Hear what other parents are saying...
"As soon as my daughter said she wanted tutoring, I thought of Colleen. I knew her calm, supportive approach would ease Emma's anxiety and help her focus on her work. Emma looked forward to her sessions with Colleen. She pivoted from the ACT to the SAT in the middle of the process, and Colleen switched seamlessly. She gave Emma enough homework to move forward without overwhelming her. She knows the tests and college admissions well and encouraged Emma to do the writing sample when we weren't sure. Emma's scores improved. Even better, she was relaxed and confident about the test. Applying to college is incredibly stressful. We're grateful that Colleen eased a good bit of the worry for all of us."
"Colleen helped my daughter raise her SAT score by over 100 points. She provided accurate feedback about the content of the test as well as invaluable advice about test-taking strategies for both the multiple-choice section and the essay portion of the SAT. My daughter was initially very anxious about testing; Colleen's gentle support and unfailing encouragement made her much more confident. I have already recommended Colleen to a number of my friends and will continue to do so."
"As a parent of two young adults, I am very familiar with the college SAT prep, college search and college application process. Recently, I juxtaposed my experience with Colleen's guidance to my prior experience without her assistance and the difference with Colleen was truly significant. Colleen was a fabulous resource from SAT prep through scholarship applications. Colleen brought organizational skills to the entire process early on with SAT prep by setting weekly goals and providing communication on success of practice tests to student and parent. Also, Colleen assisted in navigating the college selection and application requirements with ease. Furthermore, Colleen will motivate and assist your child in achieving their fullest potential with the written essay requirements. As a result of Colleen's guidance and dedication my daughter will be attending Penn State's Schreyer Honors College in the fall. Colleen was a wonderful partner always acting as the voice of reason and a true stress reliever for both my daughter and me. Please feel free to request my contact information from Colleen to answer any specific questions."
"We have all experienced good teachers and bad teachers. We learn from both kinds. For most people, they are extremely fortunate if they get one teacher that changes their life. Colleen Clemens is that one teacher.
Colleen represents the best of the teaching profession, that one teacher that constructs ideas within her students with no agenda other than the student reaching their full potential.
Colleen is that one special teacher that builds the support and scaffolding around her students to let them experience the pure joy of discovery. She has that special ability to have her students know she truly cares about them.
Primary and secondary education in the United States has deteriorated to the point that our way of life has changed. We are no longer the leaders in educating our students. This is the most serious threat to the United States, since it is only through education that complex problems can be solved and outstanding leaders created.
There are many simple wrong answers to this extremely complex problem of education in the U.S., this I know for sure, if every student had a teacher like Colleen Clemens for just one year, we would change the path that our education system is on.
The logical answer is to let Colleen train other teachers. Whoever has the competence and foresight to bring Colleen into their university can sleep at peace with the knowledge that they made our world a better place.
I write this not as a friend, colleague, or teacher, rather I am a father of three children and their lives have benefited so significantly, because they had Colleen Clemens as a teacher."
"Thank you so much for working with Emily on her college essay. Making a college application is such a stressful process. With your help and guidance, her anxiety was alleviated and the result was a quality, well-written essay. We truly appreciate all your time and effort in helping her build confidence in her work. Should you ever need a recommendation, we would be happy to offer one.
Again, thank you."
"Colleen has not only helped our sons to develop strong writing skills, but she has fostered in them a real love of and interest in reading and writing.
Our children look forward to working with Colleen. She has a rare ability to relate well and connect to our middle school age through college age students. She has worked with them on writing papers, discussing and better understanding different pieces of literature, college essay preparation, and resume writing. She makes them think things through by asking relevant and tough questions, helping them to develop their own abilities to independently analyze and critically proof read their written work, and even to problem solve and give constructive thought to the best fit for course selections, college choices, and now for our oldest, post graduate decisions. She truly has made a profound and positive difference in our children's lives."
"Friends had shared plenty of application horror stories with me, so Colleen was hired to maintain the peace. And she did just that. Effortlessly, Colleen managed the application process with my son, yet clearly kept the responsibility upon him.
After coordinating a list of colleges, they explored each website for specific essay requirements. She offered guidance through the Common Application process and required essays. Together, my son and Colleen completed nine college applications. Colleen was such a delight that we continued our relationship with her tutoring services for the ACT testing.
So far, my son has received acceptance letters from Drexel University and University of Pittsburgh. We are confident that more letters will arrive in early spring. We are also convinced that Colleen was a major contributor to our son’s success."
