How to Become a College Math Tutor

If you are one of those fortunate people with a natural gift in mathematics, becoming a college math tutor can be a great way to earn a little extra money. Not only will this put a few more dollars in your pocket, but you’ll be able to use your skills to help others who are having difficulty in the subject. Even better, you’ll be able to set your own schedule and decide when and how often you want to offer your tutoring services.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Make a list of all the math courses that you feel qualify to tutor. Be honest in your assessment. If there is a topic that you don’t feel comfortable with, don’t put it on the list. On the other hand, don’t underestimate your skills either. If you feel you are competent in certain areas of calculus but not others, list specifically the ones you can tutor.

2. Create a flyer that includes the listing of the areas you will tutor in and your contact information. Be sure to include both a telephone number and an email address so that it will be easy for people to get in touch with you. Often when searching for a tutor, people will have a list of possibilities. If you do not respond to their query in a timely fashion, they will just skip to the next person on their list.

3. Visit the mathematics departmental offices of colleges and universities in your local area. Many students will contact these offices directly when they are seeking a tutor. Leave several of your flyers with the department secretary to distribute to interested students. Also, ask if there is a bulletin board in the department where you can post a flyer.

4. Contact the continuing education division of these same universities. These offices cater more towards returning and evening students so they will see a different part of the student population than the mathematics department. Leave a few of your flyers with them and, again, ask if there is a bulletin board where you can post one.

5. Place an advertisement in the college newspaper. These advertisements are generally very cheap to place and get a lot of exposure since college newspapers circulate quickly across the campus.

Tips & Warnings

• Don’t be discouraged if it takes a bit of time to build up a list of students to tutor. It may take awhile to get your first students, but then word of mouth will take over as these people recommend your services to their friends and classmates.