I tutor students applying to Harvard-Westlake (ISEE prep) and students already enrolled there (math through AP Calculus, physics, English and writing) one-on-one at their home or online. My desk is minutes from the Coldwater Canyon campus, and I've worked with students at this school for years.
Clear Concepts Tutoring is an independent tutoring practice and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with Harvard-Westlake School. I tutor students who attend or are applying to the school.
This isn't a knock on the school: the rigor is why families apply, and knowing exactly where the workload bites is the difference between an experienced tutor and a stranger with a workbook.
A missed concept in the fall compounds by spring. Most of my calls come after the first graded assessments, when a strong student suddenly has a grade they've never seen before.
Multiple APs plus athletics plus college prep is a scheduling problem before it's an academic one. Flexible availability in the evenings and weekends to accommodate busy schedules.
Students who cruised through middle-school English meet a different standard of analysis and revision. We rebuild the essay process before the grade slides.
Different needs, different plans.
Path one · Applying
Harvard-Westlake requires the ISEE. We run a diagnostic, set a target stanine, and build a 12–20 week plan backward from your test date (with practice on the essay, because schools read it too).
One accountable person who already knows the school's pace — not a fresh face every month who needs the syllabus explained.
No first month spent learning the school's curriculum on your dime — I've tutored students here before, and I keep up with how courses are paced.
Sessions intensify before assessment weeks and ease after. The plan follows the school's rhythm, not a generic curriculum binder.
I'm minutes away and work until 9 PM, so sessions land after practice or after dinner — not in the middle of a working parent's afternoon.
Same tutor in September and in May. I see the dip in grades coming because I was there last week, and you get a note from me after every session.
“He was extremely patient and really made me feel confident… helped me get an A in a class I previously had a C in.”
“All his fear vanished when he started getting tutored by Nicolas… from Beverly Hills High all the way through UC Irvine.”
Harvard-Westlake doesn't publish a cutoff, but competitive applicant pools at the most selective LA schools generally sit in the 7–9 stanine range.
What matters is your child's diagnostic relative to that pool. In the consultation I'll tell you plainly where they start and what a realistic target looks like for the runway we have.
Twelve to twenty weeks before the fall test date of your application year — which usually means starting in spring or early summer.
That runway is what produces the two-to-three stanine gains my students typically see. Shorter is workable; cramming is not.
Yes — I work with enrolled students on coursework through the school year, most often math, physics, English and writing.
Because I'm ten minutes from campus and work evenings, sessions fit after practice or after dinner without wrecking the family schedule.