Cardinal Tutors

CT is awesome– they found a great tutor for us. Only wish they could find more!

I’ve tried a number of different tutoring options for my son over the years, each one had unique focus, strengths, and short-​comings. For our needs this past year, Cardinal Tutoring fit the bill and fit it well.
First, Neil, who founded and runs Cardinal Tutors, is responsive, personable, professional, and runs a first class operation. He took the time to listen to me explain our needs and thoughtfully suggested two tutors explaining their differences and what he thought each would bring to the table. The choice was up to me. From a management standpoint, the PayPal invoicing could not be more convenient.
Second, our tutor connected with my 8^th grade son immediately. What we needed was a mentor and homework coach, to engage my son and keep him focused to ensure concepts were cemented in cranking out homework. While the focus was on Algebra, during those sessions when the Algebra homework was completely quickly, the tutor did not hesitate to go beyond and see what other subject he could support. My son looked forward to his time with his tutor and felt good about his efforts and progress.
There are a few things you should know if you are considering Cardinal Tutors. Things that worked well for us, but may not be a fit for others.
1. This is more of a screening and match-​making service than a tutoring methodology or researched, documented approach. If you need a structured program or guaranteed (particularly short-​term) performance results, this is not for you.
2. On that same note, Cardinal Tutors does not have a bricks and mortar presence. I believe the tutors can be flexible with meeting at your home or on the Stanford campus (like meeting a friend, not sponsored or supported by Stanford), etc. If you need a tutoring center drop-​off situation, this is not for you.
2. The tutors are students themselves; tutoring is not their career path, although they do have extensive teaching backgrounds. They are not professionally credentialed educators. If your student has or may have a specific learning disability or you required a certain teaching methodology supported ask for a tutor who can address those specific needs.
3. Again, the tutors are students — think developing brains and busy lives. They each have their own strengths, personalities, and habits. I was able to accommodate our tutor’s occasional request for schedule changes and appreciated that he could, generally, accommodate ours. I also appreciated that he would occasionally stay a little longer to wrap up an assignment or leave a little earlier when the work was done and my son needed to check out. I have not experienced this kind of flexibility with other tutors /​tutoring services we’ve used. If your life is tightly scheduled and adjustments throw you off kilter, or alternatively if you need a little flexibility, make it clear before you engage a specific tutor.
For our needs, Cardinal Tutors is a fit, and a good one at that. We will definitely make use of their services moving forward.

We used Cardinal Tutors and were happy with the level of professionalism and responsiveness we received. The math tutor selected for our son was a good match for him. I would recommend Cardinal Tutors without reservation.

My son had a wonderful experience with Cardinal Tutors when he needed help with his High School math and science classes. It turns out my son also needed help staying organized with all his assignments, something that the tutor helped with as well. Care was made to match my son with someone who would appreciate his personality and be able to help him where he needed it. I definitely would recommend Cardinal Tutors.

We had a great experience with Cardinal Tutors. They helped my daughter with math and science. It was great to find a couple of really smart young women who helped not only with the subject matter, but became great role models. We feel so fortunate to be close to Stanford and able to use such great tutors. Highly recommend them!

We have used Cardinal Tutors for over 4 years for two of my sons in different courses: Alegebra, Pre-​Calculus, and Calculus. Neil at Cardinal Tutors has always been attentive to finding the right personality to fit the needs of my two different sons. We also found them to be flexible and understanding about scheduling. When your kid needs a session to help with a big test: they need a session!
The tutors themselves have been great: well-​prepared, thoughtful and on-​time. At each level of math needed, we found these Stanford students to be not just helpful tutors but great mentors as well. I not only would recommend them, I have recommended them to several friends and never heard a complaint. This is a first class operation.

I am disappointed with Cardinal Tutors; we paid $ 80 for one hour of SAT preparation and my son did not feel it was helpful.
The tutor met him at busy Tressider Student Union on the Stanford campus (noisy) and was disrespectful to my son. The tutor made sarcastic comments when my son missed a problem instead of trying to instill confidence in him. Needless to say, we will not recommend Cardinal Tutors to any of our friends.

Cardinal Tutors is very effective. Our tutor was a senior at Stanford who tutored my son in English, and also SAT preparation. My son received great marks on the SAT exam and also improved his grade in AP English from B to A. I am very happy with Cardinal Tutors and I recommend their service for all high school students.

Fantastic tutoring service. The tutor (who was a Stanford junior) really connected with my son and inspired him to learn. He had some great study tips and was able to help my son raise his grades by quite a bit. I would definitely recommend Cardinal Tutors to any parent looking for an engaging, knowledgeable tutor to help their child excel.