how much would you pay?

Question

I have the following degrees

Bachelors of Science Physics,
B.S. Molecular Cell Biology

Undergrad designation- phi beta kappa and summa *** laude (highest honors)

Masters of Science Biochemistry
MS Biomedical Engineering

J.D. (law) order of coif (top 10 percent)

all from ucla (go bruins!)

I am planning to practice law as a solo (wish me luck!) But plan to sustain myself by tutoring.

I have been tutoring for 7 years on SAT and almost any science/math subject you can think of and I love what I do more than anything and think im pretty good at it.

I have been charging for my private inhome 1 on 1 tutoring 35-45 an hour just after undergrad. But now with all these other degrees besides the bachelors, I want to charge more. Companies that I have worked for charge the clients much much more for my services and they get willing customers.

What do u think I am worth? How much would you pay? I understand that price is individually and locally sensitive.

Answer 1

As a longtime tutor myself, I can say that Elljay hit it right on the nose.

In Seoul (Korea) and Manhattan, you can make $250-300 an hour and up. In Boston, paying at least $45-60 is pretty standard (at least in certain neighborhoods), and more like $100 for one-on-one LSAT prep. And L.A. is a good neighborhood.

With your credentials, I would definitely suggest that you consider specializing in graduate school exams--the LSAT and the MCAT. In general, people will pay more for one-on-one tutoring in those areas, because they figure it's worth it to get into a top professional school. For that matter, you could probably teach the GMAT too, as long as you're pretty good at the writing stuff, which it sounds like you would be.

Answer 2

If you want to charge more, you'd have to find the right clients. Judging from your degrees, you are in L.A. That opens up all kinds of opportunities for upscale tutoring.

I used to know a woman in Santa Monica with similar credentials who tutored child actors and was able to charge far more than the standard $35-45.

Look into the exclusive neighborhoods and suburbs that are mostly professionals. You should first establish yourself as a company to make it more legitimate. Spiffy name, nice website, good advertising. It is the psychology of business: parents are willing to pay more for what they perceive to be better.

Answer 3

Personally, I wouldn't pay that amount for tutoring. There are many ways to get free private instruction. I would also need good references if I were to spend money on a tutor. You may have honors, but that doesn't mean you have a good grasp on language fundamentals, nor does it mean you could effectively teach the fundamentals.

If I were in your position though, I would call around to the local learning centers, such as Huntington, to see what their going rate is for one on one tutoring. Locally, Huntington asks $60 a session.

Answer 4

It would depend on a number of factors. If you are going to be tutoring some high school kid in English, your degrees mean nothing and don't add to the price. They may affect, though, how much a parent would be willing to pay for tutoring for biology or physics.

Frankly, though, I don't know of a single parent around here who would be willing to pay $45 an hour for tutoring, regardless of degrees.

Answer 5

If you go too high you may not get as much business and those who need your services most probably wouldn't be able to afford them. I wouldn't go any higher than $50 an hour.

Answer 6

I think your worth as much as you demand to be paid and refuse to accept plain and simple.

Answer 7

I would probably pay you $90 per hour