hard to know which company to trust. It’s laughable how many tutoring websites claim that their company’s tutors are the best without even telling you who their tutors are. They promise you the moon and the stars, and toss around meaningless score guarantees, but remember that no tutoring service can truly guarantee your success, especially the ones who keep the identities of their tutors behind closed doors. 

Ultimately, the best assurance of your student's success is not proprietary materials or empty promises; it is the experience and dedication level of your tutor.  What the dominant tutoring companies of the last 30 years (Princeton Review, Kaplan, etc.) have failed to realize as they expanded nationwide is that you can't give your tutors a pathetic (15-20%) cut of what you charge your clients, and expect to keep expert tutors on your staff.   In general, the bigger the tutoring company, the higher their prices, the less the tutor earns, and the more the tutor ends up "reading from a script."  Thus, most tutors for these companies quickly become unsatisfied employees, and quit after only a short time.   (I can attest to this from my own experience as a teacher / tutor for the Princeton Review.)

At McElroy Tutoring, we seek to turn that antiquated business model on its head.   We espouse no "secret method" or "one size fits all" tutoring dogma that requires our tutors to use incomplete or inferior teaching materials.  Nor do we hire tutors with little or no teaching experience simply because they scored well on an exam.   Instead, we seek to represent the very best educators in the business, to pay our tutors fairly, and to give them guidance while still allowing them creative and improvisational freedoms.  Every student learns differently, so you should never have to tolerate a tutor who teaches from a proprietary script.

McElroy Tutoring stands out from the test-prep and consulting crowd because we accept only the most talented and best educated tutoring applicants, and we insist on paying them well. It’s a simple market fact: well-paid jobs attract superior candidates.   Instead of treating our tutors like assembly-line workers, we treat them the way they deserve to be treated, and we pay them what they deserve to be paid.  A well-paid tutor is a prepared, enthusiastic and effective tutor, and this is why the best tutors in the business, including many former "star tutors" for other tutoring companies, are lining up to work for us.  The results speak for themselves: our tutors' hard work, along with that of our office staff, has helped us earn a rare "A+" rating from the Better Business Bureau.

The McElroy Tutoring Team is comprised of educated professionals from all walks of life, who are carefully screened, personally interviewed, and culled from thousands of applicants to find the very best tutors in your area. We also provide detailed information about all tutors on our website, including tutor ratings based on feedback from the tutor’s current and former students. Think of us as a “tutor university,” or graduate school for tutoring, but instead of having professors provide the grades, tutors are rated anonymously by their own students. We also monitor student progress closely, tracking average scores and score improvements at all points throughout the preparation process.  Feel free to browse through our McElroy Tutoring tutor profiles on our user-friendly website for examples of our tutors' qualifications.  If you wish, you can also email any of our tutors directly through their profile pages. 

Although we do allow our tutors to embrace their own methods and teaching techniques, as also provide them with training, materials, and expert guidance as needed.  We use only real test questions in the preparation process whenever possible, and we require our tutors to have recently scored in the 95th percentile or above on any standardized tests that they teach.  Thus, we offer our clients and students the best of both worlds: we combine the reliability and resources of an established company with unique and varied teaching talents of independent tutors.

And to top it off, we’re affordable. We charge about half as much per hour as the nationally franchised test-prep companies do for tutors with equal levels of experience.

Because we believe in our tutors' abilities, and trust that you will be satisfied with our services, you are never required to pay for more than one lesson at a time.  However, if you do decide to pay in advance, we offer some of the best bulk discounts in the industry (up to 25 percent). You’ll be amazed at what a difference you’ll see, even after just one lesson with one of our tutors. Yes, they’re that good.

Not sure what type of tutor you need?  Our experienced, able and amiable telephone staff is always available during business hours (9AM-2PM PST) to help find the right tutor for you. We pride ourselves on our honest service, reliability and wide selection of professional educators. 

Please remember that 15-minute phone consultations with me are always free. I promise to answer any questions you may have as best as I can. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Brian R. McElroy

President & Founder, McElroy Tutoring