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Essay Writing Help 24/7

Get help brainstorming ideas, writing essays, and more from an essay writing tutor online. Our tutors can help you write a book report, brainstorm ideas for a term paper or put the finishing touches on a college admissions essay

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At Tutor.com, you work one-to-one with an essay-writing tutor on whatever you need help with. Our tutors will help you understand what makes a great essay, and how you can create one—whether you're working on a personal statement, book report, research paper, or creative writing assignment.

Let's say you're writing an essay about a book you just read, but aren't sure where to start. A tutor can help you brainstorm ideas, write an outline, structure your paper, cite your sources, and proofread your essay once it's complete.

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We cover essay-writing from elementary school through the introductory undergraduate level (including college admissions essays).

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Best Online Writing Tutoring Services

Chegg is our pick for best online writing tutoring service

Everyone needs a little writing boost from time to time, whether they're working on a term paper, preparing for the essay portion of a standardized test, or developing niche writing skills.

Online writing tutors are a great solution to any writing issues you or your child might have, with plenty of instructors specializing in every niche imaginable, right at your fingertips. And, thanks to the pandemic and the growing need for flexible learning options, online tutoring options continue to expand.

If you're looking for professional help or a way to boost your creative writing skills, we've reviewed some of the best online writing tutoring services out there.

The 7 Best Online Writing Tutoring Services of 2024

• Best Overall: Chegg
• Best for High School Students: Princeton Review
• Best for Transparent Pricing: Skooli
• Best National: Kaplan
• Best for Creative Writing: Wyzant
• Best for Professional Writing: Business Writing Center
• Our Top Picks

Princeton Review

Business Writing Center

• See More (3)

Final Verdict

Comparing online writing tutoring services, frequently asked questions, methodology, best overall : chegg.

• Price: Starting at about $15.95 per month
• Grade Level: High school-age and older
• Frequency: As needed

Chegg makes it easy to find tutors with expertise in your struggle areas. Plus, you’ll be able to submit a paper and receive feedback within 48 hours.

24/7 support

Submit papers for feedback

Plagiarism checker

Different tutor for each use

No real curriculum or lessons

Chegg covers pretty much any subject you might need writing help in, which is a comfort for students. The site has thousands of writing experts, all with their own individual expertise and specialties. Whether students need help with literary analysis, lab reports, or a history research paper, someone can assist.

Chegg’s system allows learners to submit a paper they need help with and have it checked by a suitable expert who can provide feedback within 48 hours, whether it's an answer to a specific question or a general scan of your paper and writing style.

The platform offers a subscription plan for Chegg Writing, which includes a plagiarism detector, free citation creation, and proofreading and grammar scans for an unlimited number of papers.

The writing subscription is $9.95 per month, however there is a free trial. Prices for Chegg study and tutor start at around $15.95 per month.

Best for High School Students : Princeton Review

Use promo code INVESTO15 for 15% off MSRP.

• Price: Starts at $40 an hour up to roughly $350 to $1,450 for six-month flex plans
• Grade Level: K-12 and higher education
• Frequency: One to 10 hours per month, or 10 hours to 50 hours in six months

High school students will benefit from the help of expert tutors that can cater to individuals’ one-on-one needs and specific learning goals. The tutors are available 24/7 for those late-night cramming sessions.

One-on-one tutors plus premade content for academic help

Tutors available 24/7

Heavily vetted tutors include professors, teachers, PhDs and other experts

Can be expensive

No one-off sessions

Princeton Review just might be the perfect fit for high school students looking for help with their writing skills.

Whether they're looking for help on a book report, a research paper, an admissions essay, or something else, they can call on these tutors 24/7 to polish writing skills. Even better: Princeton Review's instructors are categorized by topic, so students can specifically search for tutors with expertise in whatever subject help is needed.

Rather than negotiating rates with individual tutors, Princeton Review offers several different pricing plans, including monthly subscriptions with a set number of hours per month or a more flexible plan allowing access anytime.

Monthly packages range from about $40 for one hour to roughly $340 for 10 hours per month, while six-month flex plans run from approximately $350 for 10 hours ($35 per hour) to around $1,450 for 50 hours ($29 per hour).

These flex plans allow students to log on at any time during the six months, and a session can be as short or as long as they want.

Best for Transparent Pricing : Skooli

• Price: Starts at $0.82 a minute with pay-as-you-go; as low as $0.65 a minute if you prepay 32 hours
• Grade Level: Elementary school through college

There’s no commitment needed with Skooli. You can use the platform as needed, and you’ll only have to pay roughly $1 per minute. 

Get help instantly 

No commitment needed

Pay per minute makes rates reasonable

15 minute minimum

No student-tutor relationship, since you’ll book as needed

Since Skooli offers tutoring in plenty of different subjects, you’re likely to be able to find writing tutors who can help tailor your essays to the specific needs of your subject. Writing a history research paper is very different from writing a literary analysis, and you can browse Skooli’s wide range of tutors to find one with the background and expertise to help with your specific project.

You can use Skooli as a long-term tutoring option—either with one specific instructor or different ones each time students log on—but it’s also designed for in-the-moment queries. The pricing structure reflects that: Skooli charges around $1 per minute rather than monthly or even hourly rates, so all time is accounted for while learning.

For the most part, tutors on Skooli are well-vetted and experienced and hold degrees and teaching certifications, so students can be sure that every minute spent will further their knowledge.

Best National : Kaplan

• Price: Courses start at $549 (ACT prep) and $1,100 (LSAT prep)
• Grade Level: From high school admissions through career advancement
• Frequency: Varies by course

Kaplan is widely known and trusted for online tutoring, and offers test prep tutoring from high school admissions tests through college admissions tests and beyond. 

Robust offering

Help for specific tests

Widely known and trusted brand

Not much offered beyond test prep courses

Not for basic writing tutoring

Kaplan's name and its test prep formulas are top of the line. For students looking for private or group tutoring to prepare for a standardized test or entrance exam, Kaplan’s tutoring program is one of the most comprehensive.

Students can sign up for small-group remote classes with experienced teachers or enroll in private, one-on-one tutoring. Tutoring sessions are highly structured, including multiple full-length practice tests and in-depth explanations for scores. It’s as close as it gets to taking the test before you actually take it.

While a good portion of the tutoring focuses on the multiple-choice sections of these tests, Kaplan tutors also work with students to improve their writing skills and help them learn what the test review boards are looking for in each individual exam. The platform is for serious, long-term tutoring with highly experienced tutors and exclusive materials, not one-time sessions, and the prices reflect that.

Prices vary depending on which test you’re preparing for. If you're prepping for the ACT, you can enroll in an online class with top ACT teachers for $549. If you want one-on-one tutoring, options start at $749. If you're prepping for the LSAT, they offer a live online course for $1,100 and one-on-one tutoring plus a live online course starting at $1,999.

Best for Creative Writing : Wyzant

• Price: Starts at $25 an hour
• Grade Level: All, plus adults

Wyzant allows you to search for tutors in your subject matter of interest, including both gen-eds and more creative classes. 

Ability to search for the type of tutor you want

Search within your price range

24/7 access to tutors

Experience is specific to the tutor you choose

Site does not have tutors adhere to a specific methodology

No tutor/student relationship, as sessions are one-off and as-needed

While the majority of tutoring sites focus more on straightforward academics, Wyzant also includes creative writing tutors. Whether you’re a student working on an English class assignment, a creative writing major looking for a little extra guidance, or just someone wanting to dig into creative writing on your own time, there’s likely an instructor for you.

The site filters tutors by broad subject area and then by narrower expertise. Prospective students can view a tutor’s profile, rating, and hourly rate before reaching out. Many of the site’s creative writing tutors have advanced degrees or professional experience, so you can be sure you’re getting genuine expert help.

Wyzant gives students and tutors a lot of leeway to negotiate their own relationships, both in the classroom and in terms of rates. Tutors set their own fees (the average is between about $25 and $65 per hour, although there are plenty of tutors above and below that range), and the platform offers a one-hour guarantee: the first hour lesson with a new tutor is guaranteed to be a success, or it’s free. It’s a great way to dip your toe in and get help honing your craft.

Best for Professional Writing : Business Writing Center

• Price: $69 up to $595
• Grade Level: Adult
• Frequency: Self-paced for four months

Business Writing Center caters specifically to professionals by teaching business writing for reports, proposals, and other important work writing. 

