Elite Educational Institute of Cupertino

I signed up my two sons to Elite Educational Institute of Cupertino for SAT training last summer, because we were late for most of summer program.
My older son’s SAT score increased nearly 300 points. My younger son really enjoyed english writing and reading training, at that time, he just finished eighth grade. Both sons made huge progress from the short training.
I would highly recommend Elite for increasing the SAT score and reading/​writing training.

Elite prepares you well for the SATs. Between Elite and Excel, I’d say that Elite has a more structured approach (your hand is held more in test taking, review, «homework’, etc) while Excel places more emphasis on giving you the resources for you to then utilize freely.
Elite tests are a bit harder than regular SAT tests and prep you well for the real thing. Only complaint I’d have is that smarter students tend to suffer a little as the review is done with the whole class, so many extraneous questions are covered.
Personally I had to supplement with my own tests outside of the program to do well!

Joon Moy is a terrific instructor at Elite! My daughter claims Joon is the best Math instructor she’s had. She benefited a lot from the Elite course in her prep for SAT II.

We did a short refresher math group course with Joon at Elite Cupertino and were very happy with his class. Joon helped my daughter and other students in her class review fundamental math concepts. He takes genuine interest in each student’s progress and wants the kid to understand the concepts. Yes, he may be expensive but then you get what you pay for :)

I think that Elite has been misrepresented in the sense that some feel that it does not properly prepare students for SAT (or whatever other test). I have been going here for the last 4 – 5 years for the SAT II Chemistry, SAT II Math, Lit. Boot camp, and the SAT Summer boot camp, as well as the SAT Extension package; before that, my sister came here (5 – 7) years ago for SAT, SAT IIs, and AP testing prep. I can say with confidence that Elite has prepared me, my sister, and many many many other students with their scores, confidence, and technique.
It is quite unfortunate that only those who have left with bitterness have been the only ones Unilocal-​ing (they belong to a very small minority of people that have not left satisfied). I know so many students that have taken these SAT boot camps and have left so much better than what they began with. Despite some of the setbacks (bound to happen here and there) that they experienced along the way of refinement, they found themselves better equipped and so much more confident at the end.
For the summer boot camp (which helped my score tremendously, as well as other students’ scores), Elite makes their own SAT prep books of Writing (including essay tips), Critical Reading, Articles (challenges students to read on a more analytical and more focused method), and Mathematics, all which properly prepare students with the necessary skills for the actual test.
Elite does a successful job CHALLENGING and stretching students a lot. The summer boot camp humbles students greatly, but builds them back up, little by little, with baby steps. If pride gets in the way of how students learn, it will be an interference to their own SAT (as well as academic) success. Elite doesn’t fluff things up to make everything «feel good»; they aim to better scores, even if it’ll hurt some pride or not. And in the end, when you look back, it’ll be so so worth it.
I can write so much more… But yes, thank you Elite for all that you have done and are continuing to do ~

My son went to Elite for PSAT in the Freshman year — with great guidance from the Elite instructors he was able to master a lot of math and English skills. My son then went on to take the summer SAT bootcamp and that really prepared him well for taking the SAT at the beginning of Sophomore year. We are very happy with the results — my son got a total score of 2320 on the SAT. I would highly recommend Elite to anyone looking at mastering the SAT.

My daughter took the SAT Math Subject test prep course at Elite, Cupertino this past Spring and scored an 800 in the June test! After a mediocre math score on the SAT I, the 800 on the SAT II Math was stunnning. Many thanks to Joon, the math teacher. Joon has been teaching for many years has a good system for preparing the students.

