For School Counselors, Educational Consultants, Psychologists & Evaluators
A referral you can stand behind.
You've just handed a family a report that says their bright kid needs the right one-to-one support. This page is for deciding whether I'm that referral — and for reaching me directly.
Who I serve
Serious students in demanding courses — AP and honors calculus, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, statistics, economics — and the gifted, twice-exceptional, and bright-but-struggling students whose ability and grades tell two different stories. Grades 6 through 12; my deepest work is with high schoolers. There are usually two jobs, tangled together: the academic one and the one underneath it. All sessions are remote and one-to-one, nationwide. I'm based in Austin — UT Austin trained, with daily gifted-learner work at Alpha's GT School behind me — but geography doesn't limit the work.
- The scores-say-gifted, grades-say-otherwise student whose report you just wrote.
- The AP or honors STEM student whose foundation cracked three chapters back.
- The capable teenager whose engagement has faded — and whose parents can no longer reach them through homework support.
What this practice is — and what it isn't
The work
- One-to-one academic mentorship from one person — me.
- No bench, no subcontractors, no handoffs.
- Understanding an idea, choosing an approach, and explaining why it works.
- The slower work underneath: self-talk, systems, and the student's relationship with being smart.
- One set of problems per session, built from where the work got hard, graded when it comes back.
- A worked guide for the student and a clear report for the family that evening.
- No contract or minimum term.
Alongside your role
- Academic tutoring and mentorship, not clinical care.
- Evaluation or diagnosis — that's your lane, and I refer into it.
- Not a homework-help service, a tutoring marketplace, or in competition with your role. I'm the academic seat at the table.
- With the family's consent, periodic progress notes keep you informed.
- No referral fees are paid or accepted.
The work informs what comes next
I prepare from the student's assignments, quizzes, and tests. In the session, the student reasons out loud so I can hear the understanding behind the answer. Practice is built from where the work needs strengthening, with the shape of the question changed. What comes back is graded, every problem.
The session review and returned work inform the next session. Families receive a worked guide and a written report that evening, prepared against the transcript, plus a semester review of progress and goals. The purpose is a student who runs the system without me. You can inspect a real guide:
UT Austin
BS, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Director at Microsoft
formerly; after building an eight-figure sales operation at a McKinsey-backed cybersecurity startup
Elite Guide
formerly, at GT School — Alpha's school for gifted learners
3,000+
recorded 1:1 hours; every transcript reviewed
What a referral looks like
Point the family my way. Share the one-page summary or this page. A warm introduction by email works too.
I take it from there. The family hears back from me personally within 24 hours, with an honest read on fit and a real sample of the work. A 20-minute fit call clarifies goals, participation, and the right cadence. If it isn't a fit, I say so plainly.
You stay informed. With the family's consent, you receive periodic progress notes on what we are working on, what is changing, and what still needs attention.
What families invest
Engagements start at $750 every four weeks.
One 50-minute session each week, with preparation, the evening guide and parent report, and one practice set per session, graded when your student returns it. A twice-weekly cadence is available; the scope and exact fee are agreed before you begin. No contract or minimum term.
For your referral list
Copy the entry below, or forward the one-page summary.
Engineering Confidence — Matt Starolis. A system built to change how a student thinks, run one to one by the engineer who built it: no bench, no subcontractors, no handoffs. Every session is built on the student's own work; the model behind the mistake is found and rebuilt; a typeset worked guide reaches the student and a written report reaches the family that evening; one set of problems per session comes back graded. For serious students in AP and honors STEM and for gifted and twice-exceptional learners whose ability and grades tell two different stories. Grades 6–12, with the deepest work in high school; remote, nationwide. UT Austin ECE; formerly a director at Microsoft and an Elite Guide at GT School. Academic tutoring and mentorship only — not therapy or evaluation. Engagements start at $750 every four weeks. One 50-minute session each week, with preparation, the evening guide and parent report, and one practice set per session, graded when your student returns it. A twice-weekly cadence is available; the scope and exact fee are agreed before you begin. engineeringconfidence.one · matt@engineeringconfidence.one
Prefer something you can keep or forward? Download the one-page referral summary (PDF).
Start with one student
If you have a family in mind, email me directly — a few lines about the student is plenty. I read and answer everything myself, within 24 hours. If the fit isn't right, I'll say so and point you somewhere better.