Michael: Quebec City tutor
Certified Tutor
I am currently enrolled as an undergraduate at Columbia University here in New York working towards a degree in biology.
For my entire life, my goal has been to learn, and to take what I learn in the classroom and apply it in the real world. I am never satisfied with the easy answer (except for in a timed setting, where shortcuts can be your savior) and am constantly striving to learn new things. I have studied a diverse range of topics, from the hard sciences, to finance, and the arts, and have excelled. This is not because I am a genius. It is because I am truly interested in what I am studying and I have developed a practical system for studying and organizing. While you may shrug organizational skills off now as something only old people do, I have to tell you otherwise. As a twenty year old college student with a full plate, organization is one of the most important things to learn early on.
I have worked as a tutor since the 9th grade, starting out with biology and chemistry, and later branching out to SAT prep and most other subjects. My philosophy is this: all students are able to excel at anything they set their minds to. The reason why some do while others struggle has more to do with poor studying habits or a different way of learning material that is not addressed by the teacher's methods. It is my job to diagnose what the problem is and to fix it. I have done this with great success in the past and will continue to do so.
In my free time, I love to make films, start new projects, play the piano, read, and work with animals. I am currently working on a music startup as well as several apps with a friend from college. In short, I like to make things.
Back to the most important thing; you. Just breathe. We will get through this together. At the end of the day, a string of bad test scores or that "C" in Geometry (ok, "D") is not going to dictate your success in life. Success lies within ourselves and not on pieces of paper.
I look forward to working with each and every one of you.
Connect with a tutor like Michael
Undergraduate Degree: University of Southern California - Current Undergrad, Political Science and Government
- SAT Composite (1600 scale): 1490
- SAT Math: 700
- SAT Verbal: 700
- SAT Writing: 740
I enjoy making movies, traveling, and playing tennis above all else.
- Algebra
- AP Biology
- AP Physics 2
- AP US History
- Biology
- Cell Biology
- College Biology
- High School Biology
- Immunology
- Languages
- Math
- Medicine
- Microbiology
- Pre-Algebra
- SAT Reading
- Science
- Spanish 1
What is your teaching philosophy?
A test score is not the end of the word! The fact that you have asked for help is a testament to your motivation and desire to learn. I feel that every student has the ability to understand the material in any course. The reason why some struggle and some excel might be due to the differing ways in which we process information, the pressure we put on ourselves in the pursuit of high grades, or a combination of factors. My mission is to find the underlying factor that is causing a student to perform lower than his/her capabilities, and to solve this problem. This might be through stress-reducing methods, test-taking techniques, and doing as many types of test questions as possible, which I feel is vital to success. During my academic career, I have developed many methods that can be employed to attack a wide range of problems, from the SAT to the AP biology exam, and I would like to share these with you.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
I would get to know the student as well as possible. We would have a conversation about what their interests are and what they like to do outside of school. Then I would figure out what their current methods are for studying, followed by a diagnostic test to see how they do under time pressure and how they attack different types of problems. Depending on the subject, my method would vary.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
You have to find a way to make the topic appeal to them personally. It is impossible to motivate a student to learn in any other way. It is about knowing the audience, which is why it is so important to get to know them.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
To show them how much progress they have made, and to give them new tools to help them maintain and build upon that progress. The results will come in time, and not immediately.