Specifically for business professionals

Classes for non-native speakers available

Self-paced classes may not be for everyone

Greater fee for individualized courses

Business Writing Center (BWC) isn’t your typical tutoring service.

Rather than aiming its services at secondary school-aged students, the site is geared toward business professionals looking to brush up their writing skills. While some of the offerings are more suitable for business people whose first language isn’t English, there are options for one-on-one tutoring and feedback on professional reports, proposals, and other important work documents.

Rather than hourly tutoring, BWC offers its tutoring services through “coaching” courses. The company has a few different specialties, including document writing, coaching for executive writing, and a more general individual training option.

Self-paced courses start at $69, go up to $595, and can last up to four months. They allow students to work on real-world writing projects and get personalized feedback from an experienced teacher.

An online writing tutor can help students and professionals alike brush up on their writing skills so that their finished writing projects are more successful. Since you can access these tutors from anywhere, they can accommodate most schedules and learning rhythms. We chose Chegg Study as the best overall online tutoring service because it's affordable, convenient, and offers a range of writing tutoring options.

What Is an Online Writing Tutoring Service?

An online writing tutoring service is a website or platform that connects students with writing tutors, completely online and remote. These companies may be geared toward a specific grade level or type of writing, or they may be a more general platform to connect students and tutors.

A research study found that students who sought the help of tutors in writing the second draft of essays progressed more and scored higher on their second drafts than those who did not seek help. The same study found that students who used online tutoring services in addition to in-person tutoring in their school’s writing center scored even higher than those who did not take advantage of online tutoring services.

How Much Do Online Writing Tutoring Services Cost?

Online writing tutoring services cover a wide range of prices. In general, there are two basic models: pay-per-session or subscription. For the former, students pay for access each time they use the service for tutoring help. For the latter, students pre-pay for a package that spans a certain amount of time, number of sessions, or even a mini-course that also includes one-on-one tutoring time. Many tutoring services charge $1 per minute or $35 to $60 per hour. Monthly packages can range from about $69 to thousands of dollars.

What Can You Learn From a Professional Writing Tutoring Session?

Adult professionals can expect to gain practical skills they can apply directly to the writing they do in their chosen profession. Some of those skills may include document writing, executive writing, using basic grammar and sentence structure, and writing for non-native speakers of English.

Online writing tutors may also look over previously written documents and provide edits and/or suggestions to help you polish them.

What Features Do Online Writing Tutoring Services Have?

Every tutoring service structures its offerings a little differently, and each tutor may have their own particular style of teaching. That being said, these platforms are usually based around chat functions, either video/audio or text-based (or some combination of both), and many services have some type of screen-sharing and document-sharing capabilities.

Most online writing tutors will focus on helping students apply their knowledge in a practical sense. While some might have pre-planned assignments to develop particular skills (more common in specialized subjects like creative writing or test prep), other instructors prefer to have students come prepared with an assignment they need help with and give feedback to strengthen it.

Online writing tutoring doesn’t have to be overwhelming, and we’ve tried to make selecting an instructor as easy as possible. Because “writing” is such a broad skill applied to so many different settings, we’ve sorted out some of the categories that we think will be the most useful to the largest number of students. The platforms here range from specialized expertise in niches like business writing and test prep to more general essay-writing assistance.

Students seeking a writing tutor may want a long-term preparatory course or help with an individual essay. With this in mind, we’ve included a wide range of specialties and, more importantly, price points, from pay-per-minute instant feedback to formal, highly researched, long-term prep classes that cost significantly more over the course of several months.

Rachel Weill / Getty Images

Al Chibani W. The effectiveness of online and on-to-one tutoring in the writing center on the students’ achievement: a multiple case study . Int Lett Soc Humanist Sci . 2014;41:192-197. doi:10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.41.192

Get personalized college essay writing tutoring online

Find a highly qualified college essay writing tutor to help boost your student’s grades and confidence.

Achieving Success in College Essay Writing

As the adage goes, “Writing is hard.” Many students are daunted when facing the pulsing cursor on the blank computer screen. At Revolution Prep, we take the guesswork out of writing so your child can tackle essays in college with the right tools and preparation techniques.

Our experienced tutors break down writing barriers and mental blocks to make writing college-level essays accessible and engaging. Whether writing a persuasive or critical essay, your child will have the right tools to write with confidence during their college years.

Enroll in a Tutoring

Program today, enroll in a tutoring program today, our subject-specific expert tutors are carefully chosen.

Our customized approach to learning will help your child improve their college essay writing skills in a calm and focused setting.

Personalized Lesson Plan

Selective Hiring

Experience With Different Learning Styles and Disabilities

Boost your child’s academic progress with a tailor-made study plan optimized for their unique needs. A tutor will work to find the best approach to writing for your child.

At Revolution Prep, we deliver the best of the best. With less than 3% of thousands of applicants hired, we ensure the best writing tutor for your child’s needs. Tutoring is also a Revolution Prep tutor’s full-time job, never just a side gig.

Whether your child has a learning challenge or physical disability, our expert tutors come from a variety of backgrounds and have the skills to help your child thrive.

Tutoring Can Help

In the hectic college setting, your child will be occupied with more activities than ever compared to previous grade levels . While pulling an all-nighter may be tempting, students need to remember that successful writing is a slow and steady process. Given the many elements in the college essay — from the early phase of brainstorming to adhering to a clear and logical structure — creating a solid piece of writing takes time and practice.

In addition to teaching students the skill of a finely crafted essay, our tutors will teach time management skills to leave time for feedback and revisions. With the help of a tutor, your child will have the skills to transition into college essay writing with confidence.

Common College Essay Writing Skills & Concepts To Know

A savvy tutor will equip your child with fundamental writing techniques so they can skillfully craft the college essay. Skills and concepts include, but are not limited to, the following: • Brainstorming and outlining • Paragraph structure • How to write a thesis, introduction, body, and conclusion • Integrating supporting evidence and analysis • Researching peer-reviewed material • Receiving and incorporating feedback • The importance of editing and revising

What Sets Our College Essay Writing Tutoring Services Apart

A distraction-free environment means your child can receive focused writing feedback in a nurturing environment. Revolution Prep tutors have taught exclusively online for the last 10 years and are experts in the craft of virtual teaching. We aim to foster accessible online learning so your child can unlock their full writing potential.

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Elizabeth R.

Private online College Essay Writing tutor

North Carolina State University - BA, Language, Writing, and Editing DePaul University- MA, Writing (focus on Media and...

Further Persons Imperfect . Ed . Paul McComas . iUniverse, 2007.55-66 . Rossman, Elizabeth C . " Mesh ." First Person Imperfect . Ed . Paul McComas . iUniverse, 2003 .

I just completed my DPT from the University of Puget Sound and am completing my final internship. I hold a bachelor's degree in...

I have tutored peers and younger students since Middle School in a variety of subjects, and I find it both enjoyable and rewarding . Relevant work experience includes interning in PT clinics last summer and practicing in the UPS onsite clinic for two semesters . ...

Green Mountain College - BA, Psychology, Sociology/Anthropology GPA 3.49 Monterey Institute of International Studies - MA, ...

I love working with students to develop study skills that will transfer not only to their classrooms, but to future workplace endeavors as well . There is truly no better feeling than the moment a student "gets it ." In college, I took several world religions classes,...

MA English, 3.89 GPA

I have taught logic, seminars, accelerated classes, and remedial English as well as the standard Freshman and Sophomore level composition . Creative Writing, Grammar and Mechanics, GMAT Analytical Writing Assessment, Fiction Writing, Expository Writing, Evolutionary Biology,...

Washington State University, Junior, B.S. Psychology, Minor Humanities (Concentrations in Creative Writing and Academic Writing), GPA...

Back then, I was already a German and English tutor . When I moved to the U.S ., I continued teaching and tutoring German as well as English as a Second Language . Seeing as both languages are my passion, I started successfully teaching Creative Writing as well as Academic...

Chrystal J.

Kaplan University, MBA University of Portland, BA in Communications LCC Small business

Governess, nanny, after school teacher, private tutor for home schooled children . 10th Grade, Zoology, World Literature, World History, World Civilization, US History, US Constitutional History, The Modern World, Summer Tutoring, Writing, Study Skills And Organization, Study...

