Tiffany's Tutoring Blog

I once heard the following remark from an acquaintance: “There are two kinds of math students: those who get it the first time, and those who never do.”

I will never forget how this comment silenced us, a small group of friends who were all hanging out and discussing what careers we wanted to pursue. What silenced us was not just the cruelty of the remark, but that the speaker was an aspiring math teacher who was working as a tutor while completing his undergraduate math degree. I had just asked him what it was like to tutor math. Apparently, his answer constituted his entire teaching philosophy...

Math students often become nervous when approaching word problems, because mathematical symbols are buried in the sentences as words – I call these “math words” – and these math words have to be discovered in the text and arranged into equations before any calculation can be done! Never fear – there are some easy ways to translate math words into mathematical symbols so you can solve these tricky problems quickly.

Word problems generally use specific words and phrases that correspond to the four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. When you see these words and...

If you are thinking of working with a tutor to help you prepare for a standardized test like the GRE or GMAT, here is how to get the most out of the experience:

Start early! If you can, start working with your tutor 2-3 months before taking (or retaking) the test. Even if you meet with a tutor only once a week, that extra time gives you enough tutoring sessions to benefit in the following ways:

• You can cover all sections of the test
• You can focus more time on your areas of weakness
• You can use the extra time to correct bad test-taking habits that are preventing you from...