Why Choose McElroy Tutoring?

 We accept only the best, the brightest, and the most experienced tutor applicants, and better tutors means better results.

Unlike the big tutoring companies, who prefer to withhold their tutors' full names and qualifications from their clients (usually to hide their lack of experience), we are more than happy to provide you with extensive details about our tutors' backgrounds, which you can always view for yourself by browsing our online tutor profiles. We strive to find you the perfect tutor, every time, and always seek to involve our clients in the process of selecting the right tutor or consultant. 

We have always chosen to put quality over quantity when evaluating tutors, and we set our hiring standards very high. Thus, you will find that our tutors are well-educated and very experienced; many have master's degrees, professional degrees, and even Ph.D.s in the subjects that they teach, in addition to exceptional test scores (minimum 95th percentile) and multiple years of tutoring experience.

Because our tutors are the real deal, we get real results. The score improvements, college/university acceptance rates & overall test scores/GPAs of McElroy-taught students have been consistently among the best in the country for over a decade. Feel free to read our Student & Parent Testimonials page to get an idea of what our former clients have had to say about our services.

We are also proud to say that for the second straight year, our excellent customer service and team of expert tutors have helped earn us a rare "A+" rating by the Better Business Bureau!  

In contrast to some web-based national tutoring companies, who boast of having thousands of "certified" tutors (as a result of accepting nearly every application they receive), we offer you only the finest tutors in your area.  We accept a very small percentage of tutor applications, and every tutoring candidate must pass a rigorous, thorough series of interviews with our staff, including a personal interview with our founder Brian McElroy, before he/she can become an official member of the McElroy Tutoring Team. 

Because we are so selective, we must sometimes turn away students because of high demand for our best tutors.   However, we would rather turn away a student than provide that student with anything less than stellar instruction. 

Once tutors are hired, we continue to monitor and evaluate them on a regular basis, and all McElroy tutors must consistently demonstrate excellent results in order to remain a part of our team.  It is our job to make sure that you are happy with your tutoring situation, and our office staff is always available during business hours (PST) to address any questions or concerns that you may have. 

We offer tutoring in nearly all subjects and tests, but we specialize in Standardized Test Prep & Group Courses.  

Our founder, Brian McElroy, is a standardized test expert, and  as a result we have always been among the industry leaders in test preparation.   In addition to offering instruction in nearly every subject, for students of all ages, we also prepare students for the following standardized tests:  SAT, ACT, ISEE, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, PSAT, PLAN, SSAT, & SHSAT. 

In order to ensure the highest quality of test preparation, all of our tutors are provided with top-quality educational materials, information and training.  They are also required to have scored in the 95th percentile or above on any standardized tests that they teach.  Many of our tutors frequently score in the 99th percentile on these tests, and some have even achieved perfect scores.  

For high school Juniors and Seniors: Brian McElroy's original SAT and ACT preparation program has produced consistent score improvements that rival those of any other tutoring company. All of our SAT/ACT tutors train extensively in this method and have access to all of Brian's original SAT & ACT materials. We also prepare students for the SAT Subject Tests, as well as the PSAT and PLAN exams.  Click here for a chart of our students' score improvements on the SAT.

Mr. McElroy has also provided GMAT and GRE preparation to aspiring graduate students for nearly a decade (2002-Present), helping many of them to improve their scores by up to 500 points on the GRE and/or 250 points on the GMAT. He has personally scored in the highest percentile (99th percentile or equivalent) on both the GMAT and the GRE exams, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of San Diego. He offers his GRE & GMAT tutoring services at the "Ph.D. Tutor Level 1" Rate (a 25% discount from his standard hourly rate).

In addition, our affordable Test-Prep Courses are among the best values in the nation; we offer substantial group discounts of up to 77.5 percent.   Where else can you work with an elite instructor who charges up to $100/hr for private tutoring, for just $22.50/hour?

We're Friendly, Easy-Going and Flexible.  We understand your hectic schedule and always seek to earn your trust as a client. 

All of our tutors are experts in the subjects they teach, but have been chosen for their affable personalities as much as their academic qualifications.  Our job is to provide your student with top-notch instruction in a friendly, low-stress environment.  Why pay thousands of dollars up-front when you can try us for a fraction of the price? We let you pay as you go because our tutors are the best in the business.  Our students see great results and return for more!

We're Affordable. 

Many of our first-time clients are shocked at how affordable our tutors are.  We charge up to 50% less than other tutoring companies of similar quality, and we never require payment for more than one lesson at a time.  Also, your first hour of tutoring with us is 25% off, and we offer a money-back guarantee.   Let us show you why our tutors are the best in the business, at a reasonable price. 

If, after your first lesson with your tutor, you decide to commit to a prepaid package, we offer significant discounts of up to 25%, which can save you hundreds of dollars. 

We offer expert, up-to-date college admissions advice, and are always available for Admissions Essay Editing & Application Advice.

Our College Consulting clients have been admitted to some of the finest colleges in the country.  Why not learn how to beat the admission odds from those who did so themselves?

We give back to the local community, and offer many free tools for students.

While McElroy Tutoring functions as a for-profit business, we also understand that not every family has the means to afford private tutors. For this reason, we have posted extensive free SAT advice, test-prep videos and college consulting tips on the McElroy Tutoring Blog. The blog also includes college admission tips and general learning techniques, with new installments being posted nearly every day. All you need is access to a computer and a printer. At the very least, feel free to use us as a free reference in your quest to get into college.

For those of you who prefer videos to text, we also have a series of Free SAT and ACT Prep Videos available on the McElroy Tutoring YouTube site.  

No marketing gimmicks or exaggerated score improvement claims, just great tutors and 100% transparency.

There are many tutoring / college consulting services out there, and most will promise you the moon and the stars, making exaggerated score improvement claims and professing to know the true secret to acing standardized exams and getting into the dream school of your choice. 

Of course, no service can truly guarantee success, and if they say otherwise, don't believe it.  The larger test-prep companies will make plenty of inflated score improvement claims, and satisfaction "guarantees," but make sure to read the fine print: these guarantees usually consist of little more than an overcrowded 2-hour review course if your score does not improve.   And why would you trust the same company that wasn't able to improve your scores the first time around?  Their teachers are often unsupervised, unprepared, and underpaid, and will force your student into a "one size fits all" method of tutoring that works for some but is very ineffective for most students.  The same goes for college and admissions consulting:  many private college consultants will assure you that they know the formula for getting into the best colleges, but how many of these consultants have been admitted to an elite university themselves?   (For a partial list of colleges where our students have been admitted, please see this page.) 

McElroy Tutoring vs. Our Competition