Alice's Testimonials
After speaking with several test prep tutors, and then meeting Alice, it was clear to our daughter that Alice was "the one". Unlike other tutoring centers with anxious teens coming and going, Alice's one-on-one environment feels calming & enjoyable. Once her goal was set, and through Alice's ability to identify and strengthen her skills, our daughter scored extremely high on the ACT.
Alice was encouraging, relatable, and has an extremely organized system of logging and communicating progress with both the student and parents. Our family is SO grateful, as Alice made test prep a very enjoyable and successful experience!
KG (mother of SG - Santa Fe Christian)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice is an incredible tutor for SAT and ACT. She takes these tests personally for fun and gets perfect scores. She is intelligent and relates very well to teens that are under the stress of their junior year. I would recommend Alice to all students. She makes test prep fun and knows exactly how to properly prepare students. My daughters ACT score went up 10 points after working with Alice!
Lisa E (mother of Allison E - Julian Charter School)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice,
Thanks again for your help in preparing Markus for the ACT. His 6 point bump in score after working with you not only helped him get in a bunch of colleges, but I'm sure it also added significantly to the amount of merit aid awarded. Honestly, like I told my friends - we got many times your fees back in merit aid because of his huge jump in ACT scores. It was a great investment and also a great confidence booster for a kid who did not previously work up to his potential on standardized tests.
Thanks again for all your help,
Best Regards,
Stefen Boehme (father of Markus Boehme - Grauer School)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Alice,
Our son Jake just received his ACT results and all we can say is wow. Thank you very much for all of your work with Jake. You came highly recommended and yet you still managed to far exceed our expectations and hopes. Working with you, Jake raised his English and writing scores from the high twenties to the mid-thirties. His overall score went from a 29 to a 34. The weekly one on one sessions with you combined with the three practice tests Jake took certainly did the trick. Beyond the great results you helped Jake achieve, Jake loved working with you. Obviously you relate to teenagers very well. From a parent’s perspective, that is very important. Also, your regular communications with both Jake and us were helpful and informative.
We will certainly refer anyone looking for help your way. Please feel free to use us as a reference. Simply stated – you are the best!
Andy Singer (father of Jake Singer - Torrey Pines)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We decided to work with Alice upon a recommendation from a friend. We are so glad that we chose to go with her. Alice was professional, encouraging and most of all inspiring. Alice was very available, making it easy for our son to master the test to the best of his ability without any parent involvement. He was able to bring his ACT test score up 6 points from his initial test! This was done with a lot of work...but he was self motivated, I think, because of Alice's encouragement and expertise. In addition to helping bring up his test scores, working with Alice changed the way our son learned how to study. After working with Alice over the summer, his approach to studying and learning has evolved. He seems to be more organized and focused. We highly recommend working with Alice!
Joan Volle (mother of Jackson Volle - La Jolla Country Day)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Working with Alice was by far the best decision our family made during the college application process. Even though our son has very high cognitive abilities and worked hard to maintain a stellar GPA, he has a learning disability which made taking timed standardized tests particularly difficult. As a result, his SAT scores were not commensurate with his knowledge level or indicative of his true academic potential. The initial SAT scores he received would have made entry into a top tier school very difficult if not impossible. After working with Alice for less than three months, my son's combined SAT score rose 480 points. I only wish we had started with Alice earlier, I have no doubt that his test scores would have even been higher.
Matthew Morris (father of Matt Morris - Point Loma High)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice is amazing! She has worked with both my son and daughter and we couldn't be happier with the results. My daughter worked with Alice for ACT and SAT prep and she scored very high and my son worked with her for an entrance exam and passed with flying colors. She works diligently with her students and has a great ability to connect.
Debbi A (mother of Cassidy C and Jeremy C)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before I worked with Alice, I spent a year and a half with a different SAT tutor. My scores barely improved, if at all, while working with him. I decided to try a different tutor. That is when I met with Alice. In just a few weeks, maybe six sessions, I improved my score phenomenally. She taught me how to approach each aspect of the test. She taught me how to deal with what I didn't understand about the test. She gave me wonderful pointers of how to approach the reading and writing sections of the test and she helped me to dissect the math problems into a more simplistic format. If it weren't for Alice, I would not have achieved the score that I did on the real SAT. I improved my score about 500 points from when I took the PSAT in tenth grade. I owe that to Alice.
Louie Zigman (La Jolla High)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I learned of Alice Humbracht through Passport Admissions and her husband, Rob Humbracht, who had worked with my college-age daughter.
The greatest hurdle I faced trying to return to graduate school after a 30-year absence was the quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Exam, GRE. Alice initially guided me to multiple free practice tests and offered tips on how to approach this exam. When I hit the panic button two weeks from the test date, she found time in her schedule to meet, patiently went over the areas that “needed work” and offered practical action steps.
