<p>I'm planning on possibly SAT tutoring people in my school, privately, strictly to make money to finance my college education. I was looking at random sites talking about tutoring, and it seems as though places charge 80 dollars and upwards (a lot 100) per hour. Now, obviously i would not charge that much. i think i was told for example of someone in my area charging 25 bucks per hour. is more reasonable? is less reasonable? i don't wanna feel like i'm being greedy but i also don't want to be ripping myself off.</p>
<p>The SAT tutors aound my area charge from $45.00 to $100.00 per hour, with most getting $65.00 to $80.00. Anyone charging over $50.00 should probably have some experience and a good track record with students increasing their scores.</p>
<p>well, this is my 1st time, and i did well on my own SAT's (2300), which i know is better than a lot of professional tutors themselves could probably say, especially considering that many do not even try to take the new SAT. so any other ballparking of price? i'm guessing around 25-40 per hour at this point?</p>
<p>i had a 30$ per hour tutor. he was a yale grad who received a perfect score, and now is a professor at a local university. just food for thought...</p>
<p>not sure what kind of economic area you hail from, but many naturally intelligent people suffer because they don't have the resources to prep for the sats like wealthier students do. maybe you should evaluate your clients and negotiate the price from there.</p>
<p>I am an SAT tutor. I can tell you from experience that this is a complicated question. You need to consider at least two major factors: a) geography and b) the competition. You also need to consider one minor factor: c) time teaching vs. time selling your services.</p>
<p>a) Geography: The wealthier and more education-oriented your neighborhood, the more you can charge. Ask around and figure out what other people are charging. It's all well and good to say "I'm going to charge $45/hr. for my services because I know I'm good and other people on CC charge far more." However, if everyone else in your market is charging $20/hr., you are going to have no clients.</p>
<p>This brings us to. . . </p>
<p>b) The Competition. Once you have figured out the approximate range of tutor fees in your area, you have to figure out where you fit into that range. As a young college student, you are going to be toward the bottom of that range, at least until you build up some positive word of mouth. It usually helps if you go to the most prestigious college in your region. It's easier to tutor in Boston if you go to Harvard or MIT. It's easier to tutor in LA if you go to UCLA. Etc., etc., etc.</p>
<p>c) Time Teaching vs. Time Selling your Services. Let's say you've decided you can get somewhere between $15 and $25 an hour. If you pick a fee at the bottom of that range, you will pick up students more quickly and you will have to market yourself less. If you pick a fee at the top of your range, you will pick up students more slowly and you will have to invest more time upfront convincing people that you are worth the extra. If you feel like you are an entrepreneurial person and you like sales, set a rate that's at the high end of your range. If you are really a teacher at heart, and not a businessperson, choose a rate in the low-to-middling part of your range and raise your prices gradually as your word of mouth builds. Either route can be profitable. . . the question is really how you want to spend your time.</p>
<p>^^To sum up: a good pricing strategy is all about market research! It varies <em>hugely</em> depending on part of the country, etc.</p>
<p>Another thing you could do is form a relationship with private guidance counselors in your area. Offer to tutor your first students at a very discounted "introductory rate" to build your reputation. If the GC likes what he/she sees, then they will refer their future clients to you at your "normal rate". Also, being willing to drive to the student's home versus meeting in a library or a local cafe can be an incentive for people to hire you, although it will cut down on your available teaching hours because you will be driving between appts.</p>
<p>The best prep program where I live charges 120 per 1.5 hrs.</p>
<p>I would like to know the answer to this too....so bump!</p>
<p>Incidentially, aramin, there's usually a big difference between what a good tutoring center <em>charges</em> and what individual tutors <em>get</em>. Tutoring centers usually have to cover their own marketing and overhead costs. In my experience, tutors who work for a company that actually has a storefront usually get about half of what the student pays. Tutors who work for a company that matches up tutors and students, and then makes the tutor travel, might get more than half. . . but then again, they have to factor in travel time when calcuating their actual hourly rate.</p>
