Am I an idiot?

[kenhung123]

I think there are cheaper tutors out there. If your willing to study, have confidence that you can get into monash

[red bull]

So what's the point of going to an expensive school? Go to a cheaper school and use the 'saved' money for tutoring.

Are you planning ot get a tutor for every subject in uni?

my parents dont want me to go to a public school coz they feel i might get brought up in the wrong way. 1 of my cousins developed his smoking habits from peer-pressure and at one point he took an ecstasy tablet and had to go to hospital. Also my parents feel all good teachers primarily teach at private schools coz of the attractive salaries.

[ghadz7]

Well some private schools are cheaper than $16500.

You said you don't concentrate in class so how does it matter if the teacher is good or bad?

[red bull]

I think there are cheaper tutors out there. If your willing to study, have confidence that you can get into monash

yeah, but what i have found is most tutors around the $30 range are mostly students with little experience in tutoring. My parents want 'teachers' to tutor me if u know what i mean. They believe teachers know how to make students understand concepts coz they do it for a living whereas a student may know the course very well but it doesn't necessarily mean they know how to teach  

[Akirus]

So what's the point of going to an expensive school? Go to a cheaper school and use the 'saved' money for tutoring.

Are you planning ot get a tutor for every subject in uni?

my parents dont want me to go to a public school coz they feel i might get brought up in the wrong way. 1 of my cousins developed his smoking habits from peer-pressure and at one point he took an ecstasy tablet and had to go to hospital. Also my parents feel all good teachers primarily teach at private schools coz of the attractive salaries.

That's more up to you than your school or teachers. Things like tutors are helpful but not necessary, as such. Like I said in my previous post, give it some thought and you'll find any number of means to compensate. Your problems, both academically and economically, stem from your attempt to "buy" results (unfortunately, save for bribing the education department, it doesn't work this way).

And frankly, as far as I'm concerned, there's no teacher good enough to warrant paying 15-20k a year for (not willing to argue this one, just an opinion).

[stonecold]

i think you should just not worry about it and go about school as normal, put your head down and work as hard as possible, and by years end your hard work will pay off and you will be like i can't believe i was worrying at the start of the year.

[red bull]

Well some private schools are cheaper than $16500.

You said you don't concentrate in class so how does it matter if the teacher is good or bad?

i said i find it hard to concentrate, but a good teacher can make alot of difference. I used to go to extra schooling outside of school when i was in yrs 8,9,10 and the teacher was trying to teach me about polynomials and i didn't know what the hell she was going on about. So on monday morning i asked my maths teacher and he explained it to me in 5 minutes and i instantly knew how to do the questions

[kenhung123]

Well as you say, they seem to help you a lot so I guess it would be good to stay with them. Work together with your parents by studying hard and use them for motivation. Don't let them down.

[kyzoo]

I don't know enough about your situation to make a judgement, but if they really help you, then keep them.

My opinion of tutors is the same as Akirus' - it's delusional to think of them as a failsafe catalyst for good results. Don't buy into the conventional wisdom that the mere fact you have a tutor will help your scores; tutors aren't magical beings who bless you with their very presence. IMO, a tutor hinders top students.

[ninwa]

I think there are cheaper tutors out there. If your willing to study, have confidence that you can get into monash

yeah, but what i have found is most tutors around the $30 range are mostly students with little experience in tutoring. My parents want 'teachers' to tutor me if u know what i mean. They believe teachers know how to make students understand concepts coz they do it for a living whereas a student may know the course very well but it doesn't necessarily mean they know how to teach  

That's not true, have a look at the "advertising" board of the tutoring forum, there are so many talented students out there with excellent scores and tutoring experience who don't charge $60/hour - which is frankly a ridiculous amount to charge, you could get the same quality tutor for half that price.

Also, students have certain advantages over teachers. To steal a quote from the XLL revision lectures, as recent graduates we've gone through the process, we know what areas are difficult to understand, and we can still remember the pathways we took to understand those topics - whereas teachers generally did their degrees decades ago and most can't remember what it was like to learn and struggle.

You already have teachers at school, sometimes it's useful to get assistance from a fellow student's point of view.

[appianway]

Maybe you should drop the tutors, and have something like one session a month if you don't understand the material.

[Albeno69]

Maybe you should drop the tutors, and have something like one session a month if you don't understand the material.

but you woudnt want to get to far behind because then you may not be able to catch up.

[appianway]

Or maybe just seek help when there are problems?

Personally, I don't see the point of sitting through tuition if you understand most of the material... you'd be better off doing some private study.

[*ryan777*]

I think there are cheaper tutors out there. If your willing to study, have confidence that you can get into monash

yeah, but what i have found is most tutors around the $30 range are mostly students with little experience in tutoring. My parents want 'teachers' to tutor me if u know what i mean. They believe teachers know how to make students understand concepts coz they do it for a living whereas a student may know the course very well but it doesn't necessarily mean they know how to teach 

That's not true, have a look at the "advertising" board of the tutoring forum, there are so many talented students out there with excellent scores and tutoring experience who don't charge $60/hour - which is frankly a ridiculous amount to charge, you could get the same quality tutor for half that price.

Also, students have certain advantages over teachers. To steal a quote from the XLL revision lectures, as recent graduates we've gone through the process, we know what areas are difficult to understand, and we can still remember the pathways we took to understand those topics - whereas teachers generally did their degrees decades ago and most can't remember what it was like to learn and struggle.

You already have teachers at school, sometimes it's useful to get assistance from a fellow student's point of view.

+1

[danielf]

Grrrr....why does everybody ignore RMIT? I know you said your parents would be upset if you don't get into Monash or Melbourne but RMIT is terrific. I had the choice. And I chose RMIT. Even if it has lower scores. The course is terrific, so are the facilities. I have only completed first year but already I got offered civil engineering vacation work. At work all the people in the highest position are RMIT grads. And my bosses say they love RMIT engineering grads.
I don't work for RMIT. But maybe explain to ur parents that for engineering (no idea about commerce - although the MBA (i guess it would reflect on all of commerce) at Deakin is ranked best in Australia) there are lower-entry, and (IMO) better courses than those at Melb/Monash.

As for feeling bad - I guess you could just have peanut butter sandwiches everyday like I did. All you have to do is buy a loaf of bread every do often. Thats cuts down on $35.

Also, I agree with ninwa (NOTE THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL PLUG - I DON'T EVEN TUTOR ANY OF YOUR SUBJECTS (except methods but if you are gettin that for free, don't change now)). There are plenty of good tutors out there that are much cheaper. But stick with what is working for you. If you go well on the first set of SACS, keep the tutors. Do some external tests to test yourself. If its working, don't rock the boat. But if you find you're getting charged $70ph for accounting and you get C+ on the first SAC - it's time to look for someone else.

Patience my friend. Just remember, your parents only have to do this for one more year. There are plenty more years after that for them to lounge around whilst you work your ass off establishing yourself as an engineer.