I did not have a good experience from the boot camp.
Counseling: ⁰⁄₅. The main «counselor» Grace is a bitter grump who talks back to my mom (and my friends’ parents as well), insults teachers from other high schools (even though she has never met them before), and acts as if she has better things to do during our consulting session. Never in my few months here have I ever seen her smile at students. Not only is the service terribly rude, but also unqualified as well as inconsiderate. I would not recommend this place to you unless you would like to spend $ 990 being talked down on.
Materials: ³⁄₅. Good homework material. The testing material, on the other hand, is skewed and unreliable. This institute insists that harder tests encourage students to strive harder (and hope that they will not fall too far when they take the actual SAT test). However, in my experience, going over all tests from old SATs allow students to get an authentic feel for the REAL patterns of Collegeboard. There is a pattern, and there is also a formula to this test. Elite is not teaching it if they give different versions.
Teaching: 2.5÷5 The teaching is terrible. There are two problems:
1) because the SAT is not a test on «well-​roundedness» of a student’s subjects, but rather, a test on HOW to take a test, teachers should teach STRATEGY, not just basic principles. In all honesty, the SAT test material is not difficult; it is taking the test under TIME PRESSURE that is difficult. Test takers also literally have to get into the minds of the test-​makers to find the «Collegeboard-​type» answers that would be correct. Teachers don’t realize this, and often classes drag on because they stick to subjects that are too basic rather than coaching students on using strategies and familiarizing them with the test patterns.
2) Teachers are often absent. So what does Elite do? They get substitutes. I have a problem with this because my substitute was a lazy slob who liked to crack jokes instead of teach. Am I really paying $ 990 for this? The substitute also hadn’t taught in three years. He gave us «life-​advice,» if you’d call it that, and spoke of depressing things about growing up. Real awe-​inspiring stuff to say when you’re teaching a high-​school SAT class, huh?
Overall this institution really bothered me because of how unprofessional it was, how stubborn and narrow-​minded its teachers were, and the fact that it wasted both my time and my money. Please don’t come here.

Elite is probably one of the best SAT prep institute that really prepares students to perform best of their ability on the actual SAT! I went to winter workshop (a.k.a. boot camp: what people like to call it to make it sound scary but i don’t think that’s necessarily true since staffs who work there are awesome and make classes so interesting!) last winter break and I thought I made the best decision. I was able to spend my break productively! Each session was from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm (with 45min-​hour of lunch time) and I felt like Elite program was organized in a way that not a single hour of my time was wasted. Each and every session the Elite Institute offered had a purpose and goal to make their students get the most out of each lesson during the workshop. I have to say, instructors that I met there were excellent in teaching students how to approach/​attack each section of the SAT reasoning test. They, unlike other instructors that I had previously, took time to «talk through» the problems with the students and give them tips and guidance to help them not to make the same mistakes again. It is true that the level of difficulty of Elite’s diag tests is higher than college board’s, however, it is for the training purpose! I don’t find it reasonable for SAT prep classes to train students with diag tests that are easier than/​same as the college board practice tests… That wouldn’t help them at all if you think about it… Because I was able to higher my standard through Elite program, I was able to feel comfortable when I took collegeboard’s tests!
ALSO Grace is a great, loving counselor who is always willing to help out students who are struggling with any kind of problems they have. She is definitely not rude or inconsiderate of students feelings. If you personally get to know her, you will find out that she is the most compassionate, kind-​hearted, loving person you could meet! She is a great listener. She cares about her students’ problems as if it was her own. She is not the kind of person who will be rude to students for no reason. It is most likely that students weren’t following instructions or were being disrespectful to her. It is her job to keep students in track and encourage them to get the most out of the program. Obviously, students shouldn’t be wasting their parents’ money by not doing the works that are required.
If you can’t believe me, meet her and get to know her, and you will love her!

Don’t come here! Grace is not a considerate person. She is rude and she makes kids feel small. She loves to talk down on kids discouragingly to them feel as though they are not working hard enough. The SAT exams that they gave are not authentic. Elite makes up their own tests and claims that they are harder for training purposes to help score higher on the real SAT. However, this does just the opposite. It discourages students and make them feel bad. Unlike other SAT prep companies, elite’s tests don’t show accurate reflections of what scores kids would get when they take the real SAT, which is very helpful in identifying problems and patterns in the true SAT. Anyway, please shop around. The best people to ask is the peers and the people who took the SAT prep class before from somewhere else.

Came here for boot camp and some classes. Overall, elite can be pretty helpful, but it is definitely a little overpriced and probably not the best instruction you can find. A lot of time is spent just reviewing the practice test you take, and that gets old real fast. I suggest taking some classes here or taking the boot camp to learn some necessary lessons and tricks, and then just study on your own to hone your skills/​just get into that rhythm. Taking lots of practice tests is always the best way to prepare.