Has tutoring increased your grades?

[jay1993]

How beneficial is your Tutor?

[lolbox]

my two worst sac grades for english were the two sacs where I had a tutor helping me...

[THem]

Doesn't really increase your grades much/at all if you were good in the 1st place.

[jay1993]

LOL obviously. If your grades are THAT gud that ur grades cant be improved, then why would you get a tutor.

[THem]

LOL obviously. If your grades are THAT gud that ur grades cant be improved, then why would you get a tutor.

I didn't say "THAT gud".
I mean if you're already achieving like 90%+, you won't be able to see much of a change even if you get a tutor. You will still run into problems, need explanations for certain things and get stuck on questions so you can still get a tutor. It's only when you performing badly ( C's) that a tutor would really help improve your grades.

[shinny]

LOL obviously. If your grades are THAT gud that ur grades cant be improved, then why would you get a tutor.

I didn't say "THAT gud".
I mean if you're already achieving like 90%+, you won't be able to see much of a change even if you get a tutor. You will still run into problems, need explanations for certain things and get stuck on questions so you can still get a tutor. It's only when you performing badly ( C's) that a tutor would really help improve your grades.

Not true. There's different levels of tutoring. For example, Dr. He in Box Hill only accepts students that pass a pretty difficult maths test, but he definitely is able to improve someone from like a 90% level to higher than that. I had a similar thing with English where I was chucked into a high level class and the tutor spent all year on fine tuning minor things.

[jay1993]

i guess when u are getting C's the grades will see the biggest improvement, coz obviously ur capable but u jst need a push haha didnt think bout it that way.
But still in my opinon, gettng 90+ and running into a few hard Q's probz wouldnt mean u need a tutor. I reckon the teachers help would be just fine. (unless the teacher aint great)

(didn't mean to be rude by saying "THAT gud", lol thought it was just implied.)

[shinny]

I find that for people of all abilities though, one thing tutoring does is just motivate (well, force) them to work. I know this was the case with English. If I didn't have a tutor, I probably would've never wrote essays during the year.

[THem]

LOL obviously. If your grades are THAT gud that ur grades cant be improved, then why would you get a tutor.

I didn't say "THAT gud".
I mean if you're already achieving like 90%+, you won't be able to see much of a change even if you get a tutor. You will still run into problems, need explanations for certain things and get stuck on questions so you can still get a tutor. It's only when you performing badly ( C's) that a tutor would really help improve your grades.

Not true. There's different levels of tutoring. For example, Dr. He in Box Hill only accepts students that pass a pretty difficult maths test, but he definitely is able to improve someone from like a 90% level to higher than that. I had a similar thing with English where I was chucked into a high level class and the tutor spent all year on fine tuning minor things.

But how many people are going to be privileged to receive tuition from someone at that level (or compare the amount of people in such classes to everyone else)? He might be able to challenge you and improve your standards ( even if you're already performing very well) but I was referring to most cases. A lot of people just look for tutors that have just finished VCE or otherwise attend some company programs. If you didn't get a tutor and still worked really hard ( and constantly achieved 90%+, did questions and so forth), the benefits that a tutor would have on your grades would be minimal. Personally, I found that all a tutor really did was help answer a few questions I was unsure about but my teacher probably would of been able to answer them as well. So in the end, the questions you're stuck on ( that the tutor answers for you) could probably still be answered by another source. ( So you might ask, why get a tutor then? It's more convenient. You can't always contact your teachers etc but in the end, you will still get your questions answered(provided you don't leave the until the last minute)).

The only major benefits I saw tuition had on students was it "makes" them study. EG: If you go to a place specifically to study ( not to mention, paying heaps of money), then it kind of motivates you to study.  ( This is a major change for students that slack off and get low grades but for students who are already motivated, constantly studying, this has little/no effect)

[jay1993]

I never realised Tutors could even be so selective.

