Login

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

March 29, 2024, 03:38:32 pm

Author Topic: Is getting a tutor necessary  (Read 4235 times)  Share 

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

110110101

  • Fresh Poster
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Respect: 0
Is getting a tutor necessary
« on: December 13, 2019, 06:23:45 pm »
0
Is it necessary to get a tutor to get high scores (45-50 raw) in methods and spesh as well as subjects like English language, physics and chem?
(Given you work extremely hard and get feedback from teachers, etc.)

DrDusk

  • NSW MVP - 2019
  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 504
  • Respect: +130
Re: Is getting a tutor necessary
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2019, 06:26:31 pm »
0
Is it necessary to get a tutor to get high scores (45-50 raw) in methods and spesh as well as subjects like English language, physics and chem?
(Given you work extremely hard and get feedback from teachers, etc.)
It is definitely not necessary. The reason people get tutors is because they usually have lots of questions/resources that just wouldn't be available from your typical school. They also tend to accelerate their students which means you already know the stuff when you come across it in school.

Before this large emphasis on tutoring came about people used to obviously study by themselves and still get good marks. Get a tutor if you feel like you will need that extra consolidation or if your teacher isn't that good.

Sine

  • Werewolf
  • National Moderator
  • Great Wonder of ATAR Notes
  • *****
  • Posts: 5135
  • Respect: +2103
Re: Is getting a tutor necessary
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2019, 06:28:05 pm »
+4
Is it necessary to get a tutor to get high scores (45-50 raw) in methods and spesh as well as subjects like English language, physics and chem?
(Given you work extremely hard and get feedback from teachers, etc.)
Hey as a tutor who has tutored for the past three years I wouldn't say it is "necessary" for someone to do well in a subject.

Many students score into the high 40s/50 without a tutor whilst others that have tutors and don't do quite as well.

I think it is ultimately dependent on the student and whether they feel the need for one (e.g. more 1 on 1 teaching, resources, work ahead of the class)- some people will benefit greatly with a tutor whilst others may get complacent and feel that a tutor will do the work for you.

110110101

  • Fresh Poster
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Respect: 0
Re: Is getting a tutor necessary
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2019, 06:30:00 pm »
0
It is definitely not necessary. The reason people get tutors is because they usually have lots of questions/resources that just wouldn't be available from your typical school. They also tend to accelerate their students which means you already know the stuff when you come across it in school.

Before this large emphasis on tutoring came about people used to obviously study by themselves and still get good marks. Get a tutor if you feel like you will need that extra consolidation or if your teacher isn't that good.

So if I'm in a decent school and can get ahead by myself using the textbook/other resources (eg atar notes) a tutor isn't needed for 45+
I was thinking in terms of trickier questions where vcaa might try to 'trip up' students, a tutor might help to get those right?

ArtyDreams

  • MOTM: Jan 20
  • Victorian Moderator
  • Forum Leader
  • *****
  • Posts: 518
  • Fly against the wind. Not with it.
  • Respect: +599
Re: Is getting a tutor necessary
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2019, 06:37:17 pm »
0
So if I'm in a decent school and can get ahead by myself using the textbook/other resources (eg atar notes) a tutor isn't needed for 45+
I was thinking in terms of trickier questions where vcaa might try to 'trip up' students, a tutor might help to get those right?

I still think that it will depend on your teacher. Some teachers do go through harder/trickier VCAA questions with their classes and teach them. It really depends on your teacher. If your unsure, maybe ask a past student that has had that teacher and check if they went through stuff like that. You can even learn a lot of strategies to help with these questions just be looking through Examiners reports. 

If you're selfmotivated, and work well on your own, a tutor is definetely not necessary to do well.