"A few years ago, when I was serving as the admissions director at a graduate school in Philadelphia, we discovered that a number of otherwise excellent potential students were deficient in their writing skills. We hired Colleen Clemens to teach a Writing Skills Workshop for this small group of incoming students. The result was far more than we expected. Not only did their skills improve markedly, they gained in overall confidence and, by and large, became not only passable but very good students. In addition to her obvious intellect and skill, Colleen has a way of teaching without being threatening, inviting improvement in ways that make it both desirable and satisfactory. I even hired her to tutor my youngest daughter and a group of her friends for the SATs!"
"I can’t thank you enough for helping my daughter improve her performance on the SAT tests. Considering the minimal improvement we saw after she took a course at one of our local colleges, I was amazed that she improved by 110 points after the initial two sessions with you. This improvement continued through her “final round”. I believe that the individual attention and your ability to recognize areas to focus on were key to her success on the test and her acceptance into her top college choice. She always looked forward to her sessions because she was able to connect with you and she always felt a little smarter every time she left. I feel that you truly cared about her success beyond business. We also appreciate your guidance with her personal statement. You made her step it up a few levels while remaining true to what she felt."
"We are the parents of 2 teenage boys... one who is "typical" and one who is "learning impaired." Through the years we have had the opportunity to work with many teachers both in "main stream" & "learning support" classrooms. However, it wasn't until we hired Colleen as an "academic coach" to work with our typical son did we experience a teacher who was passionate about getting a student to achieve their highest potential!! Our son was very resistant to having a "tutor"!! But when he met Colleen her laid back manner immediately put him at ease and he agreed to work with her! Colleen has not only helped him stay on track with his school work but she assisted him in preparing for his SATs and helped him through the college application process!! As parents that work full-time, Colleen has been a God send to us!!"
"We discovered Colleen through a recommendation from a friend. What started as SAT prep for my daughter during her junior year in high school turned into so much more. Colleen was successful in helping her improve her SAT scores, but it was how she connected to my daughter that was even more beneficial. After every tutoring session, my daughter would be empowered and beaming with what she and Colleen discussed. They would discuss SAT strategies, college choice, majors, the application process, current classes, and anything else that was going on in her life. I was very grateful for the mentor relationship they developed. Colleen also worked with her to complete the common application essays so she would be ready to apply to colleges early. We cannot say enough about Colleen as a teacher and a mentor."
"I can't say enough good things about Colleen. She was an excellent SAT tutor for my daughter. I knew before we received her score that it was time and money well spent, but after seeing my daughter's score on the SAT, I was certain. We plan on using her again for our son and for my daughter for essay writing for colleges."
"Colleen helped my daughter raise her SAT score by over 100 points. She provided accurate feedback about the content of the test as well as invaluable advice about test-taking strategies for both the multiple-choice section and the essay portion of the SAT. My daughter was initially very anxious about testing; Colleen's gentle support and unfailing encouragement made her much more confident. I have already recommended Colleen to a number of my friends and will continue to do so."
"As a parent of two young adults, I am very familiar with the college SAT prep, college search and college application process. Recently, I juxtaposed my experience with Colleen's guidance to my prior experience without her assistance and the difference with Colleen was truly significant. Colleen was a fabulous resource from SAT prep through scholarship applications. Colleen brought organizational skills to the entire process early on with SAT prep by setting weekly goals and providing communication on success of practice tests to student and parent. Also, Colleen assisted in navigating the college selection and application requirements with ease. Furthermore, Colleen will motivate and assist your child in achieving their fullest potential with the written essay requirements. As a result of Colleen's guidance and dedication my daughter will be attending Penn State's Schreyer Honors College in the fall. Colleen was a wonderful partner always acting as the voice of reason and a true stress reliever for both my daughter and me. Please feel free to request my contact information from Colleen to answer any specific questions."
"We have all experienced good teachers and bad teachers. We learn from both kinds. For most people, they are extremely fortunate if they get one teacher that changes their life. Colleen Clemens is that one teacher.
Colleen represents the best of the teaching profession, that one teacher that constructs ideas within her students with no agenda other than the student reaching their full potential.
Colleen is that one special teacher that builds the support and scaffolding around her students to let them experience the pure joy of discovery. She has that special ability to have her students know she truly cares about them.
Primary and secondary education in the United States has deteriorated to the point that our way of life has changed. We are no longer the leaders in educating our students. This is the most serious threat to the United States, since it is only through education that complex problems can be solved and outstanding leaders created.
There are many simple wrong answers to this extremely complex problem of education in the U.S., this I know for sure, if every student had a teacher like Colleen Clemens for just one year, we would change the path that our education system is on.
