TestMagic

based on 5 reviews

Rating Details »

Category: Tutoring Centers

Neighborhood: Inner Sunset
1722 Irving St
(between 18th Ave & 19th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122

(415) 665-6988

www.testmagic.com

Front desk at the Irving Street location. Nice shadows.

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Hours:

Mon-Fri. 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

First to Review

Vince W.

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Category:: Tutoring Centers
Neighborhood:: Inner Sunset

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5 reviews for TestMagic

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El K.

San Francisco, CA

12/12/2008

OK...first off, review # 1, while perhaps funny to those who have managed to eke out and graduate Jr. High School.... is, other than that, completely pointless. Review #2...well, I cannot say anything about it...too bad that person had a bad experience. Perhaps if his semantics dripped a bit less with vitriol, he could have given some sort of useful criticism.....

I CAN say this about my daughter's experience there: Excellent.

Erin and Co. are all really nice folks (although I admit, the Irving St location seemed a lot more friendly and together than the Richmond 'hood location ~ particularly since, besides NOT returning my phone calls, then being very curt on the phone when I did reach them, the Richmond location quoted me the WRONG very high prices for the course). The Irving location was just the opposite. Very pleasant and courteous.

Basically, for the SAT prep course, we had a great experience. The study group was small, the teachers were able to give a lot of good one-on-one time...and my daughter's scores jumped 400 points from her PSAT scores. This...in only a one week session during Spring break.

Also, they let her borrow some practice books to bring home and use...sort of a lending library.

Nice folks....great results....reasonably priced. 5 stars.

Gangsta B.

Davis, CA

7/4/2009

This review will probably get deleted or criticized. I really don't care.

I went through TestMagic. (Twice. Last time I went to TestMagic was May 2007ish.) Didn't work. I had the same score coming out of it as I did coming in. I went through a month of SAT classes (twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays), and sometimes, material was repeated...I felt like things were disorganized most of the time, and the prices were too high for the type of quality given. If I wanted to learn from an SAT book, I would have bought one -- they basically teach from the SAT book. Yes, the teachers are probably very knowledgeable, but they're not very good at teaching me the SAT. AND, please do not accuse me of not trying -- I was actually the one who approached my mother to ask her if I could take SAT classes because I knew I needed to improve. I actually suggested going to Elite (right up the street from TestMagic now) first, but Elite's program requires you to start from the first class until the last class -- you can't just waltz in during the middle of the spring class schedule. BUT, this isn't about Elite.

So, TestMagic. I tried. I really did. Maybe the teaching styles didn't work for me? Anyway, I agree with the other person on here who also wrote a 2-star review. Plus, it kind of looked bad when one of the teachers was late for class and we were all just sitting around.

Two-stars. Because they're friendly and knowledgeable in OTHER ways. This is pretty nice already, considering I was about to give just one star.

Want more proof? I went to Elite after my one-month stint at TestMagic and I actually improved my score. Weird.

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Eric Y.

Millbrae, CA

9/18/2008

i've known so many people including myself who came here but still ended up in CITY COLLEGE of San Francisco.

personally i thought that the teachers weren't any good compared to San francisco unified school district. i felt like the place is more like a playground to babysit young teens. most people who come here were probably forced by their parents and are ASIAN. asian parents usually put there children in torture. i've stated that i didn't learn anything from this place, but for some reason they always think that the price you pay (maximum $$$) will definitely help their child. the more you pay, the more ur parents are interested. bunch of lies. don't come unless ur ready to waste some money to meet some people that will end up with you in city.

i must comment that the owners are really friendly and cool, but honestly i did not learn anything.

Edited - The review has been edited based on after thought.
Anyways, I still stand behind my comment about the actual learning experience. If I were you, just go to borders, buy couple SAT books and start reading and studying through that. Come here if you want some live in person teaching.

Once again, friendly place, friendly people, nice environment, it's up to you if you want to come here.

This review was written purely based on my personal experience and my opinion of the place. Good Luck in your college career.

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Comment from Erin B. of TestMagic 5/22/2009

Hi, Eric. The vast majority of our students who apply to the… More »

Vince W.

San Francisco, CA

5/23/2007

After a long day of school, why send your kids to tutoring place?

Well, would you rather them hanging around the streets and the wrong crowd?

Testmagic provides a place for kids not only to finish their homeworl, but a place to interact with their tutors.

Great place to work.

Staff and Owners are super friendly.

Its a learning atmosphere as well a place for kids to have good role-models from their tutors.

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Mike H.

San Francisco, CA

9/30/2008

The owners are very friendly. Erin and Ivy. I think for topics like studying for the SAT its really up to the student and how bad the student wants it. You don't just pay 3000 and your score magically improves. I think you have to do your part as well as the teachers do their part. The teachers can only relay information. I think this is a good place if you are ready to learn. If not then don't waste your money.

Specialties

TestMagic specializes in helping people get into good colleges (for example, UC Berkeley or Stanford) and good high schools. (Yes, it can be difficult to get into a good school, and some people want to maximize their chances of getting in.)

We help people mostly by teaching classes in small groups in a setting that is fun and stimulating. Our instructors are smart and accomplished and will try their best to keep you motivated.

Specifically, we do the following:

SAT, SSAT, and HSPT prep: We help people get higher scores on the standardized tests that they will need to take when they apply to college or high school.

College and high school admissions: We will talk to you a lot about what to do and what not to do when applying to college or high school. We will also help you by looking over your admissions essays and giving you honest and constructive feedback.

One-to-one tutoring available in such subjects as chemistry, calculus, history, English, and more.

History

Established in 1998

I founded TestMagic in 1998. I was pursuing a master's degree in education at the time, and had been teaching for a number of years, both in the US and abroad. I'd been pretty successful with a lot of students and had always wanted to run my own school, so I did it.

Now more than a decade later, we have grown quite a bit. We've established a good reputation among our students for being helpful, smart, funny, and, well, nice.

Meet the Manager: Erin B.

I love to read. And write. And lately, I've been bicycling a lot.

But teaching is my great passion. Students have told me that it's my calling. I like to help people, and nothing gives me greater joy than seeing someone reach her or his dreams.

I've taught many types of students, from middle-school students in San Francisco to incredibly bright and ambitious engineers applying to business school. I've taught all kinds of standardized tests, including the SAT, GMAT, GRE, TOEFL, SSAT, HSPT, and ACT. Check out the two main websites that I run to see my commitment: www.testmagic.com and www.urch.com.

I have a degree in English composition and am working on completing a master's degree in education, but for more than a decade, I've been devoting my professional life to building TestMagic.