Tau

  • Trendsetter
  • **
  • Posts: 147
  • Respect: +28
Re: Is getting a tutor necessary
« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2019, 07:27:50 pm »
+3
Is it necessary to get a tutor to get high scores (45-50 raw) in methods and spesh as well as subjects like English language, physics and chem?
(Given you work extremely hard and get feedback from teachers, etc.)
To add to the responses above, I found that putting myself in the place of a tutor was a useful approach. As in, I’d ask myself probing questions, or made sure I’d worked at a problem until I was sure I understood all of it etc. If you are self-motivated and dedicated, you can certainly succeed without a tutor.

There are also lots of great sites to assist your studies. StackExchange is a great site for intuition type questions. VIC Maths Notes has great (free!) notes and VCAA past questions. And of course there’s ATAR Notes!

From a personal perspective, I only got one mark above 45, but I didn’t have a tutor for anything and personally appreciated the opportunity to learn for myself. Independent study is also a useful skill to build for Uni and the future. Of course some people still find the extra guidance and tutoring useful during this time. But I do believe it’s a misconception that one must have a tutor to do well.
2020 - Bachelor of Science, The University of Melbourne

2019: UMEP Mathematics Extension [First Class Honours (H1)], English [44], Specialist [42 ~ 52], Algorithmics (HESS)
ATAR: 99.50
2018: Physics [46 ~ 48], Methods [41 ~ 46]

colline

  • MOTM: NOV 19
  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 341
  • ♡ 2 Timothy 1:7 ♡
  • Respect: +512
Re: Is getting a tutor necessary
« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2019, 08:34:43 pm »
+4
Echoing what DrDusk, Sine and Tau said above, it's definitely not a necessity to have a tutor for methods, or any other subject for that matter, to get above 45+; likewise having a tutor wouldn't mean you're bound to get a better score. However, I would say that in some ways, it will make it easier.

Talking from my own experience, I've never done maths tutoring in my life until halfway through year 12, when I started 1.5 hours of small group tutoring a week for methods. At the end of the year when I was starting exam revision, I found that I had a much more solid foundation in unit 4 than unit 3. My tutor also told me many tips and the things commonly used to separate top students which my teacher at school never told me, and I did find that they helped me on the exam - I got a 50 in methods, and while I don't think I would've scored significantly worse without tutoring, I don't think I could've gotten 50.

However, if you're prepared to go out of your way to prepare for the exam independently, then tutoring isn't needed. Another thing to beware of with tutoring which I saw in a lot of students at my school is: many students think that as they get tutored, they're "covered" in terms of content and don't pay much attention at school, which leads to having a much more relaxed and careless approach to study. In this case, I would say tutoring actually does more harm than good. For all the subjects I got 45+ in, methods was the only one I did tutoring for. So yeah, definitely not necessary, and depends on the person.

VCE: Literature [50] Methods [50] Further [48] Chemistry [40] Biology [33]
2022: Bachelor of Science (Mathematical Economics) @ ANU

milanander

  • Trendsetter
  • **
  • Posts: 114
  • Nehemiah 8:10
  • Respect: +85
Re: Is getting a tutor necessary
« Reply #7 on: December 14, 2019, 10:06:20 am »
+4
Just want to add to what everyone else has been saying, tutoring doesn’t help if you do not have the right attitude and method to study. I know people who spent thousands of dollars to get tutored in all 6 subjects but only got 20s or low 30s and had 60-70 something ATAR.
— 2019 • 2020 —
UMEP 4.0, Systems 41, Methods 47, Specialist 46, Physics 46, Viscom 40, English 37
ATAR 99.20

— 2021 • 2023 —
Bachelor of Design (Mechanical Systems & Graphic Design)
University of Melbourne

TheEagle

  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 361
  • Respect: +12
Re: Is getting a tutor necessary
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2019, 02:55:26 am »
0
Echoing what DrDusk, Sine and Tau said above, it's definitely not a necessity to have a tutor for methods, or any other subject for that matter, to get above 45+; likewise having a tutor wouldn't mean you're bound to get a better score. However, I would say that in some ways, it will make it easier.

