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30-Year AP English Teacher | SAT R&W + College Essay Systems
Marc F.

5.0 (28 ratings)

85 hours tutoring

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Hourly Rate: $85
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Response time: 2 hours
Meet Marc F.
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About Marc

Bio

Your college essay should sound like you. Your SAT score should reflect what you actually know. Most of the time neither one does. The student is capable; nobody has shown them how the thing actually works. That's my job.

I taught English in the Lynn, Massachusetts public schools for 30 years: AP Language, AP Literature, Honors, and College Prep. I built and coached a competitive Speech and Debate program, which is why I teach reading and writing as argument. What is this text claiming,...

Your college essay should sound like you. Your SAT score should reflect what you actually know. Most of the time neither one does. The student is capable; nobody has shown them how the thing actually works. That's my job.

I taught English in the Lynn, Massachusetts public schools for 30 years: AP Language, AP Literature, Honors, and College Prep. I built and coached a competitive Speech and Debate program, which is why I teach reading and writing as argument. What is this text claiming, how does it make the claim, and does it hold up? I hold degrees from NYU and UMass Amherst and a master's from Salem State. I'm a Massachusetts-licensed teacher, IXL Certified, and a member of NCTE and the National Tutoring Association.

SAT Reading and Writing: I built a skills system for the digital SAT. Every question type maps to a named skill, a drill for that skill, and matched official College Board practice. You always know which skill we're working on and why.

College essays: I've guided more than 1,000 college essays from brainstorm to final draft. The finished essay sounds like the student wrote it, because the student did.

AP English: rhetorical analysis, argument, close reading, timed writing. I taught these courses for decades, and I know what AP readers reward.

Sessions are structured and direct. I ask questions until the student finds the answer instead of handing it over. Every session ends with a specific next step. On request, parents get a short recap of what we covered and what comes next.

Pairs
I also teach pairs: two students working toward the same goal, whether that's SAT Reading and Writing, college essays, or AP English. It's the same work as 1:1, but each student hears how the other reasons through a hard question, and that's where a lot of the learning happens. Each student books from their own Wyzant account and pays only their share, $55 per student per hour. Message me to set one up.

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Education

NYU and UMASS Amherst
English
Salem State University
Masters
  • Licensed teacher

Policies

  • Hourly Rate: $85
  • Rate details: 1:1 sessions $85/hr. Pairs working on the same goal (SAT R&W, college essays, AP English): $55 per student/hr. Each student books on their own Wyzant account and pays only their share.
  • Lesson cancellation: 8 hours notice required

  • Background check passed on 9/27/2025

  • Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee

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Approved Subjects

ADHD

ADHD

I'm not a clinician. I'm an English teacher who spent 30 years in public school classrooms where many of my students had ADHD. What works is structure: the same session routine every week, big assignments broken into small steps with dates attached, and a written next step at the end of every session so nothing depends on memory. I teach the planning side of writing directly, including outlining, drafting in short timed blocks, and revising in passes, because that's usually where students with ADHD get stuck, not the ideas. On request, parents get a short recap after each session so they know what to reinforce at home.
Common Core

Common Core

I taught English in Massachusetts public schools for 30 years, through the whole Common Core era, so I know what the standards actually demand in class: close reading, citing evidence, writing arguments, and building academic vocabulary. I work from the student's real assignments and teach the skill underneath each one, so the improvement shows up in every class, not only English. Sessions are structured, and each one ends with a specific next step. I work with middle and high school students, from those building foundations to honors students pushing for more.
Debate

Debate

I built and coached a competitive Speech and Debate program in Lynn, Massachusetts while teaching English there for 30 years. I teach debate from the argument up: how to build a case, find the weak point in the other side's, research fast, and rebut under time pressure. Students preparing for tournaments get case writing and drill work. Students who want sharper argument for school get the same tools without the circuit. These skills carry straight into reading and writing, which is why I teach them together.
English

English

I am a licensed MA english teacher with 30 years of experience.
Essay Writing

Essay Writing

I taught essay writing for 30 years in the Lynn, Massachusetts public schools, from College Prep through AP Language. Every essay comes down to the same parts: a thesis worth arguing, evidence that actually supports it, analysis that explains why, and an order the reader can follow. I teach each part on its own, then put them together on the student's real work: literary analysis, argument, research papers, timed AP essays, and college application essays. Coaching Speech and Debate shaped how I teach argument. If a claim can't survive a counterargument, it isn't finished yet.
Literature

Literature

I taught literature for 30 years in Lynn, Massachusetts: AP Literature, Honors, and College Prep, across novels, poetry, drama and nonfiction, with classic and contemporary work side by side. The goal is always to get past plot summary to what the text is doing and how it does it. I teach students to ask the questions that open a text up, then turn their answers into a written argument backed by evidence. Whether it's a novel assigned for class, AP Literature exam prep, or a student who has never liked reading, I start from the text in front of them.
SAT Reading

SAT Reading

The SAT Reading section isn't random. It uses a fixed set of question types, and each one tests a specific skill. I've mapped every type to a named skill and a targeted drill, then matched each drill to official College Board practice, so we spend time on exactly what's costing you points. I taught AP Language and AP Literature for 30 years in Lynn, Massachusetts, so the close reading, inference and evidence questions on this test are the work I did every day. We start with a diagnostic, find the two or three skills pulling your score down, and drill those first. Students rebuilding the basics and strong readers aiming for the top percentiles use the same system at different speeds.
SAT Writing