The logical answer is to let Colleen train other teachers. Whoever has the competence and foresight to bring Colleen into their university can sleep at peace with the knowledge that they made our world a better place.
I write this not as a friend, colleague, or teacher, rather I am a father of three children and their lives have benefited so significantly, because they had Colleen Clemens as a teacher."
"Thank you so much for working with Emily on her college essay. Making a college application is such a stressful process. With your help and guidance, her anxiety was alleviated and the result was a quality, well-written essay. We truly appreciate all your time and effort in helping her build confidence in her work. Should you ever need a recommendation, we would be happy to offer one.
Again, thank you."
"Colleen has not only helped our sons to develop strong writing skills, but she has fostered in them a real love of and interest in reading and writing.
Our children look forward to working with Colleen. She has a rare ability to relate well and connect to our middle school age through college age students. She has worked with them on writing papers, discussing and better understanding different pieces of literature, college essay preparation, and resume writing. She makes them think things through by asking relevant and tough questions, helping them to develop their own abilities to independently analyze and critically proof read their written work, and even to problem solve and give constructive thought to the best fit for course selections, college choices, and now for our oldest, post graduate decisions. She truly has made a profound and positive difference in our children's lives."
"Friends had shared plenty of application horror stories with me, so Colleen was hired to maintain the peace. And she did just that. Effortlessly, Colleen managed the application process with my son, yet clearly kept the responsibility upon him.
After coordinating a list of colleges, they explored each website for specific essay requirements. She offered guidance through the Common Application process and required essays. Together, my son and Colleen completed nine college applications. Colleen was such a delight that we continued our relationship with her tutoring services for the ACT testing.
So far, my son has received acceptance letters from Drexel University and University of Pittsburgh. We are confident that more letters will arrive in early spring. We are also convinced that Colleen was a major contributor to our son’s success."
"A few years ago, when I was serving as the admissions director at a graduate school in Philadelphia, we discovered that a number of otherwise excellent potential students were deficient in their writing skills. We hired Colleen Clemens to teach a Writing Skills Workshop for this small group of incoming students. The result was far more than we expected. Not only did their skills improve markedly, they gained in overall confidence and, by and large, became not only passable but very good students. In addition to her obvious intellect and skill, Colleen has a way of teaching without being threatening, inviting improvement in ways that make it both desirable and satisfactory. I even hired her to tutor my youngest daughter and a group of her friends for the SATs!"
"I can’t thank you enough for helping my daughter improve her performance on the SAT tests. Considering the minimal improvement we saw after she took a course at one of our local colleges, I was amazed that she improved by 110 points after the initial two sessions with you. This improvement continued through her “final round”. I believe that the individual attention and your ability to recognize areas to focus on were key to her success on the test and her acceptance into her top college choice. She always looked forward to her sessions because she was able to connect with you and she always felt a little smarter every time she left. I feel that you truly cared about her success beyond business. We also appreciate your guidance with her personal statement. You made her step it up a few levels while remaining true to what she felt."
"We are the parents of 2 teenage boys... one who is "typical" and one who is "learning impaired." Through the years we have had the opportunity to work with many teachers both in "main stream" & "learning support" classrooms. However, it wasn't until we hired Colleen as an "academic coach" to work with our typical son did we experience a teacher who was passionate about getting a student to achieve their highest potential!! Our son was very resistant to having a "tutor"!! But when he met Colleen her laid back manner immediately put him at ease and he agreed to work with her! Colleen has not only helped him stay on track with his school work but she assisted him in preparing for his SATs and helped him through the college application process!! As parents that work full-time, Colleen has been a God send to us!!"
"We discovered Colleen through a recommendation from a friend. What started as SAT prep for my daughter during her junior year in high school turned into so much more. Colleen was successful in helping her improve her SAT scores, but it was how she connected to my daughter that was even more beneficial. After every tutoring session, my daughter would be empowered and beaming with what she and Colleen discussed. They would discuss SAT strategies, college choice, majors, the application process, current classes, and anything else that was going on in her life. I was very grateful for the mentor relationship they developed. Colleen also worked with her to complete the common application essays so she would be ready to apply to colleges early. We cannot say enough about Colleen as a teacher and a mentor."
"I can't say enough good things about Colleen. She was an excellent SAT tutor for my daughter. I knew before we received her score that it was time and money well spent, but after seeing my daughter's score on the SAT, I was certain. We plan on using her again for our son and for my daughter for essay writing for colleges."