Right in your own home. Flexible scheduling.
Guaranteed results.
Serving students in towns throughout Fairfield County, CT, New Haven County, CT & beyond.
"Gene McKenna, of Ace In-Home Tutoring, was a wonderful tutor. He not only helped me strengthen my verbal skills, but he was also able to give me the confidence I needed to excel at a higher level in math. Mr. McKenna is the epitome of an SAT tutor. He is very patient, understanding, and enthusiastic. I would highly recommend him to anyone."
Eliza Burns, New Canaan, CT
"Gene McKenna is a remarkable, successful and capable tutor who helped my son achieve his true potential on the SATs. David enjoyed working with Mr. McKenna, finding him to be pleasant, professional, and clear in his instructions. When David took the SATs, he scored a remarkable 720 in math. I attribute this substantial gain directly to Mr. McKenna's tutoring. Mr. McKenna's tutoring was a blessing for David and for us. Based on our experience, I recommend Mr. McKenna as an SAT tutor of the highest caliber."
Dudley W. Orr, Ed.D., Fairfield, CT
"I greatly improved on my recent SAT scores. I am incredibly happy with my scores. We are really satisfied, and I'm proud that all of that work paid off. Thanks so much!"
Allison Burke, Fairfield, CT
"Gene McKenna worked with my son prior to his taking the SAT exam. Gene was very professional. He instilled confidence in Jeff, especially with strategies for test taking. Jeff's scores jumped by 120 points. I highly recommend Gene as a tutor." Susan Bickel, Fairfield, CT
"I was thrilled with my vastly improved SAT scores. Mr. McKenna was very helpful and explained everything to me clearly. With these scores I am now applying to Ivy League colleges." Michelle Flowers, Norwalk, CT
"Jonathan just received his SATs. He went up incredibly, and we thank you very much. You did a great job with him, and we are so proud of him and you."
Michelle Sabin, Fairfield, CT
Notes on the rates:
The four-hour package is more or less a kind of "mini-review" or "short course," and works well for students who only need to do a little brushing up or who are just looking to get a brief overview of the test before they take it for the first time. The eight-hour package tends to be my most popular package, while the twelve-hour package works pretty well for students who perhaps have a little more time available for this sort of thing and are very committed to making a big push to raise their test scores. Considering that most of my tutoring is one-on-one, if someone wanted to set up a tutoring package that was either longer or shorter than the three listed here, that could be arranged and prorated without a problem.
By the way, a lot of students and parents wonder if doing eight hours or twelve hours of tutoring is really enough to get ready for the SAT or the ACT, especially considering that there are many group classes out there that meet for twenty or thirty hours. Well, one big benefit of one-on-one tutoring is that it is by its very nature much more efficient than studying in a group setting. Furthermore, when I mention that I offer, for instance, an eight-hour tutoring package, there is normally some homework that goes along with this, so that eight-hours of individual tutoring when I am there face-to-face with the student can easily turn into twenty or twenty-five hours of overall SAT prep time when you include the time spent on homework working on practice SAT or ACT tests.
The most popular setup is to meet once a week for an hour at a time. Many students, however, prefer to meet for an hour and a half per session, while some students prefer to meet for two hours at a time. If someone decides to sign up for the eight-hour course, if doing just one hour per week, it would be ideal to start the tutoring about two months before the test date.
Although I realize that these rates are not cheap by any means, I do honestly believe that they are fairly competitive for one-on-one SAT or ACT tutoring of this caliber in this geographical area. A lot of my students and their parents tend to believe in the the old addage that "You get what you pay for," and parents and students who have used my services tend to believe that they did indeed get a lot for their hard-earned money. When you realize that the annual cost of going to many colleges today is hovering somewhere around a whopping $50,000, it does not seem altogether unreasonable to take just a mere two-percent of that amount and apply it to an area such as SAT prep that could very well improve a student's chances of getting into his or her top choice college.
Ways to Economize:
Although I do feel that my rates are fairly competitive, I do realize that there are still many people out there who are interested but looking to somehow economize on this, if possible. There are, in fact, numerous ways to do so. As my main way to help people bring down the cost of tutoring, I have an open offer to all my students for a "2 for 1" special. If a student has a friend or classmate who would like to join him or her, we can add the second student at no additional cost. Thus, if you split the cost, that's a 50% discount right there.
There are also other ways to economize. If students are interested in doing online tutoring via Skype, that also qualifies for a 50% discount.
Well, I hope that the above gives you a better understanding of my rates and some ways to possibly economize on that. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Fairfield County & New Haven County, CT:
Noroton, North Haven, Norwalk, Orange, Redding, Ridgefield, Rowayton, Shelton, Southport, Stamford, Stratford, Trumbull,
Wallingford, West Haven, Weston, Westport, Wilton, Woodbridge
Also serving theses towns in Westchester County, NY:
Bedford, Harrison, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Purchase, Rye, Scarsdale, Tarrytown, White Plains & beyond
From the Fairfield Minuteman, September 16, 2010 (page B-4)
Click on the link below:
http://minutemannewscenter.com/articles/2010/09/15/entertainment/doc4c90f3226ba64805644757.txt
Hi,
I'm Gene McKenna, the founder and director of Ace In-Home Tutoring. If you are looking for help with SAT or ACT tutoring, you've come to the right place.
I work with students of all different backgrounds and abilities, but my main goal for each of my students is to help them work up to the very fullest of their potential.
