Below are some testimonials from some satisfied parents and students.
| It should tell you a great deal about Stephen that I write this recommendation for him even though we are direct competitors in our market segment. There are two kinds of competitors. There are the ones where you don't get to type in all of the bad words...and the others who make the business space (and the players within it) better. Yes, Stephen is the second kind. He offers terrific service to his clients and gains market through both effort and service. He has terrific ideas about program delivery and in the space of merely a year has created significant market share for his start-up company. |
| Paul Kanarek, Owner, Princeton Review of Southern California |
| As competitive as today's college admissions are, I know that I would not have been able to get into my college of choice without having the test scores I did, and Get Smarter Prep raised my scores in every Reading, Math, and Writing. Thanks so much! |
| Claire Bukovac, Georgetown University Class of 2012 |
| Claire is our fourth child to use a test prep service and Get Smarter Prep has produced the best results and the most personalized service. |
| Mary Reintjes |
| Deciding on colleges, filling out applications, and applying for scholarships can be overwhelming and intimidating. Stephen immediately puts you at ease, and we were impressed with how well he understood our daughter's goals and preferences in such a short period of time. |
| Bob & Heidi Kopp |
Get Smarter Prep helped my daughter with the necessary tools to successfully work through the exam. Knowing you are well prepared gives you a confidence that can prove to be the edge you need.
It was the best investment I've made for my daughter. We shopped among test prep companies and found your schedule had the most flexibility.
Your SAT prep and college counseling allowed my daughter to seek out higher caliber colleges. I would recommend Get Smarter to anyone looking to maximizing their SAT scores.
I will definitely recommend your company to other people, we were absolutely thrilled with the end result! |
| Carla W. |
Stephen
I wanted you to know that Emily and Diana learned a lot in your class. Emily mastered her anxiety and raised her score enough to feel more confident. Diana now has a real ACT behind her - already in scholarship range at MU! The class was a good experience for them.
Thank you again. |
| Marla and Rich Byrne |
| I just wanted to let you know that I got a 28 on my ACT!!! That's 5 points better than the first time I took it! I was so excited and just wanted you to know :) And I wanted to say thanks for all the time you put in because it helped a lot! I appreciate you! |
| Maggie Park, Lee's Summit Community Christian HS '08 |
We want to thank you so much for what you did for our son Taylor. When we met you he was a couple of weeks from taking the ACT - for the fourth time. Although it was a bit too late for us to enroll him in your ACT prep series for this particular test, you said just drop by some Friday evening and you'd give him some pointers. We took you up on that offer and after spending about 2 hours with you Taylor said he felt a lot better equipped for the next test. Though we really would have liked to have gone through the whole group of sessions for the ACT this was nonetheless enough to push him to the next level: he scored a 30, which pleased him very much (and I must say it was a financial pleasure - Brightflight in MO - for us to read that score too)!
I'd say a few hours of time to obtain many thousands of dollars in scholarships is a pretty good investment! By the way, I sat outside the classroom while you instructed him, and I really was impressed with how you communicated with him on the level he needed. Thanks Stephen - we'd recommend you to anyone!
(And by the way, Taylor said he learned more with you in 2 hours than he did with the ACT prep books we had purchased as well as the four Saturday sessions with another "ACT Tutor" a year ago....)
And just in case we didn't say it plainly enough: THANK YOU SO MUCH! |
| David and Diane Moore |
| I am writing this email to inform you that I got into all three law schools in Missouri and Kansas. Washburn, UMKC, and KU! I am ecstatic. Lydia and Stephen went out of their way of a normal routine to accommodate for me and my tutoring experience. Not only that, but the tutoring was top-notch. Lydia used a very personalized approach that fit my learning style. She also showed unlimited enthusiasm and energy to help me. You would have to be nuts to attend another test prep company in Kansas City. Thank you Stephen and Lydia! |
| Johnny Garigletti, Vice President, First Community Bank |
I actually looked forward to my tutoring with Stephen, he made it fun. And with a 180 point increase on my SAT it works!