[shinny]

He might be able to challenge you and improve your standards ( even if you're already performing very well) but I was referring to most cases. A lot of people just look for tutors that have just finished VCE or otherwise attend some company programs. If you didn't get a tutor and still worked really hard ( and constantly achieved 90%+, did questions and so forth), the benefits that a tutor would have on your grades would be minimal. Personally, I found that all a tutor really did was help answer a few questions I was unsure about but my teacher probably would of been able to answer them as well. So in the end, the questions you're stuck on ( that the tutor answers for you) could probably still be answered by another source. ( So you might ask, why get a tutor then? It's more convenient. You can't always contact your teachers etc but in the end, you will still get your questions answered(provided you don't leave the until the last minute)).

But at the 90% level (I assume you're talking about 40+ SS I guess), it's only very minor things that mean big differences in the end study score. A tutor often has very small but very important tips that people are unlikely to learn elsewhere which are extremely useful for fine tuning, and these tend to be things which someone can't learn themselves, and their teachers are unlikely to teach. For example, Dr. He emphasised something as simple as setting out your working out, TSFX often provides little hints about avoiding technicalities in writing short answer questions, I teach my students in subjects like Biology and BM about how to actually write short answers, and well, English is a no-brainer; you can't really mark that yourself. It's these minor things which in the end which mean a lot. If hard work alone was enough for VCE, there wouldn't really be a need for tutors. However, there's just so many things that 99% of the state would never figure out or realise through hard work alone.

[nicholasysc]

well said shinny

[THem]

Would the tutor be able to point out all these small things that would make a major difference on your score? ( For someone such as that doctor guy, he would as he's specifically looking to help students that are already achieving high scores but what if a good student is unable to get such a tutor?)
Would you need to( or know to) question them about every single thing to find it out or would they actually just tell you as you cover the topic?
( I guess this depends on the actual tutor)
I think for a majority of things, you would be able to find the "correct" way of setting out your work ( following text book examples, study guide examples, teachers advice, notes online etc). What other kinds of small things would you be referring to?
and making them a natural way of doing things by the end of the year.
I mean, there are probably things you wouldn't learn without a tutor but I found a lot of the "extra" things I learnt, ended up being asked by other students ( which was then covered by the teacher).

I'm not saying there isn't any benefit of getting a tutor even if you're performing well but I think, it's not very noticeable in most cases.
My original post was kind of referring to sacs, where I found that nothing I learnt outside was really helpful.

[shinny]

Would the tutor be able to point out all these small things that would make a major difference on your score? ( For someone such as that doctor guy, he would as he's specifically looking to help students that are already achieving high scores but what if a good student is unable to get such a tutor?)

Isn't accessibility besides the point? I'm just giving an example of a tutor that can help high-scoring students. And yes, he definitely can. He pointed out many mistakes in the work of people who eventually got 45+, including some who got 50.

Would you need to( or know to) question them about every single thing to find it out or would they actually just tell you as you cover the topic?
( I guess this depends on the actual tutor)

You just go through the course entirely, ask the students on what they know, test them to see whether they really do know it, and then point out these small things as you go. That's how most tutors (at this level at least) would teach.

I think for a majority of things, you would be able to find the "correct" way of setting out your work ( following text book examples, study guide examples, teachers advice, notes online etc). What other kinds of small things would you be referring to?

I can comfortably say most people actually don't after having seen my friends' work, and having been a tutor. It's not something people pay much attention to, either in maths/science calculations, or in short answer questions. Other small things include short cuts in Maths, little technicalities in wording to avoid in subjects such as Biology and the things to pay attention to when writing essays in English.

I'm not saying there isn't any benefit of getting a tutor even if you're performing well but I think, it's not very noticeable in most cases.
My original post was kind of referring to sacs, where I found that nothing I learnt outside was really helpful.

You're equating what happened to yourself as what you think would occur in 'most cases'. I'm not sure whether it's just that I had a lucky run with good tutors, but I'm assuming and hope that most people have tutors that actually do the things I've pointed out above. I'm sure plenty of tutors on VN do this.

[jay1993]

Well..... Tutors are mainly beneficial if you are not doing your best or THE best.
that being said though, Is anyone doing THE absolute BEST without the external help of anyone? if you are then i salute you .