I’m Smriti Van Ness (pronounced Smri-thee), the founder and sole tutor of Top Tutors, a math and information technology/computer science tutoring service to help students working in advanced math topics. I am very empathetic since I understand these topics are sometimes hard to grasp. I seek to take the mystery out of these subjects so students are confident and can solve problems themselves.
It is my hope that I can make a difference in my students’ educational journey.
My Story
I came to this country in 1985 after living in India and England. I attended Georgia State University and earned two degrees in Computer Science. That journey across cultures and academic systems taught me persistence and gave me enormous motivation — I wanted so badly to succeed and build a life here.
None of this would have been possible without my grandparents and parents who gave me the foundation and values I carry with me every day. With the support of family, I pursued my degrees and through hard work and determination built the life I dreamed of. I am grateful every single day for the opportunities this country gave me.
I have definitely struggled academically, and I can never forget that pressure of not understanding something but wanting so badly to do well. I owe everything to my persistence and my willingness to keep going day after day. I truly hope to pass this on to young people — so they too can understand that success takes so much determination, day after day, a refusal to give up, To this day, I’m improving on areas I know I could do better on, I actually do a lot of my student’s homework so I can see where problems may lie. I never get tired of doing and relearning topics to this day.
When I was attending college I recognized the need for math tutoring, so I actually started tutoring while pursuing my graduate degree! I put up signs with my phone number in math classrooms — and my phone didn’t stop ringing. I still remember how exciting that was.
After earning my degrees I worked as a software engineer. I was fortunate to work for companies that sponsored my work visa, through which I ultimately gained permanent residency. I worked for local companies including Melita, Glenayre, ICC and BellSouth for more than 10 years.
I married a wonderful man, Edward, and we have two daughters — now proud UGA graduates in Data Science and Finance. I became a stay-at-home mom, we stayed in the Atlanta area, and navigated the school system — public, private — through all the expectations, pressures, SAT/ACT prep, college applications, HOPE scholarship requirements and everything in between. Looking back I don’t know how we did it, but I’m so proud of how level-headed and successful my girls have become.
When I started to return to work, I realized, as a software engineer, I was unemployable being out of industry for 15+ years. This is when I seriously started thinking of rekindling my tutoring ideas. I knew college students have day availability so I became a tutor at Georgia Gwinnett College. This was a fantastic opportunity to refresh / relearn all the college math from algebra to calculus 2. I put my name on my local high school’s tutor list, I got so many calls, I knew I had to follow this up seriously. I created Top Tutors and I am the only tutor by choice. I want every student to have a consistent experience with the best and most caring instruction I can offer.
The connections I form with my students mean everything to me. I have parents who tell me their child loves to come to tutoring and they are baffled by that. I listen, and empathize, do math, appreciate math, learn life lessons along the way. The students realize I really care about them, their lives, their futures, I give them other resources to help them in other subjects too.
All of this is why I am so empathetic to the families I work with. I know these pressures intimately — as a student who struggled, and as a mom. When I help a student, I see the immediate release of tension. Parents feel a little lighter. That means everything to me. This is why I love what I do.