Portland State University - BA, Theatre Art , 201, GPA 3.68 Portland State University - BA, Film to be completed 2016 MHCC -...

I have also volunteered for IRCO tutoring the refugees non English speakers, and tutoring them in the culture of America giving them the tools and the skills to navigate their daily lives . This past year I have been a substitute Para-educator for PPS Portland Public Schools...

Psychology B.A. from University of California Santa Cruz, Graduating Class of 2013.

My first real experience with teaching began my senior year of high school, where I took part in an ROP Child Psychology class . My participation included collaborating with elementary school teachers, developing lesson plans, and spending time with students one-on-one . ...

The Evergreen St. College - BA, Journalism , Atkinson Grad. School of Management, WU - MBA, Finance/Org. Dev. & Design, Western...

and writing songs. 12th Grade Writing, Management, Journalism, Japanese, German 3, German 2, German 1, German 1, Finance, Essay Editing, AP German Language and Culture, AP Japanese Language and Culture, AP English Language and Composition, English, 12th Grade Reading, 12th...

English, B.A. | College of Letters and Science University of California, Berkeley '15 Graduated with 3.8 GPA and Class Honors

I have edited and worked on essays in many subjects, though my specialty of course is writing related to literature. 10th Grade Reading, 10th Grade Writing, 11th Grade Reading, 12th Grade Reading, Reading, 11th Grade Writing, 12th Grade Writing, Persuasive Writing, Technical...

I graduated from Yale University in 2013 with a BA in History and Distinction in my Major. I ran Varsity Track and Cross Country all 4...

I am particularly interested in guiding high school students to write their college essays and making this seemingly challenging task an exciting and fulfilling experience . ESL/ELL, 6th Grade math, 6th Grade Reading, 6th Grade Science, 6th Grade Writing, 7th Grade Reading,...

Katherine J.

I got my Bachelor in the Arts of Humanities for Teaching, from Seattle University. It is a Humanities degree with a focus in classwork on...

I bring with me into tutoring a background in outdoor education from my time working as a field instructor for OMSI, and English language learner techniques from my time teaching abroad in Cambodia . IB Mathematics HL, Calculus 3, College Algebra, College Essays, Ecology,...

Double majored in Cultural Anthropology and Geography at the University of California Santa Barbara.

Tutored for 2 years in high school . 21 ACT Score 2100 SAT Score AP Statistics - 5 AP US History - 4 AP Literature - 4 AP English Composition - 4 Classes in a wide range of topics at UCSB, specializing in the natural world and the ways humans interact with it . Worked...

English Major at Reed College Degree expected 2018

SAT Critical Reading score: 740 SAT, SAT Critical Reading, 11th Grade Reading, 11th Grade Writing, College Essays, SAT Subject Test in Korean with Listening, SAT Writing, IB Language A: Language and Literature HL, IB Language A: Language and Literature SL, IB Language A:...

Online College Essay Writing Tutors

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College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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Best Online Tutoring in 2024

#1 – prepmaven.

Our Verdict — Best Online Tutoring Overall Price: $79–349/hour PrepMaven offers high-quality one-on-one tutoring at an incredibly reasonable price, given the impressive qualifications of its instructors. Nearly all of PrepMaven’s tutors are Ivy-League grads (with a few tutors from other top-30 universities), and many have prestigious masters or doctoral degrees. Tutors are also carefully vetted and evaluated on their ability to communicate and connect with students. PrepMaven’s individualized touch means that students are paired with tutors who match their personality traits and often share interests, allowing for a stronger level of connection that studies have shown leads to better learning outcomes. PrepMaven’s experienced tutors can customize learning sessions to meet the needs of each individual student. Depending on the student’s goals, tutors can help students work through homework assignments, review material from class, or provide additional enrichment and challenge material. PrepMaven’s attentive tutors can find any gaps in a student’s knowledge and fill in those gaps to lay strong educational foundations. PrepMaven’s elite tutors are also top-1% scorers on key college admissions tests like the SAT and ACT and can help students prepare for those exams. Students aiming at a private high school can also prepare for the SSAT or ISEE with their tutor. PrepMaven’s tutors have a higher level of education than other tutors at most competitors, and can easily help students with advanced subjects like AP US History, AP Calculus, AP Macroeconomics, AP Physics, and other challenging classes. Founded by brothers and Princeton grads Greg and Kevin, PrepMaven focuses on delivering consistently high-quality tutoring to students. All tutors undergo a thorough training program and can use proprietary teaching materials to help students reach their goals. To make high-quality tutoring accessible to more families, PrepMaven offers tutoring at several different price points. At the most affordable rate, students can work with current Ivy-League undergraduates with subject-area expertise. At higher rates, students can work with experienced coaches who hold advanced graduate degrees.

Sign up for PrepMaven’s Ivy-League tutoring now

PrepMaven’s one-on-one tutoring is the best option for any student wanting high-quality tutoring.

At a glance:

• Cost: $79–349/hour, depending on tutor qualifications; minimum $450 package
• Tutor qualifications: Ivy-League tutors, all experienced and highly trained, some with master’s or doctoral degrees

What we like:

• Ivy League experience — most of their tutors are Princeton grads or current students, with some from Harvard and other Ivies
• Different pricing options to meet different families’ circumstances
• Smaller, boutique company offers more individualized approach customized for each student
• Able to cover advanced subjects , since tutors have Ivy-League backgrounds and have aced AP tests themselves

What we don’t like:

• Because they take the time to pair each student with the tutor that will be the best fit, sessions are not instantaneous and usually it takes 1–3 days to schedule with an Ivy-League tutor

Sign up for PrepMaven’s one-on-one tutoring now

#2 – StudyPoint

Our Verdict — Best Big Tutoring Company Price: $60-120/hour StudyPoint is a large test-prep company that keeps its rates lower than Princeton Review or Kaplan. While they do require basic qualifications for their tutors (2 years of experience and a college degree), it’s hard to know much about the tutor you’ll be matched with. You’ll also need to pay more for a more experienced tutor, so StudyPoint’s top rate of $120/hr runs on the more expensive side. While we like StudyPoint’s platform and their tutor qualifications, there’s likely to be a wide variance in tutro quality, since not all their tutors are from top schools. We’d suggest that families consider working with a Standard Tutor at PrepMaven , where fees start at $79/hour for Ivy-League tutors.

• StudyPoint is a good option for families who want to work with a large, established company at decent rates.
• Cost: $60-120/hr
• Tutor qualifications: 2 years of tutoring experience and a Bachelor’s degree
• Higher educational experience — their tutors have some experience and a college degree
• Responsive – from our experience, it’s easy to get in touch with someone at StudyPoint
• Tutors aren’t necessarily from top schools , and it’s not possible to see any information about their tutors
• Rates may be high for standard academic tutoring

How can effective learning now pave the way for future success? Jump below .

#3 – Skooli

Our Verdict — Best Super-Quick Tutoring Price: $39–49/hour Skooli is a newer online tutoring platform and the only one we’ve found that offers tutoring charged by the minute. Families can purchase packs for 8, 16, or 32 hours, or purchase individual hours. Students can then use these hours in as little as 15-minute increments. This might be handy for students who want to ask a tutor quick questions, and who don’t care about developing a relationship with a consistent tutor. Tutors for Skooli have college degrees, but haven’t necessarily graduated from a top-tier school. It’s not possible to see more details about individual tutors until after giving credit card details. Their online interface is slick and modern, although according to our inside sources it crashes frequently.

• Students who want to work with a tutor to answer quick questions (sessions as short as 15 minutes).
• Cost: $1248 for 32 hours ($39/hr), $672 for 16 hours ($42/hr), $352 per 8 hours ($44/hr), or $49/hour for individual hours, billed by the minute ($0.82/minute, minimum 15 minutes)
• Tutor qualifications: college graduates
• Tutoring available in very short increments , with a minimum session length of just 15 minutes
• Instant tutoring — on-demand tutoring is available 24/7, and just enter your credit card information to start immediately
• Reasonable pricing
• Students can’t work with the same tutor consistently , which is less effective for learning
• Online tutoring platform has some technological problems and crashes frequently

#4 – Wyzant

Our Verdict — Alternative for Families on a Budget Price: $20–600/hour There are plenty of large platforms with large stables of part-time tutors and coaches available to work with students. Wyzant is one of the largest such platforms, with more than 65,000 tutors providing services through their website. Students and families can pick individual tutors to work with from their roster and arrange tutoring services directly. One benefit of this model is that tutors can set their own rates, which vary hugely. Families on a budget can find online writing tutors as low as $20 per hour. However, these tutors might not have any teaching experience or training, and they may not have graduated from a top school. Some tutors on Wyzant with more qualifications may have much higher rates — as high as $600 per hour!

