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Talent 100 (1 Viewer)

-tal-

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Re: Talent 100 - Is it any good?

rfpchua said:
Hi Guys,

My name is Richard Chua and I am the Head Education Co-ordinator for Talent 100. I've seen a lot of questions about our company, and not a lot of informed feedback so I thought it's probably responsible for me to answer some of your questions.

Anyone interested, we are offering free trials because we back ourselves and our products. Try it and find out for yourself. Anyhow, here goes:


1. Good students don't neccesarily make good tutors?

I can't agree more. Just because you are a great student doesn't make you a great teacher. But the key word is "nececsarily". However, I think its indisputable that if you are passionate and good at communicating, and you know your stuff really well, then it's more likely you're going to be able to explain things better. That is, all else equal, top-of-the state is certainly better than being 'above average'.

So the real question is are Talent tutors actually good at teaching? The first thing to note is that talent members are selectively chosen on a variety of factors such as personality, communication skills, dedication, ability to motivate and ability to teach. Outstanding Academic Ability is a pre-requisite but not a sufficient condition. In fact, there have been numerous applicants with UAIs as high as 99.95 and state rankings who have been rejected as they do not fit he mould.

The tutors we have provide an outstanding wealth on how to do well in the HSC in a subject specific way. Ask anyone who has gone to Alex Borowsky's English Course, or has seen Alex Stoyanov's Physics or Dwyer's Chemistry course and you'll see exactly what I mean. Our tutors are good, they know their stuff and they can definately help you if its HSC your talking about.

2. Another Prior or Matrix?
I don't know if this is meant to be a compliment or an insult. However, I personally don't think either of the tuition centres provide much of a value-add, i.e. I think you could get 95% of the same thing through a text book by yourself. If you're paying 5,000 for that, that's probably a waste of money. And I'm saying that with experience, I actually worked at one of them before quittingto work at my old school -Sydney Grammar School.

Basically, I felt bad for the amount of money these places were charging. True, students were improving, but basically if you force someone to study four hours of a particular subject a week, they should improve anyway. The real question is what extra value did Prior or Matrix add.

When designing the courses, I had this in mind. Our courses had to be :exceptional and results-oriented, being able students exactly how to score top marks, as well as accessible, so that students of any level are going to benefit, rather than just top students, or just weak students.

It's a continuous proccess - so we're always trying to find ways to make our courses even better.

3. So What is Talent Tuition like?
I personally believe that Talent is very unique in its total commitment to marks maximisation. I am not going to talk about esoteric terms like 'excellence in education', or 'No 1 in tuition' or developing leadership. Purely straight and simple, our vision is just to help students score their absolute maximum marks. The reason for this is fairly obvious. The course you can choose for University is entirely dependent on your UAI for non-health related fields. So getting people the highest marks is the best advantage you can give them to choose a profession of their calling. I think when you look at things in this perspective, ours becomes quite a noble aim.

I can tell you as a former high-achieving student ( I scored a UAI of 100 and I didn't make a selective school in Year 6), that the HSC is a game. After a certain level, it's a test of preparation, and knowing a few tips and tricks as much as it is a test of intelligence.

That's why at Talent 100, the central tent behind our tuition is exam relevance. If it's not in the exam and it isn't important in building some fundamental understanding, it is not taught. That's why I don't think having PHDs actually helps. But having people who came No 1 in the state in Physics, Chemistry, Maths and English really does because they can tell you specifically how to score top marks. Alex Stoyanov, who came 1st in Physics can tell you exactly how to score 8 marks out of 8 for "assess the impact on society of..." questions in HSC Physics. Since this has no sciecne, what advantage does a qualified teacher have in answering this question?

I would put any of our No 1 tutors against a PHD in an HSC exam and bet my last dollar that they would come out on top every time. In some ways, the HSC is not about knowing more, its about knowing less, or rather knowing what to know and knowing it well.

4. Results and Reputation
Whatever you may think of the approach (that its 'gamesmenlike', or minimalist), you can't argue with our results. For subjects that they were coached in, we have a student in the top 10 of sydney best schoolsin Sydney Grammar, James Ruse, Sydney Boys (2), Sydney Technical High School (2), Baulkam Hills High, Peakhurst, and St George Girls. When you consider we have about 50 students, that's pretty good.

Since its our first year, I can't give you concrete UAIs, but I'm telling all skeptics out there, to watch our results and compare them to Matrix and Prior. Be prepared for something prety big.

I'm pretty shrewd and can tell you for instance, that Matrix advertises people with state rankings that didn't even do that particular course there, e.g Sophie Liang who ranked 7th in Chemistry, didn't do Chemistry at Matrix but they advertise it nonetheless. Prior also advertises students who have very minimal contact. the real statistics are not 'how many % of our students got over 95, but how many got over 95 that would have got under 95.

I am actually going to invite some Talent students to post so you can see an insiders view.


Whose Talent for? Free Trial offer?
Basically, I'd say Talent 100 is for any student who wants a time-efficient way to make sure they score their absolute maximum marks. We can definately show you how to do it, and to 'cut the fat' out of the HSC, so you can have more time to do other things.

