Online Algebra Tutoring Tailored to Your Needs and Goals

Rhea completed her Bachelor of Science in Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics with honors at UC Santa Cruz and is currently completing her Master of Business and Science in Drug Discovery and Development at Rutgers University. In college, she won both the Dean's and Chancellor's Awards for her senior thesis, adding to her rich research profile. She also has six years of tutoring experience, including being a STEM tutor at the high school and college level and being an academic coach for various math and science courses. Rhea  has helped students get into several prestigious schools, including UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, Cornell, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Rhea deeply values education and understands its profound impact on shaping future success. She is dedicated to empowering all students to reach their full potential, whether it's mastering subjects or achieving top scores on the SAT for college admission. She specializes in ACT and SAT tutoring as well as math, biology, chemistry, and English at any level, including AP. 

Rhea’s tutoring style is fun but focused. She avoids long lectures and creates an interactive, judgment-free learning environment where positive reinforcement and encouraging words are used to motivate students. She kicks off sessions with a thorough content overview, providing examples and walking students through problem-solving techniques, with a particular focus on efficiency. After presenting the material, she encourages students to recap what they've learned and ask questions. Practice problems follow, but Rhea ensures students prioritize understanding the problem-solving strategies rather than simply arriving at the correct answer. Once students have a solid grasp of the strategies, she shifts her focus to accuracy and timing, ensuring they're fully equipped to tackle any challenge that comes their way.

Rhea is adept at helping students tackle learning obstacles head-on. When faced with challenging material, she understands the importance of shifting perspectives or simply taking a break to reset. Rhea often asks students about their interests or weekend plans, allowing them to take a breather and return to the material with a renewed sense of focus and motivation. Rather than overwhelming students with continuous content or labeling concepts as "easy" or "hard," Rhea focuses on simplifying the material and providing relatable examples or analogies. By doing so, students can approach the content with a refreshed mindset and greater openness. Moreover, Rhea emphasizes the significance of embracing mistakes as part of the learning process. She reassures students that it's perfectly normal not to grasp concepts immediately and encourages them to view errors as opportunities for growth. 

In her free time, Rhea likes to dance, take pictures, go boxing, find new hiking spots, and travel. She has been to over 15 countries!

Shawn earned his Bachelor of Arts in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. Motivated by the belief that 90% of learning occurs beyond the classroom, he embarked on his tutoring journey several years ago. His extensive experience includes tutoring math, science, and reading for low-income students, teaching English to students in China, tutoring for UC Berkeley's Molecular and Cell Biology department, and serving as a teaching assistant for a biology course at Berkeley.

Shawn's passion for tutoring stems from his belief that true understanding of subjects goes beyond the confines of the classroom. He considers it a privilege to facilitate the learning of others, finding immense fulfillment in assisting others to grow, flourish, and grasp challenging concepts. He specializes in ACT, SAT, and HSPT tutoring, as well as biology, chemistry, math, and computer science at all levels, including AP. 

Shawn adopts a hands-on tutoring approach, tailoring his sessions to suit each student's unique needs. He firmly believes that engaging in thorough discussions and providing well-curated resources enables students to attain academic success more efficiently. Shawn's sessions feature active discussions, rigorous practice problems, and comprehensive textbook readings. He prioritizes individualized attention, rejecting the notion of speed limits or predefined approaches to content. With his interdisciplinary professional expertise, he adeptly guides students to discover their own learning paths across science, math, and reading.

Shawn excels at providing positive reinforcement and fostering a supportive environment where students feel encouraged to make mistakes and embrace the learning process. When students encounter challenging subjects, he employs various strategies to break them down into manageable problems. He emphasizes understanding the broader significance of learning and relates concepts to real-world applications, hobbies, or interests to enhance engagement. By incorporating analogies, humor, or pop culture references, he offers fresh perspectives on topics, motivating students to stay focused. Additionally, Shawn utilizes visual aids, drawings, diagrams, and mnemonics to provide new insights and facilitate comprehension from various angles.

In his free time, Shawn likes playing electric guitar with his friends in their band and biking the trails around the East Bay area. He also enjoys creating video games, writing stories, and collecting interesting books and textbooks. One time he stuffed so many books in a box that it disintegrated and he had to pick through a book-valanche!

Zachary earned his Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature on a full-ride scholarship at the University of Florida, followed by his JD at Cornell Law School. With over a decade of tutoring experience, Zachary has also worked as a college and law school admissions counselor, providing him with a comprehensive understanding of how to support students in achieving their aspirations.

Zachary's life was forever changed by the influence of exceptional tutors, leading him to believe that it only takes one person to change someone’s life trajectory. Driven by this conviction, he is committed to offering the same transformative guidance to students. He specializes in SAT prep and AP and IB courses, including human geography. 

As a tutor, Zachary is easy-going, patient, ambitious, and creative. He recognizes the limitations of conventional learning models, especially for neurodivergent and differently-abled individuals. His teaching methodology goes beyond identifying knowledge gaps; it aims to reprogram behavioral routines. Zachary firmly believes that 99% of academic success is rooted in ordinary habits. He also acknowledges the emotional aspect of the learning process, understanding that feelings of shame or guilt can impede meaningful progress. Therefore, he adopts a holistic approach to academic and standardized testing improvement.

Zachary's tutoring methods are grounded in scientifically proven learning principles, ensuring their effectiveness. He emphasizes Socratic dialogue, cognitive reframing, and the importance of taking breaks. To keep sessions engaging, he incorporates humor, personal anecdotes, introspection, and contextualization. Zachary also excels at customizing sessions for each student, always taking the time to understand their unique profile before diving in, as he knows that a one-size-fits-all approach rarely works.

In his free time, Zachary enjoys playing video games, doodling, cooking, learning foreign languages, watching movies and TV shows, and collecting consumer product packaging from around the world.