• Families on a budget who are willing to work with a freelance tutor directly.
• Cost: $20–600/hour
• Tutor qualifications: varies
• Marketplace platform means that some tutors list low rates for tutoring, which can make tutoring more affordable
• Families can choose their own tutor directly out of over 65,900 tutors listed
• No training for tutors — which leads to uneven quality of instruction
• Families are hiring individual tutors, which means tutor qualifications vary enormously , and there are no guarantees
• Choosing the right tutor out of 65,000+ is one more task for busy families

What can students learn with online tutoring? Read more below .

#6 – Learn to Be

Our Verdict — Best Free Tutoring (for qualifying families) Price: free (or voluntary contribution of $9–30 per month) Learn to Be is a fantastic non-profit organization improving education for underserved youth in the US. Students work with the same tutor consistently, which allows them to build a strong relationship and allows for mentoring as well as learning. Students working with Learn to Be have seen an average increase in test scores of 15.8% and an average GPA increase of 1.6 — nearly two full letter grades (for example from a C to an A-)! Tutors are volunteers who are passionate about educational equity, and range from current high school and college students to professionals or retirees. The program works primarily with foster youth, homeless youth, and other lower-income families. Possible qualifications for free tutoring with Learn to Be include: student attends a Title 1 school, receives free or reduced lunch at school, comes from a single-parent home, is a foster child, is homeless, or qualifies for food stamps. It’s possible to work with a Spanish-speaking tutor through Learn to Be.

• Students who qualify for free tutoring (foster youth or low-income families).
• Non-profit helping underserved youth
• Completely free tutoring for qualifying families
• Students work with the same tutor consistently, which builds trust and leads to a better individualized educational experience
• Tutor qualifications vary — some tutors are high school students as young as 14 years old, and all tutors are volunteers
• Only for qualifying youth in the US (low income or foster youth)

#7 – Schoolhouse

Our Verdict — Best Free Peer Math Tutoring Price: free While Learn to Be provides free or low-cost tutoring to only qualifying families, Schoolhouse is free and available to any student age 13+. Created by Sal Khan, who is also the founder of well-known educational non-profit Khan Academy , Schoolhouse is an innovative platform for peer tutoring. Students who are strong in math can take a short test to check their knowledge. Qualified students can then volunteer to host small-group tutoring sessions online to help their peers who might be struggling. Schoolhouse’s peer tutoring is designed to reinforce and practice what students are learning in school. There’s no adult or experienced instructor leading the tutoring sessions, and all sessions are in groups open to any student worldwide to join, so we wouldn’t recommend it for students who need targeted help learning specific math concepts. However, it can be a fun way for students to practice math alongside their peers.

• Students age 13+ who want to practice math problems in a group with their peers.
• Tutor qualifications: current students age 13+ — students take a quiz to prove their knowledge but no other required qualifications
• Completely free and open to any student worldwide age 13+
• Students can work with their student peers , which some might find more approachable
• Tutors are other young students and have no experience or qualifications
• Small-group setting doesn’t provide individual attention to students
• Not a substitute for learning guided by an experienced instructor
• Only math , and not other subjects

Read below : how strong grades & test scores are essential for college admissions

Best of the Rest for Online Tutoring

#7 – princeton review / tutor.com.

Our Verdict — Disappointing Quality from Test-Prep Giant Price : lower-quality instant tutoring at $29–35/hour, minimum package $350; monthly subscription instant tutoring at $36–40/hour Back in 2014, Tutor.com acquired the well-known test-prep company The Princeton Review. (Note that the Princeton Review has no connection to Princeton University.) They now offer subject-area tutoring in over 80 different academic areas, including math. The range of tutoring options is a little confusing, but it basically breaks down to two different models: families can choose one-off tutoring packages of 10–50 “instant tutoring” hours that can be used over a six-month period, or a monthly subscription for 1–5 instant tutoring hours each month. Tutors are available 24/7 for instant sessions. Unfortunately, we were disappointed with the quality of this offering from The Princeton Review. In contrast to their operations for standardized test prep (like SAT and ACT prep ), their platform for subject-area tutoring does not provide instructors with training, so there’s very little consistency. Tutors are also capped at 2 or 3 sessions per day, so they’re by design part-time instructors who are teaching a little on the side. While The Princeton Review / Tutor.com claims to count Ivy grads and experts with advanced degrees among their tutors, we found this to be misleading. Most of their tutors have only a BA, and most have graduated from local schools that are not even in the top 200 universities. Pay for tutors is minimum wage, so it’s difficult for them to attract good teaching talent. Surprisingly for The Princeton Review, their subject-area tutoring is a tutoring marketplace platform (similar to Wyzant ). Families select individual tutors to work with based on their bios and arrange the tutoring sessions individually. For us, this obviates the point of working with a large company like Princeton Review, where in theory the advantage is quality control and a standard curriculum, even if it comes with a more corporate feel. With this marketplace model, tutor quality and qualifications vary considerably, especially given that tutors do not receive any training or teaching materials.

• Cost: Homework Help packages that can be used over a period of 6 months: $350 for 10 hours ($35/hr), $950 for 30 hours ($32/hr), or $1499.99 for 50 hours ($29/hr); Homework Help tutoring subscriptions: $40 for 1 hour each month, $115 for 3 hours each month ($38/hr), or $180 for 5 hours each month ($36/hr)
• Reasonable pricing for tutoring and a range of payment models
• Tutors are available 24/7 for instant Homework Help packages
• Tutor qualifications vary — most are from local or state schools, not competitive colleges
• Online platform is buggy and crashes frequently
• Challenging for them to attract good teaching talent as pay is minimum wage
• Low quality of teaching , surprising for a big-name player in test prep

#8 – ArborBridge

Our Verdict: Pricey Service with Mystery Tutors Price: $165+/hour, minimum package $2400 for 15 hours Featuring crisp, minimalist visuals and a younger team, ArborBridge calls itself “the next generation of test prep.” They’ve always been remote and online, so they haven’t suffered the growing pains with the shift to online learning that many competitors with outdated platforms (like Pearson and Princeton Review ) have experienced. That said, their tutoring is quite expensive! Their rate is always at least $160 per hour, and the minimum package is a hefty $2400 for 15 hours of tutoring. They also advertise a “concierge” tutoring service with a more customized experience — price upon request. Is it worth the price? We’re not so sure. ArborBridge claims to have hired the “best” tutors but they do not list any specific qualifications for their tutors or provide any bios for their tutor roster. On their (slightly-defunct) Instagram page they have provided some fun facts about a few of their tutors, but they don’t list any educational background, years of experience, or relevant professional credentials, just favorite foods and television shows. There’s no indication that their tutors have graduated from top colleges, have teaching experience, or any other relevant qualifications — unlike services like PrepMaven or Tutoring Service of New York that only hire Ivy-League tutors. In fact, our sources have mentioned that their tutors don’t receive much training prior to teaching. They also, unlike the Princeton Review, don’t offer any guarantees for raising grades or scores. In the end, we’re not sure why ArborBridge has such high prices without offering particularly high-quality tutoring in return. Their website looks nice, though!

• Cost: $160/hour, minimum package is $2400 for 15 hours (+ 1 bonus hour); $4800 for 30 hours (+ 3 bonus hours); $7200 for 45 hours (+ 6 bonus hours) — or “concierge tutoring” with “highest level of hands-on care,” price upon request
• Tutor qualifications: unknown
• Known for good customer service
• Younger, more modern tutoring service that’s built with technology from the get-go
• Expensive , with a minimum cost of $2400 for 15 hours of tutoring
• No information about tutor qualifications provided
• No guarantees for grade or score raises
• Seems more design than substance

#9 – Learner

Our Verdict — Tutoring that Includes ESL Learners Price: $55–80/hour, minimum $400 package Learner is another newer online tutoring platform. Unlike many of the other services on this list, Learner also provides tutoring services to adults, especially for non-native English speakers. While they advertise that their tutors have degrees from “top universities,” it seems that the only necessary qualification for tutors at Learner is a college degree (not just from top schools). We found their sign-up sequence to be frustrating. New clients start by answering a series of questions about their students. While it repeatedly seems like they’ll show a selection of tutors that may be a match, this is a bait-and-switch tactic, and they never display any actual tutor profiles. Instead, new clients must first make a payment before they can view any tutor details. Learner has a “satisfaction guarantee,” which simply means that they’ll allow families to request a switch to another tutor if it’s not a good fit. Their rates are on the pricier side for “average” tutors who do not have teaching experience or degrees from elite universities.

