When should I get a tutor?
Do I need to pay for a subscription?
No, we don't require subscriptions. Many companies do require bulk, paid-in-advance subscriptions but we don't work that way. You only pay for the sessions you need. Sometimes all a student needs are two lessons on how to study and tackle tests. Others come to us to help them tackle only the subject units that give them the most trouble. If we see you once or twice and you leave happy, we're happy. On the other hand, if you want help every week, we'll be there for you. Be careful about waiting too long though. If you wait until you're drowning, you'll have a much harder time making the progress that you desire.
How can I find a good match?
Trust your gut. Does your tutor seem like they care about your success or just getting a check? Do they have the right qualifications for the job? There are some tutors that don't have degrees in the subject they're tutoring who can give a high impact lesson anyway. But you're more likely to get the best and most efficient results when your tutor has academic credentials in the subject they are teaching. It is critical that they also have the ability to assess your needs and focus in on the concepts that you're struggling with even if you can't articulate to them what those concepts are. They should be "empathetic experts." You'll probably know at the end of the first session whether they'll be able to help you.
You pay your tutor for their time and expertise. You have a right to expect something of value in return. We believe it's our responsibility to help you make the most out of your sessions with us. However, this is not the same thing as hiring other kinds of professionals who might jot down your goals and then disappear behind the doors of their institution and execute your wishes. What YOU do may be every bit as critical as what your tutor does. If you come to a session hoping your tutor can reteach two weeks' worth of class content in one hour and do it more thoroughly than your teacher, you may not get the best outcome. On the other hand, if you're studying in between sessions, communicating with your tutor in advance about what you would like to focus on, and engaging with your tutor during the sessions, you'll probably be very pleased with your results. We'll do our best in an hour to close any loose ends and clarify the murkiest and most complicated of topics.
What can I do to get the most out of a session?
We're glad you asked! The students who get the most out of our tutoring services are the ones who come prepared to their sessions. Of course we pride ourselves on those sessions where a student comes in feeling completely lost and leaves with newfound confidence. Nonetheless, just like your doctor can better help you if they know your symptoms coming in, we can give you much more in our sessions if you've put forth some effort outside of class and outside of our session grappling with the topics you're looking for our help with and can give us a sense of how we can give you the best bang for your buck. You may still come in feeling lost but you'll likely find that we are able to help you comprehend the topic much more quickly. Even knowing in advance what unit or topic we'll be reviewing with you is valuable so we can bring the right resources to the session.
Is it okay if I want to vent about my teacher?
You're paying us to spend an hour of our time with you and it is surprising how fast that time flies. We understand that students may experience frustration with their primary instructor, but a vent session is not the best way for us to spend our time together. You're coming to us for subject-specific help, and we want to provide it. You will likely have the same teacher for the year, and you will want to get as much value out of your time with them as you can too. You will probably do better in the course if you can think of them as part of your support system and not an impediment. In fact, we've often found that communicating with a student's teacher can help us get even better outcomes from our sessions. They are in the best position to tell us where you are in the curriculum and what you and your classmates are struggling with as well as what they're likely to emphasize on their exams. But, in order to do this, we'll need you to give them permission to communicate with us. Their school likely has a release form that will allow us to speak with your instructor about your progress and course expectations. If not, we can provide you with a release form.
Are commercial exam prep guides any good?
Yes! As long as you use them consistently. Sometimes even our best students don't use them to their full advantage. You have a lot of other things on your plate with sports, clubs, field trips and jobs after school and on weekends. It's likely about all you can do to study the notes you took in class and read some of the pages in the textbook that your teacher recommended. You likely don't feel like you have time to also go through the study guide. But one of the things some of our students will do is purchase a commercial study guide and use it for a quick review before a unit test. These guides also have full length practice tests you can use in the last weeks before the official AP exam.
We often find them to be useful resources to accompany our sessions - especially for the students who want to maximize their test scores. They all have their limitations too though. These study guides sometimes have questions that do not reflect the accuracy and style of official AP exams. Sometimes the questions use unintentionally confusing language, and sometimes they're even wrong. That's why we like to use released and publicly accessible questions from the College Board in our sessions. But, generally speaking, the commercial guides will still help you prepare and may help you to reduce the number of sessions you'll need with us.
It depends. Ideally, if you are struggling or know that the subject is one where you will need supplemental support, you should start as soon as you can! Sometimes you don't realize this until you're a few weeks in and usually it's still not too late to start. Some students have started very late, but by working with us and a lot of dedication on their part, they have achieved higher scores and grades than they would have received without our help. Other students' hire us because they are aiming for the highest possible AP score or course grade to help them stand out in the applicant pool for scholarships and selective college admissions. It depends on each student's priorities and circumstances. Our students tell us that they have learned: how to approach course and AP exams, how to study and prepare for classes and tests, how to organize themselves, as well as the intrinsic value of learning how to think critically and how to become a stronger student.