SERVICES
Academic Tutoring
I’m fortunate to have worked with hundreds of extraordinary young men and women over the past 19 years. As I try to instill the habits of mind that foster intellectual versatility, I’ve found that the most meaningful way to help prepare students for their future academic studies and for their careers is to teach them to think critically and to write clearly.
Drawing on the academic methodology I encountered when studying Renaissance drama at the University of Oxford, I favor a Socratic approach, and the goal of my questioning is to help students develop an intellectual discipline, a discriminating engagement with the literary, historical, and philosophical works they read. They develop discriminating minds, scrutinizing both the authors’ logic and their own. In short, they recognize that thought matters.
As a result, my students often tell me that they no longer dread reading the hard books; rather, they welcome the challenge because they know that those are the books that enlarge their understanding. Good questions are more important than good answers. Such analytical training prepares students to express their ideas logically and confidently. Students learn that writing matters.
I love the process of seeing students learn to grapple with complex ideas. Inevitably, they begin to enjoy the emancipatory feeling of being at ease with increasingly challenging and abstract texts. Yet they also discover that with the freedom to challenge orthodox positions comes the responsibility to question their own thinking just as they question that of others. When clear thinking combines with clear writing, students experience both personal exhilaration and academic accomplishment.
Suzanne Booker-Canfield, Ph.D.
WHAT I OFFER
College Counseling
Because many of my college counseling students have worked with me academically, my approach to college counseling differs from that of other practitioners. With most of my college counseling students, I forge long-term relationships, learning firsthand who they are as students and where their academic strengths and weaknesses lie. In that process, I discover what empowers them and what frightens them. Over time, I help them consider what they want to do with their lives.
In this mentoring process, I encourage them to set high expectations for themselves and to engage passionately with the world around them as they become authors of the stories they dream of telling about their own lives. They discover that, as with the great works of fiction, their story matters.
Regardless of a student's high school performance, extracurricular experience, or college aspiration, each candidate must separate himself or herself from a large pool of similar applicants. My background and experience, coupled with my knowledge of each student, allows me to help students find the life stories they will author.
Students who combine academic enrichment with the college counseling feel confident that they have the intellectual tenacity to grapple with difficult texts and write cogently about the nuances of those scholarly problems. Moreover, the lessons they have learned from this experience prepare them to become engaged citizens who have a story that sets them apart in the college admissions process. This achievement, I find, often serves as the best preparation both for stellar performance in college and in their future careers.
Working with students and their families on the application process, I identify target schools, assist in planning coursework, suggest the appropriate standardized testing schedule, and provide a strategic overview of extracurricular experience and internship opportunities that may strengthen a student's application. By far my favorite part of the application process is the dreaded essay. Few experiences in life are more personally satisfying than helping students find their stories.
Test Preparation
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ACT English, reading, & writing subtests (with many students receiving perfect 36)
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SAT reading, writing & language, & essay subtests
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PSAT evidence-based reading & writing/language subtests
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ACT Aspire English & reading subtests
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AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP US History, AP European History, AP Environmental Science, & AP Comparative Government
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SAT Literature Subject Test & SAT US History Subject Test
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AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP US History, AP European History, AP Environmental Science, & AP Comparative Government
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SAT Literature Subject Test & SAT US History Subject Test
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GMAT analytical writing & verbal
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GRE and GRE Literature in English
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SSAT verbal, reading, & writing subtests
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ISEE verbal reasoning, reading comprehension, & essay subtests
Videoconference Sessions
Responding to the changing needs of today’s students, Suzanne harnesses technology to help them maximize efficiency and manage pressure. Whether you’re around the corner or around the world, you can enjoy the convenience of working with Suzanne from your home, dorm, or wherever you may be. Through Skype or FaceTime, you can work with Suzanne face to face while viewing the same document and getting the same level of instruction.
As the time demands on students continue to increase, more and more choose to work remotely in order to maximize the use of their time. This method has worked well for students throughout the U.S., and from nations around the world, including England, Scotland, Germany, Croatia, Israel, and Australia.