SAT Writing

SAT Writing tests a short list of rules: sentence boundaries, punctuation, agreement, transitions, rhetorical synthesis. It tests them the same way every time. I teach each rule as a named skill with its own drill, so students stop guessing by ear and know why an answer is right. Thirty years of teaching English, including AP Language, means I can explain the grammar plainly and the rhetoric precisely. Every session ends with the specific rule we're drilling next.
Thesis Writing

Thesis Writing

A weak thesis sinks an essay before the first body paragraph, and it was the most common problem I saw in 30 years of teaching English. I teach students to write a thesis that makes an arguable claim, signals how the essay will prove it, and survives a counterargument. We test each draft by arguing against it, then revise until it holds. For longer projects, I help students narrow a topic into a real research question and build the outline from there. This works for class essays, AP Language and Literature prompts, research papers, and senior theses.
Writing

Writing

Most students who say they can't write actually can't organize. They have ideas and no structure to put them in. I taught writing for 30 years in the Lynn, Massachusetts public schools, from College Prep through AP, and I teach it as a set of moves: claim, evidence, analysis, and the transitions that hold them together. We work on your real assignments, including essays, research papers and college applications, and on the habits underneath them: outlining, drafting fast, revising hard. Because I built and coached a Speech and Debate program, argument sits at the center of how I teach writing. I've also worked with many English language learners, building academic writing alongside fluency.
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Ratings and Reviews

Rating

5.0 (28 ratings)
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4 star
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Reviews

Great teacher

Marc was incredibly helpful in guiding my twin daughters through their college essays. As they prepare to become the first generation in our family to attend university in the United States, his clear instructions and thoughtful guidance meant so much to us. From the beginning, Marc made it clear that he would not rewrite their essays. Instead, he asked thoughtful questions that helped them reflect on their experiences, develop their ideas, and express themselves in their own voices. He was supportive throughout the entire process, and we truly appreciate his dedication. I highly recommend Marc to families looking for guidance with college essays!

Neelima, 1 lesson with Marc

Builds confident independent writers

Marc is a phenomenal English and writing tutor. He helps my 13-year-old and 17-year-old, and his approach is exactly what we were looking for. He doesn't just fix their work; he asks the right questions so they learn to build strong, evidence-based arguments entirely on their own. Great teacher, highly recommend!

Raghu, 14 lessons with Marc

Knowledgeable, encouraging and insightful

Marc spent time tutoring my son, age 13. He was encouraging, direct and knowledgeable in helping him to navigate concepts in his advanced 8th grade pre-AP classes. He provided exceptionally insightful recaps that we, as parents, found extraordinarily useful and informative. He’s a tremendous tutor for our child, who came away feeling more confident and less anxious about a subject that has frustrated him for years.

Sunee, 8 lessons with Marc

Knowledgeable and Patient Tutor

Marc has been exceptional at planning lessons that help improve writing skills while keeping them fun, engaging, and interesting. He truly listens to both the student and the parents and takes the time to understand the areas where additional support is needed. His feedback has been instrumental in helping us support our child both at school and at home. We have really appreciated his patience, communication, and personalized approach. I would highly recommend Marc to any student looking for a supportive and knowledgeable ELA tutor!

L, 8 lessons with Marc

Knowledgeable, Engaging, and Effective

Marc is very knowledgeable and a patient tutor. As someone that is new to learning debate, he bridges complex topics and makes concepts easy to understand. His lessons feel very structured and build upon getting to the end goal of learning different rhetoric techniques. For me, the lessons go beyond debate, and I can see how concepts learned in class are applied in every day life.

Andrew, 8 lessons with Marc

Confidence growing in English

Marc has been tutoring my son for a few months, and it’s been a wonderful experience. My son has struggled with English (both reading and writing) since first grade. He recently started his freshman year in high school and asked me for extra help in English. Certainly, with an older brother applying to college and hearing many family dinner conversations about the process, he sees the connection between high school grades and the next phase. I wish that I would have discovered Marc and the Wyzant platform earlier, but my son's progress wasn't always clear during middle school and the post-COVID years. However, I believe we are in a better position now. I once worried that my son would not make it through 9th grade honors English, but with Marc's help I am more confident my son will succeed. My son and Marc have been mainly focused on reading concepts so far. Marc has helped our son move beyond surface-level understanding and start looking for deeper meaning in texts. Marc asks thoughtful, guiding questions that lead our son to figure things out on his own rather than just giving answers, helping him become a more independent learner. My son says that he feels more confident now when new texts are presented to him. Marc is very patient, kind, and encouraging, and connects very well with teenagers. Not only has he helped build our son’s self-esteem, but he’s also changed our son's attitude toward English. He used to never enjoy the subject, and it was difficult to get him to focus on assignments. However, I believe that is changing, as my son seems to want to ensure he completes the homework properly for the next tutoring session. I look forward to seeing my son's progress in writing as well as that has also been a challenging area. We’re very grateful for Marc's support and would highly recommend him to other families.

JACKIE, 20 lessons with Marc
Hourly Rate: $85
Response time: 2 hours
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