Talking from my own experience, I've never done maths tutoring in my life until halfway through year 12, when I started 1.5 hours of small group tutoring a week for methods. At the end of the year when I was starting exam revision, I found that I had a much more solid foundation in unit 4 than unit 3. My tutor also told me many tips and the things commonly used to separate top students which my teacher at school never told me, and I did find that they helped me on the exam - I got a 50 in methods, and while I don't think I would've scored significantly worse without tutoring, I don't think I could've gotten 50.

However, if you're prepared to go out of your way to prepare for the exam independently, then tutoring isn't needed. Another thing to beware of with tutoring which I saw in a lot of students at my school is: many students think that as they get tutored, they're "covered" in terms of content and don't pay much attention at school, which leads to having a much more relaxed and careless approach to study. In this case, I would say tutoring actually does more harm than good. For all the subjects I got 45+ in, methods was the only one I did tutoring for. So yeah, definitely not necessary, and depends on the person.

Who tutored you? A 50, damn! Well done

colline

  • MOTM: NOV 19
  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 341
  • ♡ 2 Timothy 1:7 ♡
  • Respect: +512
Re: Is getting a tutor necessary
« Reply #9 on: December 21, 2019, 10:15:25 am »
+1
Who tutored you? A 50, damn! Well done

Thank you! I did tutoring with a first-year uni student who did methods a year before me, it was a small group so aside from me there were 4 other students. I personally found the ‘small group’ atmosphere quite helpful as you get quite personalised help, but you also have more peers to work with together (not to mention it’s probably the cheapest choice - my class was $20 for 1.5hrs but I know others spending up to $60 for 1hr on one-on-one classes); but as it’s also the only tutoring I’ve ever done, I don’t know whether it’s better than doing tutoring in a big class with a company, or one-on-one tuition.

If you want, I can give you his details (PM me).

----

ADD: I've been getting a lot of PM's asking for his details so I thought I'd just edit this post to say that my tutor has told me he's no longer offering tutoring in 2020.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2020, 10:49:42 pm by colline »

VCE: Literature [50] Methods [50] Further [48] Chemistry [40] Biology [33]
2022: Bachelor of Science (Mathematical Economics) @ ANU

TheEagle

  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 361
  • Respect: +12
Re: Is getting a tutor necessary
« Reply #10 on: December 21, 2019, 03:37:59 pm »
0
Thank you! I did tutoring with a first-year uni student who did methods a year before me, it was a small group so aside from me there were 4 other students. I personally found the ‘small group’ atmosphere quite helpful as you get quite personalised help, but you also have more peers to work with together (not to mention it’s probably the cheapest choice - my class was $20 for 1.5hrs but I know others spending up to $60 for 1hr on one-on-one classes); but as it’s also the only tutoring I’ve ever done, I don’t know whether it’s better than doing tutoring in a big class with a company, or one-on-one tuition.

If you want, I can give you his details (PM me).

That's great. Yes please, appreciate it!

huy8668

  • Victorian
  • Trailblazer
  • *
  • Posts: 26
  • Respect: +2
Re: Is getting a tutor necessary
« Reply #11 on: January 02, 2020, 07:44:09 pm »
+1
I reckon having a tutor just speeds things up, that's all.

Whether it's necessary or not depends more on your background in mathematics and studying as a whole.

If you have done a lot of mathematics prior to VCE, chances are, you can get a raw 50 without any tutoring.

If you haven't done that much mathatics in the past, I would say that it will be tough to get even a raw 40 with the assistance of a tutor.

For explanation sake, let's just say that to get a 50, you need a 9000 "maths experience points". Say, you have done lots of mathematics in the past, you are now at 8500 and in the next two years of VCE, you are able to collect 250 maths experience points on your own. Then you can get a 50 without any tutoring.

On the other hand, say if you haven't done that much maths in the past and have acquired only 7000 maths experience points and in each VCE year you can only manage to collect 250 more. Say there's this tutor who can help you collect 1000 points each year. Then getting this tutor is very necessary.

That's how I like to think about it.