When it was clear, the week of the test, that my quantitative scores were still not adequate, Alice suggested test strategies that, I believe, made the difference between success and failure on test day. Her last-minute suggestions also helped me feel more in control on test day. There is no way, without Alice’s insight and coaching, that I would have attained my needed scores in one sitting. And I did. The quantitative score increased by almost 10 points from initial practice test to test day results.
Alice’s direct, practical, “no fluff” approach is like a breath of fresh air in the maze of oversold and over-hyped test preparation. I recommend her highly.
Shauna Lindsay, San Diego
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My son came to know Alice through mutual friends/clients. My son asked me if he could get a tutor to help him make his way through the SAT's/ACT's. I agreed, a bit reluctantly as my son had never needed a tutor before, to meet with Alice. As we all sat down at our meeting, I immediately noticed Alice's enthusiasm for her job. As we talked, I was very impressed with her knowledge and expertise in the SAT/ACT world. Long story short, we agreed to hire Alice and start my son's sessions with her on a weekly basis. In my 16-year-old son's words, here is his take on his experience with Alice:
Two of my friends recommended Alice to me, saying that she was very helpful. I found the most valuable parts of Alice’s tutoring to be the one-on-one conversations that we had about different sections of the SAT that helped me truly understand the concepts, making me succeed on the real test. The first few sessions that we had, she taught me the general concepts of each section. After I understood the concepts, we moved on to the specifics of each section and how to "outsmart" the SAT. Once I knew all the details of how to do each section it was time for practice. I took a full practice SAT nearly every weekend and when I met with you a few days later, we went over the questions that I got wrong and more importantly why I got those questions wrong. Once my scores plateaued on the practice tests, I took the real SAT and was ecstatic with my score. Alice helped me get from a score of 1640 to a 2100! SWEET!
The process seemed daunting at first but once I got into the routine of taking a practice test some weekends and meeting every Wednesday, it was not bad at all. Whenever I needed to reschedule an appointment, Alice was very accommodating and whenever I forgot a book or pencil, she had spares for me. This helped keep the process as stress-free as possible. Thank you, Alice, for everything!
Conor Arleo (La Jolla Country Day) and his mother Karen Arleo
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice Humbracht provides students with an effective blend of thorough understanding combined with positive attitude - providing the perfect foundation for success in academics and testing. Our daughter, a high school junior, met with Alice for six sessions and saw an impressive increase in her ACT score. Alice studied her practice test results, developed personalized curriculum to reinforce where needed and transformed test anxiety into an "I'm going to best this test" mentality! She sponsored regular practice test sessions. After each session I was impressed to see the personalized notes with clever titles that Alice prepared and used in her individualized tutoring. She covered a wide range of topics - from grammar to trigonometry. Rather than teaching to the test, Alice builds students' knowledge and personal strengths to prepare them to do their best. She worked with our daughter to set an ACT score goal which, definitely due in part to Alice's incredible help, was achieved. Alice is smart, inspiring and very fun to work with! She is an 11 on a scale of 10!
Kim Devermann (mother of Sarah Devermann - La Jolla High)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I first contacted Alice looking for a good Algebra tutor, and she worked with me and helped dramatically improve my grade in the class. She was passionate, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable about the subject, and I really could not have done it without her.
That’s why, when it came time to start studying for the SAT/ACT, the first person I went to was Alice. She helped me make my decision as to which test I would take, and from there we worked right up until the day of the test, doing one-on-one tutoring sessions and taking practice tests. My overall scores greatly improved and I went into the SAT confident and ready. I did extremely well (improved from a 1820 to a 2180), something I can only attribute to Alice’s help and encouragement along the way. Just like before, I know I could not have done it without her, and I’m extremely appreciative for all that she did for me! If I ever need tutoring in the future, I know that I would go to Alice before anybody else, and I recommend that others do the same.
Kayla Rice - La Jolla Country Day
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Alice,
Thank you so much for all of your help!! I can remember the horrible disappointment I felt when I received a 1450 on my first SAT practice test. Rather than simply give up on me, you worked ardently, teaching and encouraging me for an entire year. You made each tutoring session fun and exciting. Your zeal was infectious, and after spending a great deal of time with the problems, I began to enjoy the work.
Our efforts together definitely paid off when I improved my score by 670 points, raising it to a 2120. As a result, many opportunities have been opened up to me. It still seems surreal to me that I was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania and placed on Harvard’s wait list. When I first began this journey, I barely had any options open to me. But now, I have myriad good things ahead in my future.
