<p>Does anybody know what the average private SAT tutor charges? The thing is - I'm interested in tutoring for the SAT Is and possibly PSATs, but I'm only going to be a freshman in college this year. I got good scores and have had previous tutoring experience in other areas. Since I am a student, I would charge MUCH less than a professional, but it's a lot better than some other minimum paying jobs. How MUCH would you guys (or your parents) be willing to pay for such a tutor, if at all (i.e. freshman@ yale, 1580/800/800/800/800, tutoring experience, but no professional training). Your input would be very helpful.</p>
<p>I've seen prices in the $30-50 range for independent tutors. Lower range is for current college students as a side business. I'd suspect that tutors associated with (i.e., trained by) a tutoring company would be more.</p>
<p>Rates for private tutorials vary widely, and often depend on the area in which you're teaching. Here in LA, private SAT tutorials range from about $30 to (yes, it's true) $500 an hour. The average rates for highly experienced tutors from small to large tutorial companies is in the $100 to $200 range.</p>
<p>For a little perspective, test prep companies like PR and Kaplan higher a lot of college students. However, these companies usually don't put new tutors right into tutorials...they make sure they learn the material and build tutoring skills by teaching lots of classes first. If they get good results in their classes, teachers might be able to move into private tutorials. They charge around $100 an hour and start paying teachers something like $15 per hour, give or take a few bucks.</p>
<p>I'd say it would be reasonable to charge in the $30 range to start, especially as a Yale student with scores like yours. Your challenge is to be the best tutor you can be. Knowing how to take ace the test DOESN'T make you a good tutor. To be really good, you need to be able to help a wide variety of students at different levels with different skills... Knowing 3 or 4 ways to solve just about any math problem, for instance, allows you to find the best method for each individual student. Being able to figure why a particular student consistently misinterprets reading comp passages is important. Experience and versatility can make all the difference...to be really good, you sometimes have to be able to go way beyond the techniques.</p>
<p>If you find that you're really good at it, you're getting good results, your clients are happy, and you really enjoy tutoring, you can raise your rates pretty quickly to the going rate for experienced tutors in your area. </p>
<p>Feel free to PM me about this if you want...</p>
<p>I completely agree with Pete. Every student you have will be a unique individual with a unique set of needs for you to satisfy. In my experience, this goes even beyond learning styles and things like that--even a person's family and school situation can make a huge difference. For example, tutoring a student who doesn't really care about the SAT and who's only sitting through the session because her mom is making her and is hell-bent on getting her into a particular college is different from tutoring a self-motivated student who had to beg her parents to pay for a good tutor. In the first instance, you need to find a way to make the material as interesting and manageable as possible while still getting results; in the second, you might have to make sure the student's enthusiasm doesn't turn into overconfidence or discouragement if things come too easily or too slowly at different times. One time I even had to point out to a student how much his recreational drug use was affecting his test performance and, of course, the rest of his life as well (I think he thought I couldn't tell the difference, but he was wrong).</p>
<p>Like Pete said, it's not just a question of <em>you</em> knowing how to nail a question; you have to know how the <em>student</em> can learn to nail it, too, and part of that analysis includes figuring out what pressures are being put on the student, whether they come from within or without. You'll learn to feel all of these things out with time, of course.</p>
<p>I agree with the advice on a rate, too--charge a rate that you think is fair for what you're providing, and that will let you sleep at night :) 30 per hour is probably a good place to start. One other thing--don't let people push you around! Some parents will think they don't have to treat you like a real person because you're young. It doesn't happen often, but the more you tutor, the more you'll see it. No matter what, if you give an hour's work, demand an hour's pay. It's only fair.</p>
<p>That's my two cents. Good luck to you and your students!</p>
<p>Great additional tips and info, Mike, including the "charge rates that allow you to sleep at night" advice. Charge what you think you're worth. Don't charge too much, but don't charge too little either. You may find an interesting correlation between your rates and the respect you receive. If you charge $10 an hour, parents might not respect you as much as if you charge $30. But don't overdo it. I could easily charge at the top end of LA rates ($300-$500 and hour) but I think those rates are, oh, a wee bit absurd.</p>
<p>As a "buyer", I'll share my experience for what its worth on finding an AP physics tutor for my S. If you choose to go ahead with tutoring, you'll have to find some customers, so this might help.</p>
<p>2 methods for finding a tutor.....(1) word of mouth, (2) searching. Had plenty of word-of-mouth referals from fellow parents & school. Most were teachers who did tutoring as a side-line, and who had limited availability, mostly weekday afternoons & evenings. Prices were in the moderate range from roughly 50-100/hr. Availability was a big constraint for my S as weekends were best. Found 2 different choices in searching on internet....companies that provided trained tutors, and independent tutors affiliated thru some web group. The tutoring companies would most assuredly have greatest reliability of quality, but at significantly more cost. Chasing down individual tutors via these independent tutor web pages was arduous, but after some shopping, I found the right match, a PhD science student at JHU. </p>
<p>FYI, here are some of these tutor web sites. I have no idea how their business model works, that is if the tutor is charged a flat fee for being listed, or if there's a cut of the fee. Conceivable some might even be free to tutors due to ad revenue.
<a href="http://www.tutor.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.tutor.com/</a>
<a href="http://www.tutornation.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.tutornation.com/</a></p>
<p>there are plenty more when searching on some variation which includes "tutor"</p>
<p>I actually tracked down our tutor, whose name was not fully disclosed on the tutor web site, by his background description and school association via the school's web site, then contacted him thru his school email address.</p>
<p>Another twist for your consideration.....I am aware of one tutor who just graduated from Yale who worked for Ivybound through her years at Yale. You might want to check this group out:
<a href="http://www.ivybound.net/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ivybound.net/</a></p>
<p>good luck</p>
<p>Thank you very much to everybody who replied. I guess I might have to take some sort of course before doing this. It has been some time since I took the SATs myself, and I have never even seen the new SATs (although I know there is a writing component). I'm also worried that I might be a little too young to be able to coach HS students, seeing as how they (and their parents) wouldn't listen to/respect me as much as they would an adult. It just seems like a good idea since it pays much better than other jobs available to people my age.</p>
<p>Should people in AP classes really have tutors... Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? If your smart enough to be taking college-level courses, shouldn't you be able to do it on your own? Eh.. maybe I'm just not fond of tutors.</p>