We have two conveniently located offices, one in Barrington, IL and the other in Lincolnshire, IL. We also work remotely via ZOOM with students who live outside of our area. Here’s a link with our location information: Office Locations

Our tutors each maintain different office hours, but we do have afternoon and evening weekday availability Monday-Thursday, as well as weekend availability. We also have morning weekday availability in the summer. Our Parent Liaisons return emails and calls as quickly as possible, almost always within 24 hours.

Every family that works with us will be partnered with a dedicated Parent Liaison who guides them through the tutoring process and is available as a resource during the college planning process. Parent Liaisons are knowledgeable about the ACT, SAT, college planning, and the college application and essay writing process. They also have strong backgrounds in education, having worked with students and families in high school settings. Our Parent Liaison profiles can be found here: Parent Liaison Profiles

At Laura George Consulting, we provide ACT/SAT Tutoring, College Application/Essay Guidance, and High School Entrance Exam Tutoring. We also offer subject tutoring and SAT Subject Test tutoring in Math and Chemistry.

Our Parent Liaisons will be happy to help you learn more about our services. You may call our office at 847-363-6780 or contact your Parent Liaison directly. Their contact information is available in their Parent Liaison Profiles .

We offer only one-on-one tutoring with subject matter specialists who are highly educated and thoroughly trained by Laura George using the original methodology she developed and utilized successfully for over a decade with hundreds of students. We provide a personalized tutoring timeline with a consistent schedule for each student. Our goal is to cover all content and strategy with each student, and lessons are customized and adjusted as needed to meet each student’s needs. We emphasize the importance of the “two-way street” in this process and the student’s role in practicing and mastering the lesson content in between lessons. As such, our lessons are content and strategy rich, with only a small fraction of the time spent simply asking students to engage in practice problems during the lesson. We assign homework and provide students with a Daily Study Plan that empowers them to practice what they have learned in between lessons, verify that they have mastered it, and/or identify which concept or problem types require further attention with their tutor(s) in subsequent lessons. Thus students require fewer lessons with us than other companies that often recommend 50- or 100-lesson packages.

We also strongly recommend that students take full practice tests during their time with us to practice the content and strategies they have learned in a realistic setting. All practice tests come with a full-color test report as well as lesson plan adjustments, if warranted. Every family also has the support of a dedicated Parent Liaison to guide them through the process.

On a general level, students often find the SAT to be more generous with time per question, but the ACT to be more straightforward in terms of content. Several factors contribute to choosing a test, however, and Laura George and our Parent Liaisons help each student determine which test is the better fit.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no “easier” test at a certain time of year. All tests are normed appropriately, so that scoring is consistent across all exams. Many factors contribute to determining the best time of year to take exams, including Math level at school, student schedules and obligations at different times of the year, and college application deadlines. Our Parent Liaisons assist each family with determining an appropriate testing timeline for each student.

At LGC, we use an actual, retired ACT or SAT for diagnostic testing. All families are provided with a full color test report of their student’s performance, along with Laura George’s analysis and tutoring recommendation.

The diagnostic test results help our tutors not only understand a student’s scoring level, but also the types of problems a student tends to miss. This assists the tutors as they individualize tutoring and lesson plans. The $50 test administration fee is waived if the student moves forward with lessons with us.

All of our packages include:
Diagnostic testing and full-color test report/results analysis
Development of a customized tutoring plan
One-on-one lessons with subject matter specialists
Practice testing with full-color test reports/results analysis
Practice test reviews with subject matter specialists
Optional subject-level practice tests
All course books and materials
Dedicated guidance from your family’s Parent Liaison

At LGC, we believe that a consistent, logical schedule is important for students, so that they can properly focus on the content and strategy, adequately plan to incorporate study/practice into their weekly schedules, and complete lessons prior to their target test. For these reasons, we schedule all lessons, practice tests, and test reviews up front.

We understand that lessons need to be rescheduled on occasion. We will be happy to accommodate schedule changes with a minimum of 24 hours notice. We do encourage families to reschedule infrequently, however, as changes can affect the continuity of a student’s tutoring timeline.

All of our tutors have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, and many have advanced degrees. All of our tutors have an educational background and/or professional experience in their subjects.