I definitely could not have achieved this feat without you. You were so determined and patient with me. You’re passion is incredibly inspiring. I would recommend any student who hopes to attend a great college to you. Thank you for impacting my life in such a positive way!!
Sincerely Libby Hooton (La Jolla Country Day School)
Alice was encouraging, relatable, and has an extremely organized system of logging and communicating progress with both the student and parents. Our family is SO grateful, as Alice made test prep a very enjoyable and successful experience!
KG (mother of SG - Santa Fe Christian)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice is an incredible tutor for SAT and ACT. She takes these tests personally for fun and gets perfect scores. She is intelligent and relates very well to teens that are under the stress of their junior year. I would recommend Alice to all students. She makes test prep fun and knows exactly how to properly prepare students. My daughters ACT score went up 10 points after working with Alice!
Lisa E (mother of Allison E - Julian Charter School)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice,
Thanks again for your help in preparing Markus for the ACT. His 6 point bump in score after working with you not only helped him get in a bunch of colleges, but I'm sure it also added significantly to the amount of merit aid awarded. Honestly, like I told my friends - we got many times your fees back in merit aid because of his huge jump in ACT scores. It was a great investment and also a great confidence booster for a kid who did not previously work up to his potential on standardized tests.
Thanks again for all your help,
Best Regards,
Stefen Boehme (father of Markus Boehme - Grauer School)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Alice,
Our son Jake just received his ACT results and all we can say is wow. Thank you very much for all of your work with Jake. You came highly recommended and yet you still managed to far exceed our expectations and hopes. Working with you, Jake raised his English and writing scores from the high twenties to the mid-thirties. His overall score went from a 29 to a 34. The weekly one on one sessions with you combined with the three practice tests Jake took certainly did the trick. Beyond the great results you helped Jake achieve, Jake loved working with you. Obviously you relate to teenagers very well. From a parent’s perspective, that is very important. Also, your regular communications with both Jake and us were helpful and informative.
We will certainly refer anyone looking for help your way. Please feel free to use us as a reference. Simply stated – you are the best!
Andy Singer (father of Jake Singer - Torrey Pines)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We decided to work with Alice upon a recommendation from a friend. We are so glad that we chose to go with her. Alice was professional, encouraging and most of all inspiring. Alice was very available, making it easy for our son to master the test to the best of his ability without any parent involvement. He was able to bring his ACT test score up 6 points from his initial test! This was done with a lot of work...but he was self motivated, I think, because of Alice's encouragement and expertise. In addition to helping bring up his test scores, working with Alice changed the way our son learned how to study. After working with Alice over the summer, his approach to studying and learning has evolved. He seems to be more organized and focused. We highly recommend working with Alice!
Joan Volle (mother of Jackson Volle - La Jolla Country Day)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Working with Alice was by far the best decision our family made during the college application process. Even though our son has very high cognitive abilities and worked hard to maintain a stellar GPA, he has a learning disability which made taking timed standardized tests particularly difficult. As a result, his SAT scores were not commensurate with his knowledge level or indicative of his true academic potential. The initial SAT scores he received would have made entry into a top tier school very difficult if not impossible. After working with Alice for less than three months, my son's combined SAT score rose 480 points. I only wish we had started with Alice earlier, I have no doubt that his test scores would have even been higher.
Matthew Morris (father of Matt Morris - Point Loma High)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice is amazing! She has worked with both my son and daughter and we couldn't be happier with the results. My daughter worked with Alice for ACT and SAT prep and she scored very high and my son worked with her for an entrance exam and passed with flying colors. She works diligently with her students and has a great ability to connect.
Debbi A (mother of Cassidy C and Jeremy C)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before I worked with Alice, I spent a year and a half with a different SAT tutor. My scores barely improved, if at all, while working with him. I decided to try a different tutor. That is when I met with Alice. In just a few weeks, maybe six sessions, I improved my score phenomenally. She taught me how to approach each aspect of the test. She taught me how to deal with what I didn't understand about the test. She gave me wonderful pointers of how to approach the reading and writing sections of the test and she helped me to dissect the math problems into a more simplistic format. If it weren't for Alice, I would not have achieved the score that I did on the real SAT. I improved my score about 500 points from when I took the PSAT in tenth grade. I owe that to Alice.
Louie Zigman (La Jolla High)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I learned of Alice Humbracht through Passport Admissions and her husband, Rob Humbracht, who had worked with my college-age daughter.
The greatest hurdle I faced trying to return to graduate school after a 30-year absence was the quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Exam, GRE. Alice initially guided me to multiple free practice tests and offered tips on how to approach this exam. When I hit the panic button two weeks from the test date, she found time in her schedule to meet, patiently went over the areas that “needed work” and offered practical action steps.