Our prices are quite reasonable and I think we're much better value than anything out there. I'm actually so confident in our course, I am willing to let people try it for free. Perhaps to my own disadvantage, I am not a great or pushy salesman. I just put the value on the table, and let students sample it. Basically, my advice to any prospective student is if you can't see the value, or Talent's uniqueness, you should probably not join. What I thnk is that someone who is confident is willing to back themselves, rather than lock people into commitments.

If any of you are interested, or would like to talk about anything I've said in this post, please feel free to call me on 1300-UAI-100 or on rfpchua@gmail.com. If you don't think what we offer is good, I am also really keen to see how we can improve our courses.

Regards,

Richard
oh jesus christ. and you say you're a poor salesperson? you almost had me hooked right there!

hmm just out of curiosity, how long is one class?
 

shaon0

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Re: Talent 100 - Is it any good?

-tal- said:
oh jesus christ. and you say you're a poor salesperson? you almost had me hooked right there!

hmm just out of curiosity, how long is one class?
classes are between 2-2.5hours and tutorials are 1.5 hours...
I think
 

gavvsy

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talent 100 is just for the students who are freaks of nature. They just go to these places to reinforce their learning. No average student you goes their will get a high UAI.

Tuition centres are pretty much designed for students who have a very good grasp of the subject and the ones that don't are usually left behind with the work.

so wat if the tutors got UAI of a 100, does that make them any better teacher than someone who gets 95, 96.

tution places that are arranged by top tutors, usually only expect the very best students to attend

... but that's my opinion
 

shaon0

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gavvsy said:
talent 100 is just for the students who are freaks of nature. They just go to these places to reinforce their learning. No average student you goes their will get a high UAI.

Tuition centres are pretty much designed for students who have a very good grasp of the subject and the ones that don't are usually left behind with the work.

so wat if the tutors got UAI of a 100, does that make them any better teacher than someone who gets 95, 96.

tution places that are arranged by top tutors, usually only expect the very best students to attend

... but that's my opinion
lol...i go to Talent 100 (and i wouldn't say i am smart), i wouldn't say most people there are of the highest calibre although some are really smart. You don't really need to have a good grasp of the knowledge since they teach ahead of the school's syllabus so not a lot of people know the content that they will learn at Talent 100 prior to being taught it there.
And the teachers and tutors are quite good, they know all the content and really know how to teach.
So in conclusion, I would say that Talent 100 caters for all students, whether they be the top of their grade or not. And i recommend Talent 100 as it will help you later on in your subjects.
:)
 
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rfpchua said:
Hi Guys,

My name is Richard Chua and I am the Head Education Co-ordinator for Talent 100. I thought it's probably responsible for me to answer some of your questions.

1. Good students don't neccesarily make good tutors?

I can't agree more. Just because you are a great student doesn't make you a great teacher. But the key word is "nececsarily". However, I think its indisputable that if you are passionate and good at communicating, and you know your stuff really well, then it's more likely you're going to be able to explain things better. That is, all else equal, top-of-the state is certainly better than being 'above average'.
Sorry Richard, but I couldn't help laughing a little here:
It looks a bit bad your your centre when you spell necessarily wrong twice, however I'm sure they're just typos from typing too quickly, and I'll let you go there :p

I still haven't gone for a trial lesson at this place but I am certainly looking into it - however, at the moment I am doing pretty well at school so I'm holding off till Year 12 or the end of this term before finding a tutoring centre.
 

rfpchua

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Hey Guys,

Gavvsy - you cast judgement before you even know what you're talking about. The way we teach is very approachable and accessible, especially for people who are on UAIs of about 93+. It really does make things a lot easier. I can tell you some students that we teach would never get the marks they are getting now, simply because they are not diligent (rather than not intelligent). It really is about first knowing what to do and then executing, and at Talent, we are specialists at that. Try it before you criticize. I am happy to give you a free trial.

Basically, I think Talent will work for most dedicated students. It's about getting you to the next level, not for freaks of nature trying to get 100. However, we can definately cater for higher end students. If you are heading for 90, we'd try to get you to 95, on 95->97, 97->98-99, 99-> 99.5+, and if you are higher than that already, we'd try to groom you for a 99.95+ where you will get a scholarship with 50,000. That's our strategy in a nutshell, and we have the diagnositics to test it.

The HSC measures "succesful intelligence", rather than pure smarts, so if you're a good gamesman, you can do extremely well. I think too much is made of the competitive nature of tutoring and the HSC. Life is competitive. You need to deal with it, rather than complain about it. Any of the top professions in the world are competitive - politics, medicine, law, investment banking (even small Business is competitive)... if you don't, you may acheive less than you're capable of.


HisnameisChris. hahaha, I assure you they are typos. One thing about our gen is that we are better with pen and paper than laptops. Sounds like you are on top of your game - what subjects are you doing? Anyways, if you want to see exactly what UAI you are capable of, you should do a UAI Health Check. This will give you an indication of your worst, best and base case scenario. Obviously, we'd try to recommend a strategy to get you to your best case.

