Achievable Awards 2026: An interview with Rob Pollak

Every year, the Achievable Awards spotlights educators who are making a meaningful difference across their fields, from independent tutoring and admissions counseling to classroom teaching. Rob Pollak, a New Jersey-based tutor and the recipient of our 2026 Best Tutor (organization) award, is no different.

Rob is the founder of Pollak Tutors, where he leads a dedicated team focused on helping college-aged students and others achieve their academic and admissions goals. The organization is known for its high-quality instruction and its strong commitment to the communities it serves. Through personalized one-on-one tutoring, educational workshops for students and parents, and a range of additional resources, Pollak Tutors is a trusted partner for families seeking long-term educational success.

What does “excellence in education” mean to you?

Excellence in education means understanding students’ goals and pushing them to achieve them. Sometimes, that means caring enough about the students to give them the hard truths that they might not want to hear and fully believing in their ability to achieve those goals. Excellent education should have three things: (1) complete honesty with students about where they are at and how much work it will take to get where they want to be, (2) unrelenting positivity and encouragement about the student’s ability to reach their potential, and (3) frequent assessment to measure progress and help students see how far they’ve come. When teachers deliver on these three ideals, students make amazing strides towards their academic goals.

What motivated you to start Pollak Tutors?

Both of my parents were teachers, and my dad taught SAT classes for 35 years. For many years, the rebellious teenager in me wanted to do my own thing. I pursued careers in tech and law, but I always found myself the most engaged when I was teaching. After practicing law for 5 years, I realized that the time I enjoyed most was the pro bono time I spent coaching and mentoring students. I left the law firm I was with and started tutoring on a temporary basis while I figured out my next step. But there was no next step in law. The work with students was so much more fulfilling than the work with corporate clients, and I loved having a chance to motivate them and offer guidance as they took transformational steps in their lives. I wouldn’t trade the time in law, however, because the education I received in law school has informed so many of the ways that I help students today.

What areas do you specialize in?

We offer SAT & ACT prep, executive function coaching, and academic tutoring primarily for middle and high school students. I’m especially proud of the EF coaching, which helps students with organization skills and self-regulation. It’s something we added about 18 months ago, and the group has grown from 1 to 6 coaches in a short time. So many students are struggling with these skills (including my own), and the work they do with our EF coaches can really turn around their academic experience.

How would you describe your tutoring style, and how do you approach your work with your students?

Compassionately demanding. We ask a lot of our students, but we care tremendously about their success. We have three core beliefs that guide how we work with students:

1. Every student is capable of learning the material
2. Learning should be a challenge – push students to work hard
3. It’s ok to be wrong, and we’ll tell you when you are

Our students are up for the challenge, and when we start from a place of complete belief in their ability to learn, we’re able to push them to achieve success beyond what they believe they’re capable of achieving.

What techniques or strategies have you found work best in academic tutoring?

As a law school graduate, I spent a lot of time in demanding Socratic environments, and that guides so much of my teaching today. A successful Socratic lesson lets us ask the student to describe how and why they got a certain answer. From there, we’re able to better understand the scope of the student’s ability and fill any gaps in understanding. Over time, we develop a great understanding of how that particular student thinks and sees test questions. This lets us spend lesson time directed specifically at the needs of each student.

What makes your firm different from other tutoring firms?

While working at Skadden, Arps, I learned to work hard, take things seriously, and expect excellence from others. Accordingly, our teachers are professional and serious people. They expect a lot from their students, but they do so in a caring way. When parents drop their child off at our office, they can trust that the time spent here will be valuable learning time and not time spent goofing off. That said, our teachers aren’t so professional that they lack the ability to connect with students. They are a diverse group of caring, empathetic, funny, charming people.

How do you respond when a student says, “I’m just bad at tests,” and how do you help them gain confidence?

I take it seriously in the moment and use it as an opportunity to talk about some real challenges students face: test anxiety, managing stress under pressure, and time management, to name a few. But it’s also a chance to pitch the value of the work we do. When a student claims that they’re a bad test taker, that often means that they don’t yet have mastery of the material. As students learn and practice the content that appears on the test, their confidence often grows, and they surprise themselves with how well they can do on a test.

What’s one piece of advice you always give your students?

I have a poster in my office that reminds me to “do one thing.” When students don’t do any homework, it’s often because they feel overwhelmed by the time and effort to take a full practice test or practice for an hour every day. But that’s not the only way to do homework. If they start with one question or one reading passage, then they’re working to get better at these tests. Often, that one first step can snowball into an effective study session, so if they can get past their initial anxiety and just start, good things happen.

You can learn more about Rob and his work at Pollak Tutors’ official website.