This document contains excerpts from the information, policies and procedures pages also found here in your dashboard. We encourage you to read all pages but require acknowledgment that you understand the information found within this document which relates to essential processes such as scheduling and cancelations. Thank you for taking the time to read to read these pages and to acknowledge that you understand and accept these terms.
Four Key Service Points to Get Started
1. Schedules and Appointments
2. Stay Connected and Communicate through Avalon Hub
3. Avalon Admission and www.mycollegelist.com websites
4. Reviews and Referrals
1. Schedules, Reminders, and Appointments
• It is always preferable to schedule a series of appointments on the same days and times each week to avoid scheduling confusion or missed appointments.
• Unless you opt out, you will be sent SMS reminders (text messages sent to your cell phone) the evening before, and morning of, each session, as well as email reminders. These reminders can be sent to the student, parents, or any combination of student and parents who have opted in (or not opted out) through the Avalon Hub Parent Portal. If you receive an SMS message that you think is in error, please contact our office immediately.
• The best way to request schedule changes is directly through the Avalon Hub Parent or Student Communications Module located in the center of your Dashboard page, not just with your tutor or counselor. You may also email us at admin@avalonadmission.com
• Please request changes to your Avalon schedules as far in advance as possible for planned or foreseeable events such as tests, family obligations, competitions, vacations, etc. We value our tutors’ and counselors’ time as much as we value yours, so we ask that you give at least one day’s notice to avoid charges.
2. Stay Connected and Communicate through Avalon Hub
Avalon Hub is the primary means by which your family and our company share important information. Please complete all information requests, and log in regularly to
o check schedules
o request information
o request schedule changes
o read your session notes
o stay updated on recent news, articles, and bulletins.
Please note: Use of external emails to communicate with our administration, tutors, or counselors is discouraged. To avoid confusion or conflicting information, please use Avalon Hub to communicate with your tutor, your counselor, or Avalon’s administrators.
3. Avalon Admission and www.mycollegelist.com websites
www.avalonadmission.com contains abundant information on many topics related to academics, tests, private schools, and colleges. You can connect to it directly using the link in the top navigation of Avalon Hub.
www.mycollegelist.com is our exclusive college-list-generating portal that contains detailed information on 200 of the most popular colleges in America. It uses a proprietary algorithm to
generate an “admission-likelihood ranking” for each student at each college based on more than 20 factors that are deemed important to these colleges in varying degrees. We intentionally do not give an admission likelihood percentage (e.g., 18% chance of admission) because doing so is a highly misleading and inaccurate practice. Instead, we provide a range that allows us to account for variables that are inherent in individual each college’s admission priorities. We also provide a “What If” engine that enables students to change their responses to the survey questions to see how these changes they might affect their admission success.
4. Reviews and Referrals
Our business depends largely on your reviews and referrals. If you are happy with our services, we would very much appreciate your taking a moment to write a review on Google Business and/or Trust Pilot, or to refer us to a friend or colleague.
We always appreciate referrals to family, friends, classmates, coworkers, etc. Referrals can be done directly through the Avalon Hub dashboard by using the green banner at the bottom of your Dashboard page.
Scheduling
1. Extended Scheduling Strongly Recommended
We strongly suggest that you schedule appointments over the entire period that you expect to need tutoring to ensure consistency and availability of your tutor. If circumstances change, you can cancel remaining sessions without penalty, although if cancellation of appointments brings you under the threshold for discounts that you have been provided, we may have to adjust for the difference in price for sessions that have already occurred and have been charged at the lower rate. Please note that our cancellation policy requires at least one day’s notice to cancel appointments. Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
2. Cancelation Policy
There is no charge for timely cancelations, however we ask that you consider holidays, school vacations, extracurricular commitments, and any other prescheduled event as far ahead as possible and give us as much notice as possible. Please note that Avalon Admission maintains a prior-day cancellation policy. If you call on or before the day prior to the session by the close of business, you will not incur a charge for that session. This cancellation policy is not intended to be a punishment, but rather a deterrent to last-minute cancellations that make it very difficult to maintain a staff of professional tutors. Also, please change schedules as infrequently as possible, and when you do, provide as much notice as possible.
3. Consider the Avalon Hub Portal as the Most Accurate and Up-To-Date Schedule
When checking your schedule, please consider that information in the Avalon Hub portal is the most accurate because it shares data across all applications: Parent Portal, Admin Portal, Tutor Portal, and the Student Portal. Please do not rely on emails, handwritten notes, or statements by tutors regarding scheduling as they may or may not be accurate. Always check Avalon Hub to be sure.
4. Procedure for Changes and Cancelations
All scheduling requests should be done through Avalon Hub Communications Module located in the center of each student’s and parent’s Dashboard page rather than just with your tutor or counselor. If you do decide on a schedule change with your tutor or counselor, please also report it to us through Avalon Hub so that we may enter it into your schedule.
The Role of Avalon Tutors and Counselors
Avalon Admission tutors and counselors are subject-matter experts hired based on their pedagogical excellence, trained in our proprietary teaching methods, and custom matched based on several factors of compatibility. Each one possesses the personal and professional attributes you would expect from a leader in the education industry for four decades. These include courtesy, responsibility, maturity, and subject-matter expertise. They have excellent communication and pedagogical skills. They are excellent listeners. They are experts at diagnosing symptoms and identifying solutions. Of course, all Avalon Admission tutors and counselors are trained in the use of Avalon Admission’s proprietary curriculum and methods. However, communications with tutors and counselors should be limited to their specific areas of expertise. Questions regarding other details, scheduling (including changes, cancelations, and additions), or advice outside of their direct range of expertise should be directed to Avalon Admission rather than to the Avalon Admission tutor. There are three things we request that you not ask your Avalon Admission tutor or counselor.
Please do not ask your tutors or counselors to…
1…provide advice outside of subject matter expertise.
2… add, change, or delete appointments, unless you also let our administrators know.
3…work for you directly (outside of Avalon Admission) on any academic subject or counseling task, no matter whether related to originally contracted tutoring subject or not.
1. While our tutors are subject area experts, they may not be experts in matters that fall outside their
purview. Therefore, we ask that you not consult your tutor on anything beyond their subject expertise. For example, do not ask tutors when you should take tests, how many tests you should take, which tests to take, which are the best colleges to apply to, and which are the best schools to attend. These kinds of questions are best addressed by Avalon’s team of counselors who have far more experience and can provide more reliable and/or strategic responses.
2. Please do not add, change, or delete appointments through your tutor or counselor without also letting our administrators know as this may cause confusion, overbooking, or missed appointments. Since we are continuously scheduling appointments, we rely on the accuracy of our schedules. Changes to your schedule should be handled directly through our office or through your Avalon Hub Portal.
3. Please do not attempt to enter into independent contracts or arrangements with our tutors or counselors for any services, as this is in direct violation of their employment agreements with Avalon. Once an Avalon Admission tutor or counselor is matched with a family, all services that tutor or counselor provides to that family must be done through, or with the consent of, Avalon Admission, Inc. Independent or direct contracting of any services between an Avalon Admission client and our tutors or counselors, whether by written or oral consent, is contractually prohibited.
