Other companies offer tutoring from a pool of instructors briefly trained in their various methods. At Stellar, you have the opportunity to learn directly from Dr. Taraban, the expert with 20 years of experience who literally wrote the book on GRE prep. Learn the same strategies and techniques he used to earn his own perfect score.
Private tutoring sessions take place over a secure teleconferencing (audio/visual) platform, and are customized for each student’s individual needs. And since tutoring will integrate seamlessly with the self-study program, most students will hit higher target scores in fewer sessions, driving down overall costs. Sessions are scheduled in the Pacific Time Zone (-7/8 GMT), and are based on mutual availability. Students of the Stellar self-study program receive a 15% discount on all tutoring costs.
Dr. Taraban also offers graduate school admissions consulting and test anxiety coaching. He is a licensed psychologist in the state of California, and has served on the faculty of several local graduate psychology departments.
Tutoring sessions are 60-minutes long and are typically scheduled on a weekly basis. More intensive regimens are available as circumstances dictate and scheduling allows.
It depends. The average student spends between two and four months preparing for the GRE. Differences in pre-existing knowledge, learning style, and target score account for this variability. All new students are given a free diagnostic test at the outset of tutoring to answer this question with greater specificity.
Each 60-minute private tutoring session costs $400, which price includes the cost of materials. Students of the Stellar self-study program receive a 15% discount on all tutoring costs.
We operate under the assumption that the best way to prepare for a test is to take that test – over and over again. Consequently, students are given a substantial amount of homework each week, and encouraged to practice under simulated testing conditions. Through repeated exposure to practice sets that mimic the actual structure of the test, students develop the confidence and self-efficacy to perform exceptionally. Most study regimens culminate with a full-length, real-time diagnostic test created by ETS, the maker of the GRE.
Private lessons are conducted like academic triage. Rather than a comprehensive survey of all the material the student could potentially encounter on the GRE, priority is given to the discussion of concepts and techniques necessary to offset the apparent deficits revealed by the weekly diagnostics. Efficient and solution-focused, lessons are designed to maximize the likelihood that students will respond correctly the next time they are presented with a similar question. The objective is to raise your score as much as possible, as fast as possible.
Consulting pertains to all aspects of the graduate school admissions process outside of the GRE: from identifying programs to obtaining letters of recommendation to writing statement of purpose essays. There is a right way and a wrong way to apply to grad school. Grad school consulting is dedicated to helping students bring all aspects of their applications into alignment with the right way.
Yes. Every student (n = 25) who has used this service has been accepted into his or her top-ranked university, including: Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Columbia, U Penn, and New York University.
Coaching designed to help reduce student experience of anxiety while taking the GRE. This typically involves learning brief mindfulness meditations and empirically-validated CBT interventions with the goal of decreasing panic and increasing focus on test day. Mastering test anxiety is extremely important. At the end of the day, it’s not what you know: it’s what you show.
Like private tutoring, each 60-minute graduate school admissions consulting session or test anxiety coaching session costs $300.
Yes. Many satisfied customers who have worked with Dr. Taraban to prepare for the GRE have shared their positive experiences with the world. You can find hundreds of their testimonials on Yelp and Google.
To obtain more information or to schedule an appointment, you can reach us using our inquiry form. Feel free to offer some dates and times you might be free to facilitate scheduling.
