Sarah had a great summer in Honors Geometry last year. She has a solid A now, and although we are happy about the grade, her confidence is what we are most proud of.  This is what she said when I asked her about the class she took last summer: "I had a great time last summer at Mill Creek Academy.  They made geometry easy to understand and the assignments prepared me for my high school geometry class. I've always been good at math and this class really helped build my skills and confidence."

-- Cindy W.
Parent, 2008

Taking the SAT Writing class at Mill Creek Academy was extremely beneficial for my preparation for the SAT. It gave me confidence in my writing skills and grammar. It prepared me for timed-writing assignments in junior year and made English one of my favorite subjects. I highly suggest taking an SAT prep class at Mill Creek Academy.

-- John B.
Foothill High School, 2008

After attending Mill Creek and learning specific essay techniques, my writing score increased by over 150 points. On the Official March SAT I I scored a 710 in writing. 800 critical reading, and 770 math. I got an 11 on my essay because of the structure that Mrs. Sabraw provided me. I'm not saying EVERYONE is going to achieve an 11 by following the essay format, but it definitely removes a large portion of the pressure that comes from the 25 minute time restraint.

Thanks to Mrs. Sabraw at Mill Creek Academy, I can proudly say that i increased my writing score significantly and achieved a wonderful SAT score.

-- Anthony, 2008

Before going to Mill Creek Academy, I was a mediocre writer, and initially my essays lacked finesse.  But as a student at Mill Creek Academy, I was able to greatly improve my grammar mechanics, writing skills, and my confidence in writing essays. 

I also worked as a student worker at Mill Creek Academy, and I always saw how enthusiastic the students were with their respective teachers.  Mill Creek Academy always brings the best teachers who know what they are doing and are passionate to spread their knowledge to the students.

During these past few months, I underwent the tense and nerve-wracking "college-application" process.  But I am happy to say that I have been accepted by all the UC’s that I applied to and I can firmly testify that Mill Creek Academy had an immense role in my success.  Once again, I deeply and sincerely thank Mill Creek Academy’s directors and staff for their never-ending dedication and passion to teach students to strive for higher standards, which not only enables them to succeed in academics, but also establish ideal life ethics. Thank you.

-- Brian Szeto, 2008

As a student worker in the office for the past two years, I've seen that Mill Creek's clients always come back for more. It's not surprising to me, since I was one of the loyal customers- I've taken English Writing 5, 6, 7/8, Advanced Literary Analysis 9-12, and SAT I Part II. The teachers at Mill Creek really give the students advice that can be applied to all their schoolwork. The first classes I took laid a good foundation for my essay-writing and the classes I continued to take helped me develop grammatically and stylistically. The Literary Analysis class really helped me learn how to seek for deeper meanings when reading both prose and poetry, a skill that is critical in high school English.

Mill Creek has definitely provided me with the skills I've needed to do well both at school and on the SAT. I've been accepted by all the UCs I applied to and I am now trying to choose between UC Berkeley and UCLA. Whichever I choose, I'll know that Mill Creek has played an integral part in making my high school career a successful one.

-- Alyssa Wang, 2008
 

I'll be candid. I used to suck at writing in-class essays. Really, my highest essay grade used to be a B, and I often received C's. That began to change when I took Mrs. Sabraw's SAT I Verbal Part II class in my freshman year at MSJHS. For the first time, I received a solid A on an in-class essay (it was on Of Mice and Men, I still remember that), and that wasn't the only A because I received more A's on the next few essays after that one.

MCA definitely improved my writing skills. As everyone knows, the essay is a major portion of the college application process. My essays helped me get into all of the UCs that I applied to: UCLA, UCSD, UC Merced, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and UC Davis. I even received large envelopes from these more prestigious private universities: New York University, Northwestern University, University of Southern California. My dream school is the University of Chicago (wait listed), and I'm currently working on a letter to U.Chicago expressing my overwhelming interest in the school. I would genuinely like to thank MCA and its many English classes for helping me get this far.

-- Lulu Wen, 2008

"Having taken the writing course at Mill Creek Academy, I definitely feel like I have more command of the English language. Not only am I able to identify errors in grammar and punctuation much faster than before, but I am also able to synthesize a five-paragraph essay in less than twenty-five minutes -- excellent preparation for the SAT, college applications, and even for a high school English course. During the 12 weeks, my Mill Creek teacher pulled the lessons from a variety of books, assigning us homework that reinforced key concepts; she also took the time during the following class to answer questions in great detail. The timed essays that we wrote in class also gave us an understanding of how to plan our time wisely while writing. All in all, I would recommend this course to anyone who wants a fast-paced course developing both their writing and grammar in a unique, comprehensive manner."