• Cost: $400 for 5 hours ($80/hour), $700 for 10 hours ($70/hour), $1200 for 20 hours ($60/hour), or $1650 for 30 hours ($55/hour)
• Explicitly offers tutoring for ESL learners
• No specific tutor qualifications beyond a college degree
• Prices are high given quality of service

#10 – Revolution Prep

Our Verdict — High Rates Price: $132/hour, minimum $1578 for 12 hours Revolution Prep is a larger platform providing online tutoring with a focus on interactive learning. Revolution Prep is a larger platform providing online tutoring with a focus on interactive learning. While they used to offer more affordable small-group classes, they no longer do so for math tutoring.. Their individual tutoring rate of $132/hour is quite high, especially given the backgrounds of their instructors. While we like that all of their tutors are full-time staff, versus tutoring part-time alongside another career, their tutors do not have any other specific qualifications. These rates are comparable or higher than other services that provide more customized learning with Ivy-League tutors, like PrepMaven or select tutors on Wyzant..

• Cost: individual tutoring $132/hour, minimum $1398 for 12 hours
• Tutor qualifications: none specified
• All tutors are full-time staff
• Small-group tutoring provides lower prices
• No specific qualifications for tutors
• Tutoring rates are high for the type of service

#11 – Tutoring Service of New York

Our Verdict — New Service with Higher Minimum Package Price: $112–160/hour ($1200 5-session minimum) Founded by a former tutor with the now-defunct Ivy Global tutoring service, the new Tutoring Service of New York offers subject-area tutoring online. Most of their tutors are current graduate students, many at Columbia University and NYU. The higher prices of the Tutoring Service of New York reflect the more elite educational background of the tutors. However, their minimum of $1200 for at least 5 sessions is high, especially since many other services have smaller minimum packages (compare $510 minimum at PrepMaven or $450 minimum at The Princeton Review ), or else allow families to purchase one-off tutoring sessions ( Pearson , Skooli , and others).

• Cost: $1200 for five 90-minute sessions; $2000 for 10 sessions; $2700 for 16 sessions
• Tutor qualifications:  college graduates, mostly current graduate students at Columbia or NYU
• Qualified tutors with mostly Ivy-League backgrounds
• New service , so client reviews are still limited
• Higher minimum tutoring packages

#12 – Mathnasium

Our Verdict — Tutoring Franchise to Help with Math Homework Price: varies (franchise), typically $200–425/month Math is one of the most important core subjects, and so it’s not surprising that there are learning programs devoted specifically to math. Mathnasium is a franchise with locations throughout the US and even internationally. As their name might suggest, they’re focused on fostering math skills only. Pricing varies by franchise location and by grade level, but most Mathnasium centers offer a flat monthly fee that allows students to attend math tutoring sessions regularly (whether online or in person), usually two or three times per week. While other programs might focus on drills and exercises, Mathnasium typically focuses on helping students with their math homework and other math assignments. Mathnasium does not assign homework or create customized curricula for students. One significant downside of Mathnasium’s approach is that students do not necessarily get to work with the same tutor each time. This disrupts continuity and makes it harder for students to learn, since a good tutor will track students’ progress over time and create assignments that target the needs of each individual student. There are also no specific qualifications for math tutors, so there’s no guarantee that the tutors are great teachers or have a high level of expertise in math. Since each of the Mathnasium centers is locally owned and operated, the customer service experience can vary significantly.

• Cost: varies (franchise), typically $200–425/month (costs are higher for high school levels)
• Math tutor qualifications: none specified
• Focus on math , and can help students understand their math homework and other school assignments
• Tutoring isn’t necessarily one-on-one
• Not the same tutor every time , which is not ideal for learning
• Covers only math , while some other tutoring services can provide tutoring for other subjects as well
• Tutors do not have any specific qualifications

#13 – Kumon

Our Verdict — Tutoring Franchise Drilling Math and Reading Basics Price: varies (franchise), typically $100–200/month Kumon is an international tutoring franchise that focuses on reaching math and reading through rote memorization. Founded by Toru Kumon in Japan in 1958, Kumon centers all follow the same learning approach based on worksheets that very gradually increase in difficulty. Students enrolled in Kumon’s program begin with a diagnostic assessment for math and reading comprehension skills. They are then usually placed in a level lower than where they scored , so that they can reinforce existing skills with additional practice. However, this also means that students have to spend time on material that they have already learned. Students at Kumon are not able to bring in homework or material from their current classes for additional help. Instead, all Kumon sessions focus on the rigid Kumon material. The goal of the Kumon Method  is “to teach students to learn independently,” and so instructors observe students as they complete worksheets and provide guidance. Students are also assigned homework from Kumon, in order to continue practicing at home. Students typically receive about 30 minutes of homework per day. Since each of the Kumon centers is locally owned and operated, the customer service experience can vary significantly. Pricing also varies by location, but runs typically about $100–200 per month. Students are encouraged to attend Kumon sessions twice per week.

• Cost: varies (franchise), typically $100–200/month (costs are higher for high school levels)
• Tutor qualifications: high school graduates
• Repetition of core skills can lead to a thorough understanding of the basics
• Rigid curriculum is not personalized for the learning styles and speeds of each student
• Rote repetition and endless worksheets may be boring or frustrating for students
• Students can’t bring in outside homework for help with their current classes
• Assigns a lot of extra work for students (typically 30 minutes of homework daily)

#14 – Varsity Tutors

Our Verdict — Uneven Quality Without Budget Pricing Price: $70-100/hour Varsity Tutors is an enormous tutoring platform offering online instruction in all academic subjects and test prep, including writing. These days their marketing has been ubiquitous! However, Varsity Tutors’ size has many downsides — most notably, very uneven quality of teaching. Tutors at Varsity need only a high school degree, and there is no requirement for tutors to have a college degree or teaching experience, let alone a top-tier educational background or professional writing credentials. Tutors can join the Varsity team very quickly and are paid lower rates than nearly any other tutoring company (just $12–15 for sessions that cost families up to $95), so it’s difficult for Varsity to attract and retain good talent. Lucky families might get assigned a good tutor, but that’s not at all assured. Varsity Tutors also does not provide any tutor materials, curriculum, or training, so it’s up to individual tutors to create everything from scratch, contributing further to the unevenness of quality. With rates higher than the competition with similar types of tutors (no specific qualifications beyond a college degree), Varsity is significantly overpriced. We’d recommend that families either consider a more budget-friendly option that would offer the same quality as Varsity in the $30–40/hour price range, or else consider a service like PrepMaven (starting at $79/hour) or Tutoring Service of New York (starting at $112/hour) that pairs students with highly-qualified tutors with advanced degrees and Ivy-League backgrounds.

• Cost: $ 70-100/hour
• Large number of tutors , so certain to find a tutor to fit your schedule
• No education or training requirements for tutors , along with low pay rates for instructors, means tutors are less-qualified than alternative tutoring services
• Uneven teaching quality due to lack of resources for instruction
• Overpriced given the lack of required qualifications for tutors

#15 – Preply

Our Verdict — Lower-Cost Tutoring Marketplace Platform Price: $5–40/hour Preply is a lower-cost marketplace platform. It’s significantly smaller than Wyzant . Among those tutors listed, most don’t have high educational backgrounds. Preply is a more international platform, and some of the tutors are from other countries or located outside the US. One benefit of Preply’s platform is that rates are very low, ranging from $5/hour to $40/hour. These rates are actually comparable or higher than the pay rates for most of the larger platforms on our list (like Pearson , The Princeton Review , Varsity Tutors , and TutaPoint ), so don’t necessarily take these numbers on their own as indications of lower quality — just that tutors are earning a larger share. That said, the tutoring available through Preply does appear to be lower-quality than other options.