All of our tutors complete a rigorous training program, which includes testing, and all tutors participate in continued training. Tutor profiles can be found here: Tutor Profiles

Each student has either two or three tutors - Verbal and Math for SAT students, Verbal, Math, and Science for ACT students. After your son/daughter is assigned a tutor for a subject, he/she will remain with that tutor for that subject. This ensures continuity between lessons and the best use of lesson time.

All of our tutors are trained to work with students with all types of learning styles. In the very rare instance that a tutor/student match isn’t ideal, your Parent Liaison will assist you with any needed changes.

Each lesson is one hour and is very content and strategy heavy. Students will be given homework each week to practice what they have learned (average of 1-3 hours per week).

The vast majority of our students achieve higher scores after completing the recommended tutoring package with us and engaging in our Daily Study Plan. Our protocols have been proven to be highly effective, and we have earned a strong reputation in the community. Many factors contribute to success, the most important of which is the student’s engagement. Our students who are actively engaged in their lessons, do the assigned homework, and regularly study/ practice what they’ve learned via the Daily Study Plan tend to achieve the best results. Our tutors and Parent Liaisons are quick to work with families to make adjustments when students are struggling, empowering students to achieve their highest scores.

We assist students with a wide range of topics, including high school academic and extracurricular activity planning, understanding important timelines, exploring possible majors, planning for the college search/visit/selection process, and many topics in between. Check out our High School & College Planning page for more info.

Anytime between 8th grade and junior year of high school.

Yes! We offer a career interest inventory and a follow up meeting to discuss the results, possible career interests, and possible majors. This is a great option for students who are still exploring their options.

No. This service is offered on an hourly basis, and we work with you on the topics that are important to you.

Lavinia LoBue and Kate Pedigo, two of our experienced Parent Liaisons, work with families year round to guide them through the high school and college planning process. Lavinia works with students whose last names begin with A-K, and Kate works with students whose last names begin with L-Z. Contact us to learn more or to schedule a consultation.

Each college weighs many factors in a college application; some consider the essay to be very important, while others give it lower priority. In all cases, however, the Common Application or

Coalition Application essay is each student’s opportunity to personalize his or her application and share who he or she is with admissions committees.

At LGC, we provide essay/application coaching from the planning stage through to a finished product. We work with students on the Common Application/Coalition Application main essay, supplemental college essays, and honors, scholarship, and special program essays. In our comprehensive packages, we assist students with all the elements they need to complete for the Common Application, Coalition Application, and/or school-specific application platforms. We also review the Common Application and/or Coalition Application themselves for accuracy and proper completion.

Additionally, we provide college selection guidance (to ensure a well-balanced target college list), advice on selecting appropriate application deadlines (Early Action, Early Decision, or Regular Decision) and interview prep to families who elect to utilize these types of assistance. LGC is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and the Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling (IACAC) and we adhere to the strict ethical guidelines outlined by these organizations.

Our essay coaches guide students through various exercises and assignments to ensure the development of a personalized main essay, written in the student’s voice, that reveals something personal and genuine and provides meaningful insights into the student beyond test scores, grades, and activities. The process includes in-person meetings as needed and on-line work through Google Docs or a similar platform. Students who live outside of our area will have meetings via Zoom. Students who select our more comprehensive packages will work with their coach to complete those additional essays and tasks in a timely manner as well.

Students often don’t understand the intent of the main essay and thus, even if they are strong writers, they can “miss the mark” in terms of the content they choose to convey. Moreover, in school-specific supplemental essays, a great deal of strategy with respect to choosing from available prompts (when applicable), selecting content that reveals the broadest, most in-depth insights, and conveying a genuine desire to attend a particular school is involved. The student’s coach will work through all of these decisions and help students to make well-informed choices and develop the strongest possible body of essays for each individual school.

Laura George works with a limited number of students each year, and has trained two additional College Application/Essay Coaches in her methods, Jane Hoffman and Karen Ecanow

Most students begin working on the college application process during the summer after their junior year. Registration is open year-round, and we recommend reserving a spot as soon as you are sure you are interested in services, as we do have a waitlist every year.

Students interested in attending a private high school are often required to take an entrance exam as part of the application process. Entrance exams results provide information about academic readiness.

We offer tutoring for the following entrance exams:

• Secondary School Admissions Test (SSAT)
• High School Placement Test (HSPT)
• Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE)

If you have questions or would like more information about our services, please contact us.