When it was clear, the week of the test, that my quantitative scores were still not adequate, Alice suggested test strategies that, I believe, made the difference between success and failure on test day. Her last-minute suggestions also helped me feel more in control on test day. There is no way, without Alice’s insight and coaching, that I would have attained my needed scores in one sitting. And I did. The quantitative score increased by almost 10 points from initial practice test to test day results.
Alice’s direct, practical, “no fluff” approach is like a breath of fresh air in the maze of oversold and over-hyped test preparation. I recommend her highly.
Shauna Lindsay, San Diego
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My son came to know Alice through mutual friends/clients. My son asked me if he could get a tutor to help him make his way through the SAT's/ACT's. I agreed, a bit reluctantly as my son had never needed a tutor before, to meet with Alice. As we all sat down at our meeting, I immediately noticed Alice's enthusiasm for her job. As we talked, I was very impressed with her knowledge and expertise in the SAT/ACT world. Long story short, we agreed to hire Alice and start my son's sessions with her on a weekly basis. In my 16-year-old son's words, here is his take on his experience with Alice:
Two of my friends recommended Alice to me, saying that she was very helpful. I found the most valuable parts of Alice’s tutoring to be the one-on-one conversations that we had about different sections of the SAT that helped me truly understand the concepts, making me succeed on the real test. The first few sessions that we had, she taught me the general concepts of each section. After I understood the concepts, we moved on to the specifics of each section and how to "outsmart" the SAT. Once I knew all the details of how to do each section it was time for practice. I took a full practice SAT nearly every weekend and when I met with you a few days later, we went over the questions that I got wrong and more importantly why I got those questions wrong. Once my scores plateaued on the practice tests, I took the real SAT and was ecstatic with my score. Alice helped me get from a score of 1640 to a 2100! SWEET!
The process seemed daunting at first but once I got into the routine of taking a practice test some weekends and meeting every Wednesday, it was not bad at all. Whenever I needed to reschedule an appointment, Alice was very accommodating and whenever I forgot a book or pencil, she had spares for me. This helped keep the process as stress-free as possible. Thank you, Alice, for everything!
Conor Arleo (La Jolla Country Day) and his mother Karen Arleo
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice Humbracht provides students with an effective blend of thorough understanding combined with positive attitude - providing the perfect foundation for success in academics and testing. Our daughter, a high school junior, met with Alice for six sessions and saw an impressive increase in her ACT score. Alice studied her practice test results, developed personalized curriculum to reinforce where needed and transformed test anxiety into an "I'm going to best this test" mentality! She sponsored regular practice test sessions. After each session I was impressed to see the personalized notes with clever titles that Alice prepared and used in her individualized tutoring. She covered a wide range of topics - from grammar to trigonometry. Rather than teaching to the test, Alice builds students' knowledge and personal strengths to prepare them to do their best. She worked with our daughter to set an ACT score goal which, definitely due in part to Alice's incredible help, was achieved. Alice is smart, inspiring and very fun to work with! She is an 11 on a scale of 10!
Kim Devermann (mother of Sarah Devermann - La Jolla High)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I first contacted Alice looking for a good Algebra tutor, and she worked with me and helped dramatically improve my grade in the class. She was passionate, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable about the subject, and I really could not have done it without her.
That’s why, when it came time to start studying for the SAT/ACT, the first person I went to was Alice. She helped me make my decision as to which test I would take, and from there we worked right up until the day of the test, doing one-on-one tutoring sessions and taking practice tests. My overall scores greatly improved and I went into the SAT confident and ready. I did extremely well (improved from a 1820 to a 2180), something I can only attribute to Alice’s help and encouragement along the way. Just like before, I know I could not have done it without her, and I’m extremely appreciative for all that she did for me! If I ever need tutoring in the future, I know that I would go to Alice before anybody else, and I recommend that others do the same.
Kayla Rice - La Jolla Country Day
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Alice,
Thank you so much for all of your help!! I can remember the horrible disappointment I felt when I received a 1450 on my first SAT practice test. Rather than simply give up on me, you worked ardently, teaching and encouraging me for an entire year. You made each tutoring session fun and exciting. Your zeal was infectious, and after spending a great deal of time with the problems, I began to enjoy the work.
Our efforts together definitely paid off when I improved my score by 670 points, raising it to a 2120. As a result, many opportunities have been opened up to me. It still seems surreal to me that I was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania and placed on Harvard’s wait list. When I first began this journey, I barely had any options open to me. But now, I have myriad good things ahead in my future.
I definitely could not have achieved this feat without you. You were so determined and patient with me. You’re passion is incredibly inspiring. I would recommend any student who hopes to attend a great college to you. Thank you for impacting my life in such a positive way!!
Sincerely Libby Hooton (La Jolla Country Day School)