• Cost: $5–40/hour, depending on rates set by individual tutors
• Tutor qualifications:  varies
• F amilies can choose individual tutors on their marketplace platform
• No specific qualifications for tutors and no quality control
• Task of choosing the right tutor can be stressful

#16 – Chegg

Our Verdict — Message Board Help with Math Questions and Essays Price: $20 per month Chegg is one of the biggest tutoring platforms, so families may be familiar with their name already. We should note that they’ve pivoted several times in the past few years, so their service may have changed from what families have read. Whereas previously (first as InstaEDU, then as Chegg Tutors) Chegg offered live tutoring instruction online, Chegg no longer offers one-on-one tutoring . Instead, they now offer two subscription levels that allow students to view instructional videos, access answer keys for common textbooks, and receive asynchronous written feedback to homework questions. These questions are primarily answered by “subject matter experts” located in India. Their “Chegg Study Pack” includes the option to submit papers for limited written feedback with a 48-hour turnaround time. Students can submit up to 15 short papers per month, up to 3000 words each (about 6 pages double-spaced). That said, this is not the same as active writing tutoring with live discussion and exercises directly with a tutor. The written feedback provided by Chegg’s essay review service is limited. Moreover, the essay reviews are done by different tutors every time, so there’s no opportunity to grow through working with one tutor consistently. This service might work for students who want merely a quick check of their grammar or other small details on school assignments and don’t care about long-term improvements as a writer. Read more about the best online writing tutoring services here . With their Chegg Study Pack subscription, students can also post up to 20 math questions per month and receive a written step-by-step solution to the problem within 24 hours. This is not the same as active tutoring with live discussion and exercises directly with a tutor. The written math help provided by Chegg’s essay review service is very limited. Moreover, the math problem answers are written by different tutors every time, so there’s no opportunity to grow through working with one tutor consistently. Honestly, this service is little better than posting a math question to a helpful community forum, and it’s hard to see how it’s worth the monthly subscription fee.

• Cost: $15 per month for Chegg Study subscription, which provides homework resources only; $20 per month for Chegg Study Pack subscription which provides essay reviews (up to 15 short papers per month, up to 3000 words each) and math question help in addition to the homework resources
• Students can get help with specific math questions within a 24-hour turnaround time
• Large number of written essay reviews per month , up to 15 short essays
• Limited to 20 math questions per month
• Asynchronous, written feedback is not an effective way to learn
• No education or training requirements for tutors , and no information about who the essay or math question reviewers are

Top 75 Online Tutoring Services Considered

• Pearson’s Smarthinking
• Learn To Be
• Tutor.com/The Princeton Review
• Club Z! Tutoring
• Sylvan Learning
• Varsity Tutors
• Tutor Doctor
• Schoolhouse
• Revolution Prep
• Lehman Tutoring Center
• UPchieve – free tutoring for underserved youth in the US
• SpecialEdTutoring.com
• Outschool 
• Suprex Learning
• UniversityTutor.com
• Huntington Learning Center
• Cluey Learning
• Galaxy Grades
• Clever Fox Education
• Nurturing Wisdom
• Themba Tutors
• Tutoring Service of New York
• Kaplan Tutoring Services ( not Kaplan)
• ArborBridge
• INC Education – focus on BIPOC kids
• Central Park Tutors
• Special Education Resource
• Remind Tutoring
• eTutorWorld
• Growing Stars
• Revision Centre
• Tutor House
• Fleet House
• First Tutors
• Bigfoot Tutors
• Keystone Tutors
• Mentor Education
• Kings Tutors
• Think Academy

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What can students learn with online tutoring?

Students can find online tutoring for any subject, from fundamentals in reading, writing , and math to advanced high school APs or college-level subjects.

Of course, many tutoring services offer SAT and ACT test prep or coaching through the college essay writing process . 

Online tutoring has also allowed students to connect with tutors for more niche subjects like creative writing , Italian language, statistical analysis, coding, gender studies, molecular biology, the sociology of fan fiction… with the internet, it’s possible to find a specialized instructor for just about anything!

Some marketplace platforms like Wyzant or Preply allow families to search for and select individual tutors by subject-area expertise.

Other more boutique educational services like PrepMaven or the Tutoring Service of New York might be able to find and pair students with an elite Ivy-League tutor in that particular subject.

An experienced tutor can also create enrichment projects for students to supplement their school curriculum and provide positive challenges and growth opportunities that can allow students to distinguish themselves in prestigious competitions and on college applications .

As class sizes continue to increase each year, even well-meaning teachers are unable to provide individualized attention to their students, and more advanced or gifted students are often left feeling bored and unchallenged in their classes. A great tutor can meet a student at their level and help them reach new heights.

Building Skills for College Admissions Tests (PSAT, SAT, and ACT)

Many students are focused on college admissions, which can have a significant impact on their opportunities for the rest of their lives.

The SAT and ACT standardized tests remain an important part of college applications in the US. Even with some schools creating temporary test-optional admissions policies during the Covid-19 pandemic, high test scores are still the norm at top schools throughout the US, and (apart from at a small handful of test-blind schools) a good SAT or ACT score will always improve a student’s chances of admission.

And, according to US News , more and more elite schools are once again requiring submission of SAT or ACT scores as part of the application process. If you’re thinking about applying to schools like MIT or Dartmouth later on, you’ll need to have impressive SAT or ACT scores to stand a shot.

Both the SAT and ACT measure “college readiness” and test students on their abilities in math, reading, and writing. The ACT also includes a section on science, which focuses on students’ abilities to evaluate experiments and interpret data.

SAT section range from 200 to 800. To give an idea of what kind of SAT scores students might need, the average SAT score at the Ivy League is between 1450 and 1570 , and the average SAT score at the top 50 public universities is between 1320 and 1500 .

Meanwhile, ACT scores range from 2 to 36, and the average ACT score at the Ivy League is between 33 and 35 .

While a great SAT or ACT score alone won’t get you into the Ivy League or another top-tier university, it’s very hard to get into a top-tier school without strong scores on the SAT or ACT .

Furthermore, high test scores can win students big scholarships through programs like the National Merit competition .

With scholarships worth $300,000 on the line, there’s a lot of incentive for students to strengthen their core math, reading, and writing skills!

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Why work with a private tutor?

You may want to consider a working with a private tutor if:

• You want to improve your grades in your classes at school
• You want to build confidence in your abilities to learn
• You want to get into a private school and need a good score on the SSAT or ISEE
• Your current teacher isn’t meeting your learning needs and you want to work with an instructor who is hand-picked to match your learning style
• You want to improve your performance on AP tests to earn college credit while in high school (and impress college admissions officers)
• You want to improve your performance on important college admissions tests like the SAT and ACT
• You’re tired of conflict between students and parents about homework and you want someone else to take charge of tracking assignments and progress
• You’re aiming at a competitive college (not just the Ivy League!) and know that you need high test scores
• You want to learn foundational skills in math and writing now so you can succeed in your later career
• You know that if you develop strong math skills now, you’ll do better on every STEM-related class, assignment, and exam for the rest of your life!
• You know that if you develop strong writing skills now, you’ll find written exams a breeze from now on
• You need to write college application essays but you’re not sure where to start or how best to highlight your accomplishments for a competitive advantage
• You want to pursue a specific interest or passion that isn’t covered by your school 
• You want to earn scholarships and awards

Any of these are good reasons to consider working one-on-one with a private tutor.

What makes a good online tutor?

A good tutor should be an amazing teacher with experience, a strong educational background, and the ability to plan customized exercises that target an individual student’s weak spots .

Look for experienced tutors with strong educational backgrounds (i.e. who attended top universities) who have specific training in teaching that subject .

Studies have shown that students will learn better when they can establish a relationship with their tutor . Look for a tutoring service where students can continue with the same tutor and build a sense of rapport.

A good tutor can help students to succeed on any homework and assignments they may have for school . They can teach students how to work through their homework and study for important tests.

Great tutors will track student progress and help students to build confidence and motivation. We’ve found that many of our students start to enjoy school much more after working with our elite tutors !

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Best overall: The one-on-one tutoring from PrepMaven is the best out there both in terms of tutor quality and price. While PrepMaven’s tutors can certainly help with school assignments, they can also create targeted practice to fill any gaps in a student’s current knowledge. Starting at just $79/hour, students can work with current undergraduates at Princeton, Harvard, and other Ivy-League universities to improve their skills. Families can also work with experienced, professional educators and Ivy-League graduates at $149/hour. As a boutique tutoring service, PrepMaven offers careful attention to each student and boasts amazing customer reviews.

