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What: Varsity Tutors finds in-person and online tutoring jobs for experts in everything from reading to LSAT preparation.
Expected pay: $15 to $40 per hour
Husl Score: $$$$
Commissions & Fees: NA
Where: Nationwide
Requirements:
18 or older; pass a background check and screening process
Want to try Varsity Tutors?
Varsity Tutors Review:
If you are proficient at anything from grammar to law, you may be able to turn that proficiency into a tutoring position with Varsity Tutors. The site, which hires tutors for both in-person and online instruction, pays between $15 and $40 per hour. Tutors’ biggest knock against the site is that the $15 pay range is, by far, the most common.
You generally would need some advanced skills, such as the ability to tutor for advanced admissions tests, such as the LSAT or GRE, to earn more. And, if you’re tutoring in person, which requires commute time and gas, $15 an hour isn’t much.
However, tutors have the ability to teach online and are not penalized for turning down jobs that are outside of their chosen market. The site also pays tutors twice weekly by direct deposit, an attractive formula. Outside of wishing the pay were higher, we found few complaints about the platform. You can sign up to tutor here.
Recommendations:
You may be able to secure better-paying tutoring positions through Wyzant or Chelsea International Education. However, you may need either tutoring experience or a teaching credential to apply for these other opportunities.
What their users say:
(From Glassdoor)
I love the independence of scheduling and selecting my own students. But I would like to receive some assistance from Varsity Tutors on mileage, especially with gas prices increasing.
The pay rates are about half of what other companies pay, but you do not need previous tutoring experience to apply.
Being paid $15/hr to teach organic chemistry with a masters degree is ridiculous.
They charge over twice as much per session as you make, and are not up front about this.
You receive no training, and the pay isn’t comparable to what you can make elsewhere.
The main downside is pay. GRE tutors are paid $33 per hour, but the students are paying anywhere from $50-$90 per hour. So Varsity pockets anywhere from 33-63% of the income. It can be even worse for high school subjects, for which tutors only earn $15 per hour. It makes sense that Varsity needs to make some income to run their business, but taking this much as profit is exploitative to the tutors. Oh, and if you call and ask if there’s any possibility of higher pay, they hang up on you.
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[…] is more than you can bear over the summer break, consider tutoring through a site like Wyzant or Varsity Tutors. Wyzant tutors earn between $18 and $36 per hour after the site takes its ample 40% commission, […]
I am writing as a tutor at the Varsity Tutors. This review can be helpful to those who are considering applying as a new private tutor. PROS: (1) Have online chat support to trouble shoot issues tutors face but not 24/7. (2) Availability of tutoring opportunities to choose. (3) Doesn’t penalize tutors when they choose not to accept any tutoring opportunities. (4) Get paid twice a week. (5) All tutoring take place online. CONS: (1) Paid is the lowest when comparing with other companies. Your educational level doesn’t get you higher paid. (2) Criteria they use to match tutors and clients are unknown. Even when you have the qualifications and can fulfill everything the clients want, you are not guaranteed to be matched. They never share what their matching criteria are. (3) No training and very limited information is provided to new tutors, so they have to figure out how everything works all by themselves. (4) The online learning platform is somewhat primitive when comparing what’s available nowadays. When tech support can’t solve problems, they just direct you to use Zoom or Google Meet. If you have these free accounts, your session gets disconnected after a specific period of time. (5) They have various email addresses that handle different things, but they never share them with you up front. You just have to figure out by yourself. Even when you know their emails, their response rate is very poor. If they need something from you, they expect you to respond right away. However, if you need their help, they often don’t reply. (5) When clients cancel at the last minute or don’t show up for sessions, you don’t get paid for the confirmed FULL block of time (such as 2 hours). Varsity just paid you portion of it which isn’t fair. How that portion is determined is also unknown. (6) They track your response rate to posted opportunities. If you have back-to-back tutoring sessions, you don’t always get to respond quickly. However, you somehow do get penalized, since they show you your stats. They said that “Tutoring opportunities are available first to tutors who have favorable results in several key areas.” How fast you respond to opportunities is one of the areas they track.