All of my tutoring is normally done one-on-one, as I find that this is the best way to provide students with the kind of close, personal attention that can really make a difference.
Furthermore, all of my tutoring is normally done right in the comfort of your own home, saving you the time and trouble of driving all over Fairfield County on typically jam-packed roads.
As a graduate of Georgetown University with a master's degree in education plus Connecticut state teaching certification, I understand the key role that education plays in our society today. As a tutor, I do my very best to help my students boost their own levels of educational achievement.
Although I tutor in a number of different subjects, my main specialty is SAT preparation. I cover all three areas of the SAT, namely the math, critical reading, and writing sections. My goal is to help students master key strategies and content areas that are necessary for success on the SAT.
I currently offer a variety of flexible tutoring packages that have been designed to fit even the busiest of schedules and the tightest of budgets. I typically meet with each student once a week, for an hour or two at a time, and we normally begin about two to three months before the test date. All tutoring sessions are solely under my tutelage. Furthermore, all tutoring packages come with an unconditional, 100% money-back guarantee of satisfaction.
While SAT prep is my specialty, I also tutor for other standardized tests such as the ACT, PSAT, ISEE, SSAT, GRE, and GMAT. I am also available for "homework help" tutoring in English and math at just about any grade level.
To reserve a spot on my schedule, or just to get more info, please call me at 203-366-0498.
***
Top Ten Tips for the SAT:
Copyright Gene McKenna & Ace In-Home Tutoring
1. Use the process of elimination (POE) on all multiple-choice questions. And remember: random guessing is bad, but educated guessing is good. If you can get rid of two or three of the answer choices with a reasonable amount of certainty, then be sure to answer the question.
2. Read each question at least twice before you attempt to answer it. This should be obvious, but many test-takers simply don’t do it as they think it will slow them down too much. That, however, is a big mistake. Actually, reading each question twice before you attempt to answer will probably save you time in the long run, as you will most likely better understand just what the test-makers are asking for, and this will almost certainly help you obtain higher SAT scores. It is simple to do and very worthwhile, so just do it!
3. Cut down on careless errors. How? Normally this means slowing down a bit, plus doing some of the things that I have just mentioned in points #1 and #2 above, such as reading each question twice before attempting to answer it and using the process of elimination. Yes, these things slow you down a bit, but they slow you down in a good way. True, you might not be able to answer as many questions overall when you use these strategies, but you will most likely do much better on the questions that you do answer because you are taking the time necessary to be a bit more careful, which will help you increase your chances of coming up with the right answer.
4. Avoid the “SAT Worst Case Scenario.” And just what is that? Well, that is basically when a student thinks that he or she has to answer all the questions on each section of the SAT to get a good score. Although that might sound like a good idea on the face of it, for most students it is not such a great strategy. Why? Because most students who try to do this end up trying to race through the easier questions at the start of most SAT sections so that they’ll have enough time to work on the hardest questions near the end of most sections. The main problem here is that in racing through the easier questions at the beginning and in the middle of most of the sections, students leave themselves open to making a greater number of careless errors than they normally would; furthermore, when these students do get to the hardest questions at the end of most SAT sections, they still tend to get these questions wrong no matter how much time they have due to the fact that these questions tend to be extremely difficult! So, the worst case scenario is when students get burned on both ends of the SAT. Poor SAT scores naturally follow. Don’t let this happen to you!
5. Have a reasonable goal and know what you need to do to reach it. Frankly, just what a reasonable goal is will vary from student to student. If a student has a PSAT score or a previous SAT score that is under 500 (or, on the PSAT, to be exact, under 50) in any one particular section, then that student’s goal typically is to “break” the 500 mark. If that is the case, it is necessary to realize that you need a score of just over 50% right to break 500. If your goal is 600 in any one of the test areas, then you will need just over 70% correct in that section. If you are shooting for a truly high score, such as , say, 700 in any one section of the SAT, then you will need around 90% right in that section.
6. Remember that all the questions on the SAT (except for the essay) are worth exactly the same; that is, the easiest question on the test is worth just as much as the hardest question! Therefore, instead of worrying about the hardest questions on the test, you need to be the most concerned about the more “doable” questions and make sure that you get the vast majority of these correct.
7. Remember that all SAT questions go from easier to harder within each section, except for the reading comprehension questions, which are in mixed order. Why is that important to know? It is a good reminder that most of your points on the SAT will be gained from doing a good job on the questions that are located at the beginning or in the middle of each SAT section.
8. Don’t sweat the SAT essay. Yes, it is the single biggest question on the test, but the test-makers have made it as easy as possible for you. And the essay grading system that has been set up by the college board tends to work in favor of the students. The essay will make up about one-third of your overall writing skills score, while the multiple choice writing questions will make up about two-thirds of your writing skills score, so those questions, taken as a whole, are actually a good bit more important than the essay. And the multiple-choice writing sections are typically the easiest sections for students to improve upon.
9. Realize that doing better on the SAT comes from three main areas: 1) improving your SAT strategies and “process knowledge” of how to take the SAT; 2) improving your content knowledge of SAT-level math, vocabulary, and grammar, and 3) improving your “emotional control” on test day.
10. Be aware of the clock, and do not let yourself get too bogged down on any one question, especially the upper-level vocab questions at the end of each sentence completion section (found at the beginning of each critical reading section).