Best of the big companies: StudyPoint offers a solid balance of cost to tutor qualifications. We like their responsiveness and their flexibility. While we’re not huge fans of the fact that their tutors might not be subject-area experts and may not come from elite colleges, we’d recommend StudyPoint over other tutoring giants like Kaplan or Princeton Review.

Best super-quick tutoring: If students want short-term tutoring available instantly, they might consider Skooli . Skooli is the only tutoring service we reviewed that offers tutoring by the minute. Tutors aren’t necessarily from top schools, and students can’t work with the same tutor consistently, so the quality of tutoring is lower, but on-demand tutoring can start as soon as you enter your credit card details.

Alternative for families on a budget: For families on a tighter budget, we’d suggest looking for an independent tutor on Wyzant . It’s a tutoring marketplace platform, so the quality varies hugely and there’s no oversight or qualification requirements, but you might find a decent tutor under $40/hour. However, in our experience a good tutor can accomplish more with a student in one hour than an average tutor can do in five hours . With that in mind, it might be more effective to choose fewer hours of reliably high-quality tutoring.

Ready to improve skills with one of our experienced tutors? Schedule a free tutoring consultation with Jessica (Director of Tutoring) or one of our founders to see what would be the best fit for your family.

Regardless of your current abilities and planned career path, building a strong educational foundation will pay dividends throughout your life.

Remember that high test scores can be used to earn scholarships as well as college admission, so a few months of tutoring now can pay off with up to $300,000 in tuition saved later.

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Emily graduated  summa cum laude  from Princeton University and holds an MA from the University of Notre Dame. She was a National Merit Scholar and has won numerous academic prizes and fellowships. A veteran of the publishing industry, she has helped professors at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton revise their books and articles. Over the last decade, Emily has successfully mentored hundreds of students in all aspects of the college admissions process, including the SAT, ACT, and college application essay. 

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I taught English for three years at the university and community college level. At the college level, I taught both first and second year composition, as well as English courses for struggling students. Additionally, I worked in a community college writing lab. Following that, I have spent five years teaching English at the high school level, including AP English courses. At the high school level, I have worked with advanced students as well as students who require extra support.

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...as possible. It is also important to recognize the signs of confusion. Students do not always tell you when they are confused (and sometimes they themselves do not think they are confused), and so it is vital to maintain interaction with students and to continually check for understanding. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenges of teaching, and I always conveyed my enthusiasm for the subject and the learning process. This is vital to maintain students' motivation... Read more

Can also tutor: High School Writing , Essay Editing , Elementary School Writing and 26 more subjects.

• University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus - Bachelor in Arts, Philosophy and Italian
• Carnegie Mellon University - Master of Science, Logic and Computation

...candidate at The Ohio State University. I hold an MA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Toronto and a BA from The University of King's College. I'm also an author: my essays and journalism have appeared in numerous magazines and literary journals, and my second book of poetry is forthcoming from a Penguin Random House imprint next year. I'm passionate about reading, writing, an analyzing the written word. I especially love helping... Read more

Can also tutor: Essay Editing , French , English and 22 more subjects.

• University of King's College - Bachelors, Combined First Class Honors English and Contemporary Studies
• University of Toronto - Masters, English in the Field of Creative Writing

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• GRE Verbal: 165

...sit down with new students is to find out a little about them: What are their interests? What do they already know? More often than not, we can make progress in leaps and bounds by connecting the problems they are trying to tackle with the things they are already passionate about! My tutoring philosophy is not 'repeat after me,' but rather, 'how can I work with you to find the way that this will make... Read more

Can also tutor: Essay Editing , Creative Writing , Music and 23 more subjects.

• New York University - Bachelors, Drama

Christopher

...don't want to make things harder than they need to be. I use technology as much as possible and like to find resources that I can provide to my students to make their academic careers more enjoyable and manageable. I retired from the US Navy in 2015 after serving for 22 years on active duty. I am enjoying my retirement and each opportunity I get to work with the wide variety of students here on... Read more

Can also tutor: Middle School Writing , High School Writing , Expository Writing and 74 more subjects.

• Auburn University - Bachelors, English
• Auburn University - Masters, Technical and Professional Communication - English

...french and have been speaking and writing in french for the past 15 years. My favorite writers are Emile Zola, Antoine Saint ExuperyAime Cesaire, Victor Hugo, Moliere, Ionesco and Beckett. In my free time I am studying or playing the flute usually A la claire fontaine or Symphonie number 9. My favorite animated picture is Kirikou. I like to share knowledge that I am good at. Hopping to share all the french I know soon. Read more

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• College of Southern Nevada - Current Undergrad, Biology, General
• Nevada State College - Current Grad Student, Biology, General

...and teaching. I have also won and competed in Business Plan competitions, elevator pitch competitions, and the International Poetry competition which was the focus of a 2008 documentary on HBO called Brave New Voices. Now, for hobbies I write lyrics and read a lot of books on motivation, leadership, sales, and mindset. I am constantly growing myself in my career and intelligence and I know I can inspire others to do the same in any... Read more

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• University of Miami - Bachelors, Management and marketing

...in the past, I of course enjoy classical music; my favorites these days are the Baroque masters. I have been teaching English courses online for several years now, and it's been an excellent job for me as a parent since the hours are so flexible. Now that my child is grown, I'm interested in spreading my wings a bit and meeting students face to face as a tutor. My favorite subjects to teach are English... Read more

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• University of Colorado Boulder - Bachelors, Music
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...Latin. I finished a Masters in Latin from the University of Florida in the summer of 2018. I have six undergraduate Latin classes from Patrick Henry College with a 3.8 GPA. I have 3 years experience teaching overseas second language learners, including 1 year at an institute in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and 2 years at an American college in Bahrain. I am here to help you in any way that I can and only as... Read more

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• Florida State University - Bachelors, English
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...that they learn and help them feel like they're capable of navigating subjects on their own when studying, practicing, or doing homework. Some of my subjects include Economics, English, World History, and Chinese. Because my professional field emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach, I like to stay curious about these subjects and consider myself a lifelong learner of just about any subject, both quantitative and qualitative. Outside of tutoring and projects in my field, I enjoy reading... Read more

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• Johns Hopkins University - Masters, School of Advanced International Studies -China Studies
• ACT Composite: 34
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...way of learning takes place when people work together. The help that I have received in my academic career has allowed me to accomplish the most difficult of my goals. I know the difference that knowledgeable guidance can make, and this is where my passion for teaching stems from. My experience working with students in a diverse array of subjects has prepared me to adapt to students' unique styles of learning and help them achieve... Read more

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• University of California-Los Angeles - Bachelors, English Literature, Italian Literature
• SAT Composite (1600 scale): 1380
• SAT Writing: 770

I believe in the power of an educated mind and have taken the responsibility to create an environment conducive to academic success for my students. ... To educate is to become better educated; it is a circular process that improves with time. I believe the responsibility of educators is to provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed academically and personally. My teaching philosophy is based on the belief that education is the solution... Read more

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• The University of Memphis - Bachelors, Professional Studies
• Freed-Hardeman University - Masters, Education: Curriculum and Instruction

...in 2014, my GRE Verbal Reasoning scores placed me in the top 1% of test-takers. I moved to Brooklyn at the beginning of February. I have really enjoyed getting acquainted with the Greater New York area, and I've been lucky to attend some excellent live music shows. In the rest of my free time I enjoy reading (both literature and philosophy), making music on my synthesizer, and spending time in conversation with my friends. I... Read more

Can also tutor: High School Writing , Elementary School Writing , Essay Editing and 83 more subjects.

