College Insights

Spent $ 1,8000 on private tutoring, only to see my son’s ACT score actually go down from a test taken before tutoring. Inquired with the owner about their «guarantee» of an increase of 3 points on the ACT, only to have him tell me the guarantee only applies to the class. Ridiculous given that private tutoring is supposed to be focused on the individual needs and do more for more money. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!

Do not use College Insights. My dispute continues from last October. They still insist that going over the 20 hrs I contracted for without my permission, without telling me what it would cost or how many more hours were needed, no invoice was ever presented and they used my credit card number because they had it but I never signed for it, they think this is acceptable business practice. Not only that, what was apparently taught beyond the 20 hrs was done at coffee shops, listening to music with the teacher and my daughter’s SAT score barely improved. A very unprofessional outfit. The owner only wanted to yell as his way of talking about this and wouldn’t even discuss a compromise.

What sold me was that they offered make-​up lessons for any missed classes and guaranteed 200 pt rise in SAT scores or they would redo the course free. What I didn’t consider: the initial test to which to which they compare is the PSAT, (after which my child had an additional year of high school), and when the scores don’t go up 200 points after all that, do you really want to go through it again anyway? We sure didn’t.
Much of this course consisted of long practice tests, make-​up classes were ¹⁄₃ the length of regular sessions, we couldn’t reach tutors or administration at the time of the classes, communication about changed location was poor, some classes were held in a room in the library and my son could not find the group with no one to call, tutors used profane language, and bottom line– it doesn’t look like it really helped.
My Son’s ACT scores (after Jr year) went up 2 points from the PSAT (taken at the beginning of Jr yr), after half the College Insights course. However, they PSAT had gone up 2 points from the PLAN test (beginning or Soph yr), and his ACT was exactly in the range that the PLAN projected. THEN when he retook the ACT after finishing the College Insights course, he score was one point lower. Most disappointing was that after taking the test, he told me «I think I did really well on the reading since I followed the new strategies I learned.» His reading score actually dropped 5 points.