I liked the mix between instruction and practice tests. The material was always supplemented with real SAT questions, and the practice-test-and-review sessions were a great refresher before the actual test.
I played a sport and took some advanced classes. I never would have made time for a traditional course. That's why the private tutoring worked so well for me; I loved having a great teacher available on a very flexible schedule. Thank you so much for your efforts and dedication. |
| Gina W., University of Southern California |
Dear Stephen,
I just want to thank you again for all of your outstanding counseling and tutoring that went into getting Francesca and Gabrielle into the schools of their choice. In this competitive environment we feel certain without you Stephen Gabrielle would not have been at Baylor University and Francesca would not have had the success she has had at Blair Academy.
Gabrielle's SAT and ACT scores helped 'seal the deal' with Baylor. Your ability to motivate Gabrielle to study her vocabulary words, write such an outstanding essay, and focus on her test prep homework gave her the needed confidence to do well in her tests.
Even though Francesca had done an outstanding job with her Flower Power charity your help in making the story come alive was amazing. Again, picking a boarding school today is not unlike finding the right fit in colleges. Your insight into Francesca's personality and thought provoking questions helped her choose the perfect school for her.
My only disappointment is you won't be around to help Francesca ace the SAT!
Good luck in Kansas. They are very blessed to have you and your team.
Thanks again, Stephen. |
| Pamela Nestande |
| I signed up for my class late, so I took less than half the full course, yet the strategies from my Get Smarter class helped me raise my ACT score significantly. My instructor was amazing. |
| Cynthia Oben, Lawrence Free State High School |
My experience with Get Smarter was very positive. I didn’t have a great GPA in high school and I needed to compensate for this with my SAT and ACT scores. I came to Get Smarter with this challenge and my tutor raised my SAT score nearly 400 points and my ACT score 5 points!
His tenacity and passion in helping me was unmatched in the expensive big-box test prep class that I had already taken (which failed to raise my score at all). I am now attending Pepperdine University, which before my Get Smarter tutor's help would have been very unattainable for me. |
| Chase Parlee, Pepperdine University |
Thank you for making a huge difference in helping our son with the test scores he needed to get into the university of his choice, with a scholarship, too! In his words, he felt he was facing a big, scary test and you helped him see it as a regular test, and you gave him the knowledge and practical advice he needed to know what to do.
As parents, we also valued the way you communicated with him and the way you set a smart study example for him to follow. We know things turned out much better because of you. Thank you! |
| Bob and Jean Sims |
| Stephen was the greatest SAT prep tutor I could ask for. He helped me excel in areas I never thought possible. Other SAT classes I took couldn't compare to what he did for me and I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for his encouragement and knowledge of the subject areas. |
| Rivka L., University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Get Smarter Prep gave me the right combination of remediation and test-taking strategy to improve my GMAT score by 130 points. I could not have been admitted to the KU Edwards Business School without their help. |
| Mike Funkey, Manager of Business Development, Grant Thornton LLP |
| Stephen has not only been my tutor, but a mentor and friend as well. |
| Charlotte Robertson, Southern Methodist University |
| Can you say perfect verbal score? Because that’s what I got on my GRE with Get Smarter's help. And let’s just say that pretty much sealed my fellowship for my Masters. |
| Erin A., Ohio State University |
| I wanted to let you know how much you helped Kacy achieve her goals. I especially wanted to thank you for your patience and perseverance when her focus wavered. You were always more than a tutor and most importantly, you cared. |
| Lynn Buettner |
| Incredibly patient. Incredibly knowledgeable. |
| Jack Penney |
| Get Smarter helped our daughter, Alle, prep for both the ACT and the SAT. Because of her tutor's many hours of work with her, she went into these tests not only confident that she knew what types of questions would be asked of her, but how she could beat them with strategies and the review of material that she had had. I would recommend Get Smarter to anyone serious about preparing for standardized tests. They are extremely determined to raise their students’ scores and their passion is palpable. |
| Tony Hsu |
