Questions
The ones I am actually asked, answered as I would answer them on a call.
Why are there no results or testimonials on this site yet?
Because I will publish outcomes only from real clients who have given written consent, and I am building that record properly rather than quickly. Ask me directly on a call and I will tell you plainly what I have done, including where I have not been able to help.
Your fees are well above a tutor's rate. Why?
Because this is not tutoring. You are buying a defined outcome from a specific and fairly rare background, delivered personally, with a scope rather than a clock. If what you need is hourly help with GMAT quant, there are excellent people charging a fifth of this and I would rather you used one of them.
Do you guarantee an offer or an admission?
No, and treat anyone who does with suspicion. Admissions committees and trading desks make their own decisions on their own criteria. What I can affect is how well prepared you are and how clearly your case is made. That is what the fee buys.
Will I work with you, or with an associate?
With me. Every session, every piece of written feedback. This is the reason the client list is short.
What if we begin and it is not working?
Say so early. If the fit is wrong within the first two sessions I refund the balance in full and help you find someone better suited. A bad engagement costs me more than a lost one.
Do you teach the mathematics yourself, or subcontract it?
Myself, every session. MAT, STEP, TMUA, stochastic calculus, probability. Most consultancies subcontract the technical preparation to a tutor you never meet at the point of sale, and it is the part that decides the result.
How far in advance should I come to you?
For Oxbridge, the spring before the October UCAS deadline — the strong candidates have been working for months by the summer. For MBA round one, eight to twelve weeks before the September deadline. For a live quant process, six weeks is workable and four is tight but not hopeless.
Where are your clients based?
London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Doha, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Madrid, Moscow and New York. Everything is remote and always has been. Mornings suit Asia, afternoons the Gulf and Europe, evenings the United States.
How does payment work?
Half on signature, half at the midpoint of the engagement. Quoted in pounds, payable in euros, pounds or dollars, by card or bank transfer. Family retainers are billed monthly.
Will you write my essays or personal statement?
No. I edit hard, sometimes brutally, and I will make you rewrite something ten times if it needs it. But the words stay yours. Committees can tell the difference, and submitting work that is not substantially your own breaches the rules of every institution named on this site.
Something else
If your question is not here, ask it — the enquiry form takes four minutes, or write to israel.bergenstein@gmail.com and I will answer personally.