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Soo, update on that $80/hr Math Tutor. (2 Viewers)

Sien

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you just got ripped off so bad, i can see a new hole
i quit my mafs tutoring cuz i waz liek fk yall imma out
even 99.95 don't even need to pay that much for 1 hr
with that money i could've done 1 on 1 else where and still have money left on strippers and a big mac
LEAVE THAT GUY ASAP
 
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Carrotsticks

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He's been extremely helpful on in class stuff and things I give him. He gives me tons of papers for Physics and Extension 1 Maths.
The thing is that, I don't think that simple Math helping is justifiable for $80, even if its a private 1 on 1.
Now, with Trials, HSC coming up, is it still a good time to cancel out on him? And start going to a new tutor next year? My parents have paid a shit ton of money for this and now I seriously am considering quitting on this guy.

In the beginning where I wasn't great at Maths, he was slightly confusing but it got me through the basics. However, some stuff he isn't even completely sure of and doesn't give me the optimal way to answer the question. Often, he comes tired and doesn't seem all that helpful, unless I ask ALOT of questions which will eventually lead him to teaching me.

With $80 an hour, and also only an HOUR worth of lessons weekly, it doesn't seem right to pay that much for this guy.
Plus, he doesn't directly lead me to learning new topics, but it seems I have to guide him on what I want to do, so if I have lackluster work or no idea on the next topic, I can't actually learn much. Essentially he's only a question answerer.

I'm probably seeming obnoxious but I'd like your opinion, you guys have been great.

P.S. He has a lot of qualifications, and he travels to my house which would contribute to the fee.
To be honest it sounds like you've already made your decision, but just want further validation for your decision.
 

4025808

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If that's the sort of case, I'd definitely consider switching to another tutor. There's plenty of people charging $30-$40 per hour, and often or not giving a 2 hour lesson. And on top of that, additional help/solutions to other questions free of charge. If you have to end up asking a LOT of questions during the lesson you've essentially lost at least 10 minutes, and considering you have a 1 hour lesson it's not worth.

Past exams and other resources can easily be obtained online and even through browsing threads here.
 

vitamin D

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Look at this:

His service is equivalent to dog shit
LOL reading that alone makes my blood boil a bit... had a tutor like that once who thought just because of his high credentials that he could just "chill" in the tutor lesson and be lazy with schedules ect :evilfire:
 

strawberrye

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LOL reading that alone makes my blood boil a bit... had a tutor like that once who thought just because of his high credentials that he could just "chill" in the tutor lesson and be lazy with schedules ect :evilfire:
Know that feeling far too well. I used to have a English tutor who spent much more time on his phone than on our lessons.
 

davidgoes4wce

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80 an hour no matter what they're tutoring is an absolute ripoff....
Personally, think as a tutor you can charge whatever the market-based rate is like, provided that the tutor puts in the effort as well. I also am aware that this rate is out of the budget of alot of families but at the end of the day people have to survive in one of the worlds most expensive cities. There will be an element of jealousy there from the haters. There are alot more graduate roles, professional roles, start up businesses, jobs that pay more handsomely in comparison to tutoring. Being a maths tutor or any HSC related tutor, isn't the easiest job in the world, the amount of preparation you have to put in (especially the good ones) outside the tutoring hours does not get factored into account. I teach 3 Maths Extension 1 students and a couple of university students and there is no way I could come to a tutoring lesson unprepared, unplanned and not reviewing the content that the students have recently covered. I also don't know what I'm like relative to other tutors in NSW. (I have my own tutors which I use, to get my worked checked up on) One thing I guess I do have on my side is ' work ethic' but I will be interested to see if I do decided to have a bit more maths tutoring for myself in the future, how I could compare. (I guess for me I look at the university tutors as almost the standard benchmark.)

I think also with tutoring you can never go around satisfying everyone. There will always be a student that is not happy , you do an online assessment for the student and get them 80%, some will be pissed off, some might not be happy with the way you explain things, some will want you to provide more resources as part of that tutoring rate, some might not be happy with the way you speak (eg broken English, not fluent English. That is the common one I hear from my students when I tute them in statistics, in comparison to the uni tutors/lecturers) etc I guess my point is you can never ever think you are satisfied with the job that you are doing because its a results driven industry and you don't know how well you are doing relative to other people in the teaching/tutoring field.

I provide tutoring services , I know how cut throat it is. I've had students roll their eyes at me and give me frowns when I couldn't explain something properly. If you charge a high rate, of course you have to be able to back it up and explain it almost like a teacher. I'm not sure of the standard of teaching in NSW (for a school ranked say in the Top 50, Top 100, Bottom 100) but growing up in another state I did get my fair share of bad ones in high school who just did the bare minimum to provide for the students.(I went to a fairly low ranked school in my state, all my life I have had to work just a bit harder)

Also when doing this job, I have more a greater appreciation of what teachers have to go through, especially the ones that do this day in, day out. You have to deal with the students that ask questions every minute (I might sound like one of them on this forum especially the 2U and 3U threads), the patience they have to show to manage such situations, being able to manage the disruptive kids, the hours spent outside class in preparation for class and getting the students motivated to do well.

With tutoring there is no sympathy from the students, its like they want results, they demand results, they expect the tutor to be god-like in their responses.
 
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Drongoski

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I myself do not tutor at my place. This year I have to go to students who are around 15 to 16 km from my place. I add a surcharge of up to $30 for the travel. This can make me expensive and I'm mindful not every family can afford it. (I sometimes joked that I cannot afford my own rates!) But apart from the petrol & wear-&-tear, the total return journey can take as much as 80 minutes and people are loath to pay for that. But is it worth my while for an extra $10 or $30 for all that time? For higher courses (like 4U), I can only add $10 as my 4U rates are already a little higher.

If Prodigy's tutor come for only 1 hour per lesson, he must take into account the travel component. If his tutor is a teacher, already making $60k to $120k a year, would he be motivated to travel to his place to do a 1-hr lesson for anything less than $50/hr? Unlike young students who have just completed their HSC with a great ATAR, his opportunity cost is high. Young tutors are happy to make $25/hr, often their very first income. I have also noticed quite a few fresh HSC graduates, with an ATAR of 99.80 to 99.95 demanding $60/hr. Trouble is, students think that a fresh-out-of-school hotshot is better than a university graduate with years of experience.

Also, a 1-on-1 tutor charging, say, $70 an hour makes peanuts compared to one charging only $25/hr for a 2-hour lesson to a class of 8.

My primary motivation in tutoring is to be useful as I have hardly ever used my prior Maths training. I also think I am an outstanding expositor (this is only my inflated view of myself, not necessarily shared by others!) and I enjoy being able to make difficult topics easy to understand. But not every student can benefit from "good" tutoring, from my experience; I have my fair share of not-so-bright students.
 
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