Effective Date: March 24, 2026 | Last Updated: March 24, 2026

Welcome to STEM Critical Thinking (stemcriticalthinking.com), operated by STEM Critical Thinking LLC ("Company," "we," "us," or "our"). These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of our website, platform, and services. By creating an account or using our services, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use our services.

1. Eligibility and Parental Consent

You must be at least 13 years old to use our services. If you are between 13 and 17 years of age (a minor), your parent or legal guardian must review and agree to these Terms on your behalf. By registering an account for a minor, the parent or guardian agrees to be bound by these Terms and accepts responsibility for the minor's use of the platform. We do not knowingly allow children under 13 to create accounts without verified parental consent. Parents may contact us to manage or delete a child's account.

2. Account Registration and Security

- You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration.

- You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.

- You must notify us immediately via our Contact Us form if you suspect unauthorized access to your account.

- We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that contain inaccurate information or that are used in violation of these Terms.

3. Subscriptions and Payments

- Access to essay writing practice and STEM Critical Thinking tests requires a paid subscription.

- Subscriptions are valid for 6 months from the date of purchase.

- All payments are processed securely through Stripe, Inc. We do not store your credit card information.

- Subscription fees are charged as a one-time payment at the time of purchase.

- All fees are stated in U.S. dollars and are non-refundable except as described in Section 4 below.

4. Refund Policy

- All sales are final. We do not offer refunds for subscription fees once access has been granted, except in the event of: (a) a verified technical error on our part that prevented you from accessing the service during your subscription period, or (b) a confirmed duplicate or erroneous charge.

- To request a refund under these limited circumstances, contact us within 14 days of the charge, with your transaction ID and a description of the issue.

- We reserve the right to determine eligibility for refunds at our sole discretion.

5. AI-Generated Content Disclaimer

- Essay grading and feedback provided through our platform is generated by artificial intelligence and is intended for educational purposes only.

- AI-generated scores and feedback are not reviewed or validated by human educators and may not be 100% accurate.

- Our AI evaluation is designed to help students practice and improve their writing skills, not to replicate official exam grading rubrics or certify academic performance.

- We make no representations or warranties that AI-generated feedback reflects the standards, criteria, or grading practices used in any actual admissions examination.

6. Educational Disclaimer — No Guarantee of Admission

- STEM Critical Thinking is an independent educational practice platform. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any school district, school system, or government agency.

- Use of our platform does not guarantee admission to any competitive STEM or other educational program.

- Exam preparation results vary by student. We make no guarantees regarding improved test scores, academic performance, or admissions outcomes.

7. Intellectual Property

- All platform content — including website design, quiz questions, essay topics, prompts, written instructions, and software — is owned by STEM Critical Thinking LLC and protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws.

- Essays you write and submit through the platform remain your intellectual property. By submitting essays, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, process, and use your essay text solely to provide the AI grading service and to improve our platform (using anonymized data only).

- AI-generated feedback and scores produced in response to your essay submissions are owned by STEM Critical Thinking LLC.

- You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from our platform content without our prior written consent.

8. Prohibited Uses

You agree not to use the platform to:

- Submit content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, abusive, or violates the rights of others.

- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our systems, other user accounts, or any related networks.

- Use automated tools, bots, scrapers, or scripts to access or collect data from our platform.

- Reverse engineer, decompile, or otherwise attempt to extract the source code of our software.

- Impersonate another person or entity.

- Use the service for any commercial purpose other than your own personal exam preparation.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE PLATFORM AND ALL SERVICES ARE PROVIDED 'AS IS' AND 'AS AVAILABLE' WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE PLATFORM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. YOUR USE OF THE PLATFORM IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, STEM CRITICAL THINKING LLC AND ITS OWNERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AFFILIATES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE PLATFORM. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO US IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR $150, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

11. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

- These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

- Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the platform shall first be attempted to be resolved through informal negotiation by contacting us.

- If informal resolution fails, disputes shall be resolved by binding arbitration administered in Loudoun County, Virginia, under the rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), except that either party may seek emergency injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction.

- BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS, YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION.

12. DMCA / Copyright Notices

If you believe any content on our platform infringes your copyright, please submit a written notice via our Contact Us form including: (a) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed, (b) identification of the material alleged to be infringing, (c) your contact information, (d) a statement of good faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, and (e) a statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

13. Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or permanently terminate your account, with or without notice, if you violate these Terms, engage in fraudulent activity, or if we determine that continued access poses a risk to our platform or other users. Upon termination, your right to access the platform ceases immediately. Termination does not entitle you to a refund unless you meet the criteria in Section 4.

14. Updates to These Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the 'Last Updated' date at the top of this page. Your continued use of the platform after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. We encourage you to review these Terms periodically.

15. Contact Us

For questions, concerns, or notices regarding these Terms, please use our Contact Us form.