“It can help teach you anything.”

Emily, a sophomore from Arlington, Virginia, found Aristotle while trying to raise her ACT score. Local tutors were expensive, the free trial felt low-risk, and she signed up "on a whim."

The surprise wasn’t just that Aristotle could help with ACT math. It was that she didn’t have to present her confusion in a polished manner.

"When you're talking to Aristotle, you can say, wait, I just don't get that, in your own vocabulary, in whichever way feels best," Emily said.

In a classroom, asking a math question can come with a tiny etiquette obstacle course. With Aristotle, she could skip the translation layer.

"I didn't waste time thinking how to phrase a question," she said.

ABCs of ACTs

Emily used Aristotle religiously, logging over 10 hours of tutoring before her test day.

"I pretty consistently used it like one hour a day for ACT prep," she said.

"At first it was teaching me new strategies," Emily said. Over time, they started to "train the stuff I already knew."

One of Emily’s favorite updates was being able to see her progress on the ACT curriculum.

"I logged on one day and could see exactly where I was in each single subsection of the ACT math," she said.

One less lonely student

Emily had tried studying on Khan Academy, but solo online learning didn’t give her the back-and-forth she wanted.

"If I don't have someone teaching me, it's much harder for me," she said.

Aristotle gave her a way to interrupt, go deeper, or admit the explanation hadn’t landed.

"It's a little hard to ask questions or make sure you understand or go into a deep dive on one thing you don't understand," she said of studying alone. "I don't think it would have been nearly as effective."

ACT today, IB tomorrow, Aristotle forever

Emily is Colombian American, speaks three languages, loves history, and is leaning toward studying medicine in college. This summer, she’s heading to an astrophysics program at Colby College. Differential calculus is part of the prep, so Aristotle has become part of the prep as well.

Next year, she starts the IB program and expects to bring Aristotle into "math, chemistry, and physics."

Wherever Emily goes next, she’ll be supported by the "tutor that I can use anytime, anywhere. It can help teach you anything."