Richard
 

alicebored

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Hi, ShaoaO

Have you attended the Talent 100 tutoring school. Is it good? Please comment. I might want to try.
 

shaon0

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alicebored said:
Hi, ShaoaO

Have you attended the Talent 100 tutoring school. Is it good? Please comment. I might want to try.
Yeah, i go to Talent 100 every saturday for Chemistry and Mathematics Extension 1.
Its really good because they give you a thorough and summarised version of a topic in their subjects. So what would usually be hard to understand in school is easy to understand there because they give you all the things you need to know for your exams. So you should give it a try:)
 

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Just felt like popping in my 2 cents. Regarding Talent 100, I'm pretty sure it just opened this year, so they won't have any stats and stuff to give out, am I correct?

The only problem I have with Talent 100 is it's location, it's a pain in the ass for me to get there (I know there's 2). And I don't really trust tutors straight out of school. So I went to Intuition Education, only to get just that, but with lower UAIs, in addition it's a lot more expensive, even with the discounts.

My verdict? You could do so much worse than Talent 100, it's pretty cheap for tutoring, and they've got plenty of smart arses to boot. It's definitely worth a try. Not to mention that free trial. Give them time and and fair share of students, and it could well become a tutoring company to be reckoned with, if they don't inflate those prices =].

BTW Richard, if after this HSC year I wanted to work there, what would you be looking for HSC UAI, ie. What would be the cut off? I want to get into some tutoring, but I've seen the list, and the lowest is around 99.8 UAI, which I severely doubt I will get. I'm looking at 99.5-ish I reckon, and I'm pretty sure I can teach.
 

shaon0

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Senrui said:
Just felt like popping in my 2 cents. Regarding Talent 100, I'm pretty sure it just opened this year, so they won't have any stats and stuff to give out, am I correct?

The only problem I have with Talent 100 is it's location, it's a pain in the ass for me to get there (I know there's 2). And I don't really trust tutors straight out of school. So I went to Intuition Education, only to get just that, but with lower UAIs, in addition it's a lot more expensive, even with the discounts.

My verdict? You could do so much worse than Talent 100, it's pretty cheap for tutoring, and they've got plenty of smart arses to boot. It's definitely worth a try. Not to mention that free trial. Give them time and and fair share of students, and it could well become a tutoring company to be reckoned with, if they don't inflate those prices =].

BTW Richard, if after this HSC year I wanted to work there, what would you be looking for HSC UAI, ie. What would be the cut off? I want to get into some tutoring, but I've seen the list, and the lowest is around 99.8 UAI, which I severely doubt I will get. I'm looking at 99.5-ish I reckon, and I'm pretty sure I can teach.
I saw the list and the lowest is 99.35 but they came 5th in Maths Ext 2 i think.
So i think you might have to specialise in something....
But woah! looking at 99.5-ish. thats heaps good.
Congrats if you get that UAI :)
 

rfpchua

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Hi Guys,

Alice, if you would like a trial, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Senrui, I would typically agree with you with tutors just straight out of school. But Talent tutors are exceptional. They really know their stuff, they are friendly and are good at communicating. You can have general rules, but I really think we prove our salt in our service and commitment to quality.

Everything in the company is streamlined to get you the best marks in the most efficient way. That's why I am not afraid to give free trials. I believe our quality shines thorugh. We might be moving our location pretty soon - where abouts are you based?

In terms of wanting to tutor for us, there are no hard and fast rules about UAI. If you are committed, friendly, good at teaching and know your stuff, we are happy to have you on board. The key is how well you can help the students learn, NOT how good you are individually. The proccess is open. You just have to give me a 20 -30 min mock lesson, and we'll see how good you are!

Email info@talent-100.com.au if you'd like a free trial.

Regards,

Richard
 

x.Exhaust.x

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kaz1 said:
Talent 100 is crap.
Any evidence to back it up kazi? Richard, the website, and a friend of mine who posted a testimonial have convinced me enough that it's good, and I'll be attending a trial soon :)
 

x.Exhaust.x

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rfpchua said:
Hi xExhaustx,

If you feel like a trial lesson, you can contact info@talent-100.com.au, and we will arrange it from there.

Regards

Richard
Hey Richard,

I already have booked a trial lesson for Sunday, for both Physics and Extension Mathematics (I'd rather not give my identity away on BOS).
 

kaz1

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x.Exhaust.x said:
Hey Richard,

I already have booked a trial lesson for Sunday, for both Physics and Extension Mathematics (I'd rather not give my identity away on BOS).
Speaking of identity. How do you know my name?
 

x.Exhaust.x

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kaz1 said:
Speaking of identity. How do you know my name?
Isn't it obvious due to your BOS username? And what's the evidence to back up your obscenity against Talent 100?

kaz1 said:
Talent 100 is crap.
If you have nothing better to say, then simply don't :). You've ruined your post count.
 
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blakblupink

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the tutors are good
but the paperwork/ homework/notes gets quite disorganised at times,
and if you like the idea of spending 4 hours a week on one subject, go for it
 

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