Lucas Noah 
Every pupil and student shudderingly thinks about preparing for exams. To understand the important subjects, saving time and effort is easier if there is an expert who will help to understand the complexities of the topic, give good materials for preparation, explain the mistakes and shortcomings. But how do you choose a tutor so that you don’t regret your choice?
Usually, parents of students look for a tutor. This is not quite right: everyone communicates in his way, and it is important not that the tutor liked the parents, and suited to you because you will have to interact with him very closely. So, first of all, explain to your parents how important your participation in the choice is.
And if you have no motivation, even a talented teacher will not do any good.
Where to start looking and where to find a tutor?
The first thing that comes to mind before choosing a tutor is to Google “tutor to do my economics homework…”. There are a lot of proposals, and you don’t want to open the first link and sign up for a class. How do you know if this tutor is good, whether his rates are adequate? You need to spend a little time and analyze the proposals.
On the Internet, there are entire sites-aggregators, where you can find a tutor for almost any subject. The description of each says what he prepares, there are reviews and the cost of services. Look at the questionnaires, study reviews – so you can understand what students may be dissatisfied with.
Another option is recommendations. If friends or acquaintances recommend a tutor who has helped them, do not discount him. He may be suitable for you.
Finally, some companies are willing to help with the selection of a tutor from their database. Such tutors often boast proven training results.
If you try to look for all of the above ways, the chances of meeting “your” tutor, will increase significantly.
What to look for when choosing a tutor?
Everyone has different selection criteria:
- Someone needs a famous university teacher, even if the lessons, along with the trip to his office will take half a day;
- Some people need regular classes with a recent graduate.
- But in the end, all are guided by the same indicators:
Education
Having a teaching degree is not as important as a stack of diplomas and certificates. To prepare you for exams, to pull up on some subjects can be an old-school teacher or a young man who is “in the subject”. The most important thing is that the tutor’s education was specialized – you should not trust a graduate of the Faculty of Mechanics to prepare you for social sciences.
Specialization
For example, if you need to prepare for the GCSE, it is important to choose a specialist who has already achieved decent results in this area. Preferably several times.
And vice versa – lessons with a tutor, who is good at “coaching” on standard questions are unlikely to help pass the exams in the session.
Experience and regalia
It may sound strange, but a super-experienced teacher with a year’s worth of notes and a pile of diplomas is not always a good thing. For example, to make up for a second-grader who fails in English for a quarter, it is enough lessons with a trained high school teacher who will find a common language with the kid.
Professional or student?
Do you want to tie your future to the subject you’re studying? Then it is better to choose a tutor, whose profile of work – the successful training of talented pupils and students.
And if you just need an incentive to do your homework, a responsible student can also supervise you.
Cost and Payment
It is difficult to determine any average price for a lesson – depending on the qualifications and requests of the tutor. Ask yourself how much you’re willing to spend, and how much a particular tutor’s price tag matches your abilities. Often tutors offer the first free lesson – this is convenient for them and you. They will get to know the potential client, and you will understand if the professional is right for you.
The Character
Even a talented teacher and a diligent student may simply not find common ground. Any conflicts will negatively affect the quality of your training. To prevent them, pay attention to politeness, punctuality, professional behavior of the tutor in advance. If he does not meet your expectations, you may want to look for another.
Reviews: trust or not?
A knowledgeable tutor = positive reviews. Is it true? If the specialist is engaged in the preparation of pupils and students for a long time, he has more than a dozen reviews, a significant part of which are pluses.
In this case, any tutor can have a misunderstanding with a student or his parents. If you get one or two neutral or negative reviews among the many good ones, it only makes the image of the tutor more realistic. It’s hard to like everyone.
From the reviews, it is easy to conclude what the tutor is good at, and with what it is better not to go to him. Often in their reviews, students write what they were prepared for, and what the result was.
Finally, if the teacher has a lot of negative feedback, it is better not to apply it to him at all. There is too great a risk that you just waste time and money and on top of that ruin your mood.