<p>Yeah... some people near me charge 135 per hour! (tutors with decades of experience as english/math teachers and tutors). But, as a student within the school, you definitely have to consider how much a student could afford, considering you have no experience. I would charge $20 an hour to start out with, and if you were really successful, you could bump it to 30... but that's about it.</p>
<p>I am an SAT/ACT tutor and I charge a little higher than anything mentioned here (and have a wait list), but I would recommend that you offer your help to the younger students at your school at least 2 grades below you.</p>
<p>Put together some materials, like a workbook on the strategies you will teach your students, and what materials you intend to use. Aim for someone who you know and tell them that you are trying to make a little money for college. </p>
<p>Aim for someone who scored OK on the test and didnt prep for it. If they didnt prepare for the test, and then they prep, even if all you do is look over their shoulder, their score is going to go up, and by their results, so too will your reputation.</p>
<p>SAT tutoring is all about results, if you get results, you will quickly have more students then you can handle.</p>
<p>Finally, wait until your Spring of your Senior year that way you will have the "I did so well I got into..." to back up your sales pitch. Also, plan on working on SAT prep when you are in college, especially if you are in an affluent or urban center. Parents eat up college students, especially those at the top schools. </p>
<p>Even if you arent the best tutor, many parents will reason that you (college student at a great school) may be able to help out their child in some other way, even if you never do.</p>
<p>If you are in an area with many other tutors and companies charge $25. If you are in an area where tutoring is in short supply go $30.</p>
<p>If the parent asks for less, stand your ground, they are usually testing your confidence in your ability to tutor their child. </p>
<p>If you are having a hard time getting clients, then you may have to offer first hour free, but you then have to be impressive in that hour.</p>
<p>$100 an hour! Holy god! Are other services included?</p>
<p>Some people value the shoes they wear, the car they drive, or the seats they have to a show or sports event. </p>
<p>Some people, crazy people of course, value their education and understand the value of a good education, and consequently want to get into the best college they are able to. If these people are spending $20-25K to attend the best prep schools, $140 per hour for the best tutors is not that intractable.</p>
<p>I have also heard that there are some tutors who charge upwards of $250 per hour.</p>
<p>By the way, what is the charge of the typical IP lawyer, or any area of specialization for that matter? Surgeons get paid more than $100 per hour, do they include other services?</p>
<p>Some people get results, and other people want those results so they are willing to pay for the human capital which will enable them to attain those results.</p>
<p>Well, considering I probably couldn't do a triple bypass on myself, I'd gladly pay the surgeon even if all he/she did was save my life and nothing else.</p>
<p>Just 2 cents about big bucks.
A sister of a student of mine goes to school on Long Island. Her parents managed to find a tutor who charges $800 for 1.5 hr. Not me. :(
Just as lotf629 said, geography rules.</p>
<p>ok no charging $100 $200 per hour for tutoring SATs is just morally and ethically wrong...just wrong.... i have to work like 30 hours to make that much actually doing stuff and not just sitting in an air-conditioned room on a comfy chair reiterating the value of plugging in backwards</p>
<p>thecalccobra,</p>
<p>If you think that teaching SAT is all about sitting in a comfy chair teaching people about plugging stuff in backwards, then you wouldn't raise scores enough to charge $100-200 an hour.</p>
<p>It's all about supply-and-demand. Our center charges $90/hr. and we're still turning people away. Even at those prices, some kids drive in to our center from out of state on the weekends. I also donate materials and do teacher trainings for educational nonprofits (like literacy programs). But keeping the price relatively high is one way for us to deal with the overwhelming demand because our methods actually work.</p>
<p>It takes a <em>ton</em> of investment and experience to be able to raise students scores by 200+ points per section, and that's what most really high-priced tutors are able to do. Every year we raise a few CR scores by 300 points, for example. Math and writing scores are even easier to bring up.</p>
<p>How much time do these students spend on prepping for the SATs? If they're coming in every weekend are they doing this for a month? a year? two years??</p>