-- Sandhya Chandrasekaran, 2008

"Mill Creek was an excellent way to sharpen my writing and grammar skills.  At school, they never really taught us specific rules for the English language; however, Mill Creek does.  I took a different SAT prep course, but my experience at Mill Creek Academy was so much better. Unlike the other SAT class, the Mill Creek course prepares you well for the dreaded SAT.  By the time I finished the course, I was confident in my abilities to perform during the SAT test as well as during school."

-- Victoria Gu, 2008

"My son is a sophomore at Irvington High School.  Last summer he took English writing course.  He had always struggled with writing well-organized essays - not any more!  His confidence this year has soared due in part to the excellent teacher and small class size.  His teacher was very enthusiastic and provided meaningful guidance to help him improve the quality of his writing."

-- Ms. H., 2008

"The way we learned the information that we needed to succeed for the SAT was not only fast and efficient, but also it was fun and memorable. Now I don't have to stress and cram for the SAT because the information is clear in my mind."

-- Grace Victorine, 2008
Mission San Jose High School

“The teachers are really focused and know exactly what to do to help their students improve.  They can identify a student’s weakness and help him in those areas. Because of their attentiveness, I achieved a score on the SAT that I am satisfied with."

-- David Chen, 2008
Mission San Jose High School

"Mill Creek Academy provides a fun yet intelligent environment to work in.  The teachers know how to deal with their students’ needs.  I think I will choose Mill Creek for my SAT Preparation."

-- Raymond Chen, 2008
Mission San Jose High School

"Yes, you can fill those shoes!  I have proof with my youngest daughter who took Algebra II/Trig with Mr. Obeid last summer.   She is thriving in her Algebra II/Trig class this school year at Mission.  I never had any of my daughters take a class at Mill Creek before last summer. 

I thought while and after Jessica took the class, what a wonderful way to learn material without feeling pressured to make the exceptional grade.  Don’t misunderstand me, she wanted to excel on her quizzes and homework at Mill Creek, but she didn’t have that stress factor as she does during the school year.  This is important to me as I am a parent committee member on the Mission: SOS (Stressed Out Students) team.  Cheri, you offer an exceptional educational service that is local."

-- Tomasa Macapinlac
TGIF Vice President and Chairperson for Summer Programs Fair

Before I attended Mill Creek Academy's preparatory courses for the writing and critical reading sections of the SAT, I had never been able to achieve a score above 700 on either of the aforementioned sections. Though I could write competently when given a substantial amount of time, say, six hours, I could formulate barely a sentence in the twenty-five minutes allotted to students on the SAT writing section. I am notorious among my peers for being the last one to turn in every in-class essay. However, after undergoing Mill Creek's rigorous summer SAT writing and grammar class, I was able to churn out a satisfactory essay in the required time. Needless to say, my writing score was vastly improved. The course also provided an endless source of delight to me, as it expounded on one of the finer points of the English language: grammar. I have always been a stickler for proper grammar, even in colloquial English, so I was both elated and vindicated by Mill Creek's similar insistence upon such perfection in our writing.

Not to be outdone, the SAT I Verbal Part 1 class on the critical reading portion of the SAT was the predominant factor in ameliorating my critical reading score. Memorizing the various lists of vocabulary words provided to us and utilizing the proven strategies taught to us augmented my critical reading score considerably; I achieved a score that I thought I was incapable of attaining.

I attribute my substantial improvement on the SAT critical reading and writing sections wholly to Mill Creek Academy's thorough and effective SAT preparatory courses.

-- Sarah Folk, 2008
Mission San Jose High School

The SAT Verbal Prep class was very beneficial in the techniques they taught on active reading, allowing me to skim the passages and answer choices at faster speeds and to free up more time for double checking my answers. Memorizing pages of SAT words were also made easy by using the unique strategies they emphasized in their small classes. With MCA's help, I was able to achieve a Verbal score that gained me acceptance into UC Berkeley, and other East Coast schools. Thank you Mill Creek Academy!

-- Christopher, 2007

The writing class I took for the SAT was very helpful to me. The teacher led a class that was both fun and full of good material at the same time. I especially enjoyed the class discussions and the interaction between student and teacher. She even drew out some of the shy students into participation. I would take this class again.

-- J. Cho, 2008

My daughter had outstanding results with Mill Creek SAT prep and writing courses. She writes with confidence and now uses much more sophisticated vocabulary. The teachers are excellent and the small class sizes are very helpful. I highly recommend Mill Creek Academy.

-- Sheri Kitta