Christopher T.

Browsing Wyzant Chemistry tutors within a 40-mile radius of Boston, MA reveals hourly rates ranging from $15/hour - $125/hour, resulting in a median rate of $70/hour. As a professor with profound professional experience in education, one could argue that my rate should be set, _at_least_, at this median value. However, I have kept my rate at the current level for six years. The impetus behind maintaining my rate has been expansion of accessibility to my service among different student populations and to steer clear of any adjective resembling "pricey" or "expensive". Cost and quality, of course, are both subjective in how they are perceived.

Tutors, such as myself, who cover a large geographic territory must consider balancing miles traveled and session earnings. Consider, for instance, how much is earned by a tutor who travels 35 miles one way and charges $40 for only one hour of tutoring. If the IRS provides wear-and-tear/mileage coverage of $0.555/mile, what gross compensation can this tutor expect for one hour of work?

Cost of One-Hour Session: $40.00

Cost of Round-Trip Travel: 2 x 35 mi x ($0.555/mi) = $ 38.85

Net Earnings = $40.00 - $38.85 = $1.15/hour (excludes tax and marketing fees)

I think we know how a Boston resident would thrive on this rate.

It has been my experience that a one-hour session can suffer from failure to explore the material to a depth required for development of skills and solidification of concepts. Depending on the student's needs, I often spend the first hour reviewing or offering alternative perspectives on a topic that presented difficulty upon introduction; the second hour is almost invariably focused on problem-solving or attempting examples, both collaboratively and (semi)independently on the part of the student. There is considerable value in the mere process of practice and thinking through the various twists and turns of a subject through examples. Learning and assimilating new knowledge is not a rapid-fire process for everyone. To reference one of my favorite childhood stories, if a 1-hour session feels "too soft", and a 3+-hour session feels "too hard", a 2-hour session feels juuust right!

When student and a tutor mutually agree to meet for two hours weekly to review an extensive content list in a second-semester Organic Chemistry syllabus, it is in their best interest to work as a team to both design and implement a well-balanced strategy. This strategy must incorporate the introduction of content, examples reinforcing each principle, problem-solving protocols, and different exercises to reinforce what the student has learned. Mastering this material, particularly a subject as challenging as Organic Chemistry II, also requires significant effort on the part of the student _outside_ of the session. When a student is not actively attempting problems between sessions, and the student welcomes progressing to new material, without communicating s/he would like more problems to complete together during the session, the student's overall experience can stray from expectation.

I recently published a Wyzant blog post about how to maximize the value for your tutoring dollars. Aside from keeping parking and travel costs low, maintaining a channel of open communication with a tutor offers a value that defies price tags. A tutor's most highly acclaimed pedagogical approach may not work for everyone, and it is important to provide feedback to the tutor in a timely fashion so the tutor can adjust his/her approach in a manner suitable to the student's learning style.

Wyzant thoughtfully allows students to post reviews about their tutors. When a student's review expresses publicly, and, by this, the tutor becomes aware for the first time, after several sessions, the student felt "overwhelmed", that sessions moved "somewhat fast", or they wished they spent "a lot of time on fewer topics" after handing the tutor an extensive list/syllabus at the start of the relationship, it makes the tutor wonder why this _is_ the first time s/he is hearing this. In a century of texting, Twitter, instant-messaging, emailing, Facebook, and (fortunately) lots of venues for good-old-fashioned, face-to-face "coffee talk", there is little room for perpetuating the less palatable through silence. More timely feedback can facilitate change while there is still time for implementation.

Tutors are flexible, creative, and committed individuals whose passion is to help students learn. Talk to them about how you learn best, how you like material presented, or what balance of problem-solving and explanation/discussion works best for you. Watch how intently they listen to you. Note the flood of different suggestions and solutions they will offer to make your tutoring experience more enjoyable and productive. You may be pleasantly surprised at how learning flourishes when both clients and tutors keep an open-door policy with one another.