Your intake session
What's an intake session?
Our first meeting will include the student, at least one parent (optional for college students), and me (Wes). By the end of this meeting, I aim to understand your goal and your constraints, to diagnose the problems standing in the way, and to devise an efficient path from where you are, to where you want to be.
Along the way I’ll answer any questions and address any concerns you may have.
Afterward, you’ll decide whether to continue working with me and my team. If so, I’ll communicate the plan we developed together to everyone on our team. If not, I’ll make sure you know how to use what we’ve discussed to orient any other professionals you work with.
Either way, you leave the meeting with a clear understanding of how to get to success from right where you are.
Why do we always start with an intake session?
Because every great learning experience starts with clear communication and deep expertise.
I personally welcome every student and parent into our practice, because I want you to know me personally, and I want you to benefit from my fifteen years’ experience and unusually effective methodology right from the start. I believe that delegating these first steps — even to great tutors like mine — would give you less than you deserve.
Let’s build the right foundation for our future success together.
How should I prepare for the intake session?
Once your intake session is booked, we’ll send student-specific homework to be completed before the intake meeting.
Generally this homework takes about 90 minutes.
What should I expect during the intake session?
It can vary depending on your needs, but usually the intake has these parts:
- We’ll discuss your goals
- I’ll ask some questions about the student’s academic history
- I’ll evaluate the work sample you brought
- I’ll guide you through an analysis of the student’s own process
- If you like, we’ll set an initial schedule
- In that case, I’ll also suggest some long-term expectations for us to share
How do I book my intake session?
Just visit https://wescarroll.com/schedule-intake/ and pick the time from my appointment calendar that works best for you. You’ll receive a confirmation email right away. In the confirmation email you’ll find directions for changing or canceling that appointment later (just in case).
The 85-minute Intake session is $900, to be paid in advance. An invoice will be sent to your email. This invoice is payable via your choice of credit card or bank transfer.
It’s important to me that all students and families feel good about our work together. So, during or following any session in which you don’t feel we’re doing great work towards your goals (including the very first), please let us know within three days of that appointment and we will issue a refund. (Yes, really.)
For more information on our scheduling system, visit our scheduling FAQ page.
After the intake
Who will my tutor be?
It depends on a few factors.
Each member of the team has different areas of expertise. By the end of the intake session, I’ll be able to make a recommendation for best fit.
Each member of the team also has his or her own rate of pay and availability. If price and/or urgency are priorities, then we’ll take those into account before agreeing on a direction together.
Where will we meet?
Wherever you are. Thanks to our expertise with face-to-face video conferencing software, we offer meetings online, as well as at our offices in downtown Berkeley CA. Most commonly, we meet in person once if you are local; all other meetings are typically held via face-to-face video conference. If you have a different preference, we probably can accommodate you. Most of us are available at your choice of location, and can even travel to your home in person, for an additional fee.
How long will it take?
Of course, that depends on your goals, and the time and energy that the student can apply between sessions.
Typically, I estimate the length of the engagement during the intake session. in the case of longer-term engagements, I usually recommend that we check in again after six sessions, in order to adjust as needed.
What will it cost?
The first session costs $900 (see “Fees,” below).
After that, sessions with me are $600 each, and sessions with one of my teammates are $375 each.
We work in 85-minute sessions, and we usually meet on a weekly or more frequent cadence.
(Note: Where possible, I also offer options intended to increase your value without much extra cost. For example, an online course and/or group class can often provide much of the value of the first few sessions, but at a lower price.)
Cancellations & Fees
Cancellations
If you find you must cancel your intake appointment more than 72 hours in advance, just do so at https://wescarroll.com/scheduling. There is no fee for doing so.
If you must cancel on less notice, please drop me an email or give me a ring at 415.937.1729 as soon as possible. Cancellations made less than 24 hours before the start of the session incur a full fee; between 24 and 72 hours, half fee. (I always exempt students for sudden illness, provided I’m notified more than three hours before the scheduled session start; in that case, please just give me as much advance notice as you can.)
Fees
The intake session costs $900, which is to be paid in advance.
See “What will it cost?” above for more detail on fees after that.
I invoice via email for all sessions, and I ask that you pay online (via credit card).
Guarantee
It’s important to me that all students and families feel good about our work together. So, during or following any session in which you don’t feel we’re doing great work towards your goals (including the very first), that session will not be charged. In this case, we’ll also cancel all future appointments and I’ll refund your money for all pre-paid and unused meetings (per my cancellation policy, above). However, it’s also important to me that our time together be a time for questions to get answered, and not generally a time for practice work. Students do work and assemble questions before seeing me, so that our time together can be very efficient.