As the semester progresses, the workload for students piles up, their to-do list grows exponentially, and the library becomes swamped as students seem to roam the campus dazed from a lack of sleep. Business as usual for students at academically rigorous universities like Tufts.
So where can students turn for help? Some students turn to off campus professional tutoring services to help tackle the overwhelming workload. But are these services worth the cost when the Academic Resource Center (ARC) provides similar aid for free?
Jeff Golden, owner of Golden Tutoring, believes that one reason students turn to outside tutoring services is that they feel peer tutors are not as knowledgeable as experts. At the privately owned tutoring business, nearly all of the tutors have a master's degree and four to five years of tutoring experience.
"One of the main reasons college students use our services is that they feel the student tutors do not know much more than they do," Golden said.
Golden Tutoring offers tutoring in math, science, computer science, standardized test prep, English, writing, editing, and foreign languages. Their clientele ranges in academic ability from grade school to PhDs, but most of them are college undergrads from the Boston area. Professional tutor Robert Cruickshank specializes in math and science and has a shop called Knowledge on Call on Highland Ave. in Davis Square. He explains why students come to him instead of using on-campus services. "Students come to me for one of three reasons: knowledge, convenience, or my communication skills," he said.
Cruickshank has been a professional tutor for ten years, helping students in math and sciences from universities like Boston College, Harvard, MIT, and UMass and credits his tutoring experience and degree from MIT for attracting students. Students also appreciate his open availability, he says. According to Cruickshank, student clients complain to him that they don't feel professors are approachable or graduate TA's can not convey the material in clear, simple language, and that is why they opt for outside tutoring.
Although Cruikshank's clientele is mainly K-12 students, he does receive a fair number of Tufts students, especially as it gets closer to exams. "Toward finals I get more college students and half of them are from Tufts," he said.
The cost for convenience and the knowledge of outside tutors is affordable, but may feel burdensome in comparison to the free services at Dowling. Cruickshank recently lowered his rates to $40/hour for K-12, $30/hour for introductory college subjects (i.e. intro to physics, intro to calculus), and $20/hour for more advanced math or science classes (for example, differential equations or linear algebra).
Aware of student budget restraints, Golden Tutoring offers competitive rates. Depending on how far in advance someone schedules a tutoring session, the rates can vary from $60 to $20 per hour. This business strategy allows Golden Tutoring to provide services to a wide range of people on the socioeconomic spectrum.
"We want to be socially conscious and provide everyone with an opportunity to get ahead," Golden said. "We do this work because we enjoy it. Profit is not our motivation."
According to Golden Tutoring, very few Tufts students use their services. The ARC, however, tutors hundreds of Tufts students per year. The ARC not only employs tutors, but also conducts writing workshops and holds seminars about enhancing study skills. Freshman Kathleen Martin praised its services. "I received some tutoring last semester," she said. "It was very helpful."
Sophomore Katie O'Keefe finds the cost and location to be a plus. "I'd rather take advantage of the tutoring services offered at Tufts," she said. "I wouldn't want to pay extra for tutoring and it would be easier to go to it if it was on campus."
The services provided by the Academic Resource Center are extensive. Regularly scheduled tutors are available for almost every subject. The Head Tutor program consists of ten "head tutors" who hold regular drop in hours at Dowling. Of these ten, four are resident tutors who live in either Tilton or Houston and provide convenient academic assistance to freshmen. Each tutor (one per floor) specializes in one or two subject areas. There are also over 60 regular tutors available to help students when head tutors are not available.
"I was very happy when I found out about the tutoring services here at Tufts," Houston resident tutor Ashiyana Nariani said. "I used them for all my classes and they inspired me to become a tutor."
Tutors must go through rigorous training the week before fall semester begins. They are familiar with class material and use this knowledge to help students pick out their class schedules. "I really appreciated having the Academic Resource Center available," said sophomore Julie Buce. "They helped me pick a schedule that was right for me."
Despite the extra help from tutors -- both on and off campus -- many still students prefer seeking assistance from the professor directly during office hours.
"After one tutor asked me how to do a chemistry problem, I decided to just go to office hours if I needed help," freshman Stacy Watkins said.
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