• University of Virginia-Main Campus - Bachelors, English, Philosophy
• University of Virginia-Main Campus - Masters, Philosophy
• SAT Composite (1600 scale): 1540
• SAT Math: 700
• SAT Verbal: 780

...at KIPP Academy Charter school. I graduated from Mercy College in 2006 with a degree in Psychology, and am currently in graduate school pursuing a masters in Early Childhood Education. I have been teaching for over five years. I have a passion for teaching. I love to see students accomplish their academic goals to become successful in life. I'm also bilingual speaking Spanish/English. My teaching philosophy is every child has a strengths, every child can... Read more

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• Mercy College - Bachelors, Psychology
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...Collin College. It's difficult to earn a living as an adjunct professor. The pay is terrible and it's hard to find enough hours to make a living wage, so I had a second job as a building manager. So, I decided to go back to school to earn my doctorate so that I can work full time in my field at a decent wage. Now I'm in the Ph.D. in philosophy program at the University... Read more

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• Furman University - Bachelors, Philosophy
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...tips and strategies that helped me succeed on standardized tests. I especially enjoy teaching the Math sections of exams, because the subject boils down to learning and memorizing strategies that can be broadly applied. My strategy for standardized test preparation comes down to preparing the student not only for the material itself, but also for the experience of taking the tests. Success on standardized tests is as much an emotional exercise as an intellectual one.... Read more

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Private Essay Writing Tutoring Near You

Receive personally tailored Essay Writing lessons from exceptional tutors in a one-on-one setting. We help you connect with the best tutor for your particular needs while offering flexible scheduling to fit your busy life.

Being able to write a well-written essay that flows is essential. An excellent piece can make all the difference in the college entrance process or on a significant writing project. If you are struggling to write a specific essay or need help with your writing skills in general, Varsity Tutors can help you connect with a skilled essay writing tutor who is ready to help you reach for your full potential as a writer.

The concepts that essay writing tutoring can help with include:

• Creative writing
• Writing for standardized tests
• College admissions essays
• Research papers
• Sentence structure
• Citing sources

Essay writing tutoring can help you by providing you with continuous feedback. It can be a challenge for teachers and parents to sit down with each student and help them with every part of the essay writing process. An essay writing tutor can devote their time to helping you or your student with the complete process from brainstorming a topic and writing an outline to citing your sources at the end.

Additionally, essay writing tutoring is a great way to get personalized attention. Your tutor can get to know your strengths and weaknesses. If you understand sentence structure but you are struggling to understand how to cite your sources correctly, your tutor can spend more time with you on that. A tutor can get to know their pupil on a personal level, allowing them to incorporate the student's interests to make the session more engaging.

Furthermore, tutoring can offer you or your student the ability to ask the questions that you need to have answered. Whether you want to know if a point properly supports your argument or are looking for feedback on your grammar usage, a tutor can be there to provide direct feedback, guidance, and support. Likewise, tutoring sessions are quiet and distraction free. Your tutoring sessions can be held in a relaxed environment allowing you to focus on the tasks at hand while you research together, work on organizational structure, or refine the content of your writing assignments.

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100 Creative Writing Prompts for Middle & High School – 2024

April 15, 2024

Some high school students dream of writing for a living, perhaps pursuing an English major in college, or even attending a creative writing MFA program later on. For other students, creative writing can be useful for school assignments, in English and other subjects, and also for preparing their Common App essays . In a less goal-oriented sense, daily freewriting in a journal can be a healthy life practice for many high schoolers. Not sure where to start? Continue reading for 100 creative writing prompts for middle school and high school students. These middle/high school writing prompts offer inspiration for getting started with writing in a number of genres and styles.

Click here to view the 35 Best Colleges for Creative Writing .

What are Creative Writing Prompts?

Similar to how an academic essay prompt provides a jumping-off point for forming and organizing an argument, creative writing prompts are points of initiation for writing a story, poem, or creative essay. Prompts can be useful for writers of all ages, helping many to get past writer’s block and just start (often one of the most difficult parts of a writing process).

Writing prompts come in a variety of forms. Sometimes they are phrases used to begin sentences. Other times they are questions, more like academic essay prompts Writing prompts can also involve objects such as photographs, or activities such as walking. Below, you will find high school writing prompts that use memories, objects, senses (smell/taste/touch), abstract ideas , and even songs as jumping-off points for creative writing. These prompts can be used to write in a variety of forms, from short stories to creative essays, to poems.

How to use Creative Writing Prompts

Before we get started with the list, are a few tips when using creative writing prompts:

Experiment with different formats : Prose is great, but there’s no need to limit yourself to full sentences, at least at first. A piece of creative writing can begin with a poem, or a dialogue, or even a list. You can always bring it back to prose later if needed.

Interpret the prompt broadly : The point of a creative writing prompt is not to answer it “correctly” or “precisely.” You might begin with the prompt, but then your ideas could take you in a completely different direction. The words in the prompt also don’t need to open your poem or essay, but could appear somewhere in the middle.

Switch up/pile up the prompts : Try using two or three prompts and combine them, or weave between them. Perhaps choose a main prompt, and a different “sub-prompt.” For example, your main prompt might be “write about being in transit from one place to another,” and within that prompt, you might use the prompt to “describe a physical sensation,” and/or one the dialogue prompts.  This could be a fun way to find complexity as you write.

Creative Writing Prompts for Middle School & High School Students (Continued)

Write first, edit later : While you’re first getting started with a prompt, leave the typos and bad grammar. Obsessing over details can take away from your flow of thoughts. You will inevitably make many fixes when you go back through to edit.

Write consistently : It often becomes easier to write when it’s a practice , rather than a once-in-a-while kind of activity. For some, it’s useful to write daily. Others find time to write every few days, or every weekend. Sometimes, a word-count goal can help (100 words a day, 2,000 words a month, etc.). If you set a goal, make sure it’s realistic. Start small and build from there, rather than starting with an unachievable goal and quickly giving up.

100 Creative Writing Prompts for Middle School & High School Teens

Here are some prompts for getting started with your creative writing. These are organized by method, rather than genre, so they can inspire writing in a variety of forms. Pick and choose the ones that work best for you, and enjoy!

Prompts using memories

• Begin each sentence or group of sentences with the phrase, “I remember…”
• Describe a family ritual.
• Choose an event in your life, and write about it from the perspective of someone else who was there.
• Pick a pathway you take on a regular basis (to school, or to a friend’s house). Describe five landmarks that you remember from this pathway.
• Write about your house or apartment using a memory from each room.
• Write an imaginary history of the previous people who lived in your house or apartment.
• Write about an ancestor based on stories you’ve heard from relatives.
• What’s your earliest memory?
• Who was your first friend?
• Write a letter to someone you haven’t seen since childhood.
• Write about yourself now from the perspective of yourself twenty, or eighty, years from now.
• Write about the best month of the year.
• Write about the worst day of the year.
• Rant about something that has always annoyed you.
• Write about the hottest or coldest day you can remember.
• Visualize a fleeting moment in your life and as though it’s a photograph, and time yourself 5 minutes to write every detail you can remember about the scene.
• Draw out a timeline of your life so far. Then choose three years to write about, as though you were writing for a history book.
• Write about a historical event in the first person, as though you remember it.
• Write about a memory of being in transit from one place to another.

Objects and photographs as creative writing prompts

• Describe the first object you see in the room. What importance does it have in your life? What memories do you have with this object? What might it symbolize?
• Pick up an object, and spend some time holding it/examining it. Write about how it looks, feels, and smells. Write about the material that it’s made from.
• Choose a favorite family photograph. What could someone know just by looking at the photograph? What’s secretly happening in the photograph?
• Choose a photograph and tell the story of this photograph from the perspective of someone or something in it.
• Write about a color by describing three objects that are that color.
• Tell the story of a piece of trash.
• Tell the story of a pair of shoes.
• Tell the story of your oldest piece of clothing.

Senses and observations as creative writing prompts

• Describe a sound you hear in the room or outside. Choose the first sound you notice. What are its qualities? It’s rhythms? What other sounds does it remind you of?
• Describe a physical sensation you feel right now, in as much detail as possible.
• Listen to a conversation and write down a phrase that you hear someone say. Start a free-write with this phrase.
• Write about a food by describing its qualities, but don’t say what it is.
• Describe a flavor (salty, sweet, bitter, etc.) to someone who has never tasted it before.
• Narrate your day through tastes you tasted.
• Narrate your day through sounds you heard.
• Narrate your day through physical sensations you felt.
• Describe in detail the physical process of doing an action you consider simple or mundane, like walking or lying down or chopping vegetables.
• Write about the sensation of doing an action you consider physically demanding or tiring, like running or lifting heavy boxes.
• Describe something that gives you goosebumps.
• Write a story that involves drinking a cold glass of water on a hot day.
• Write a story that involves entering a warm house from a cold snowy day.
• Describe someone’s facial features in as much detail as possible.

Songs, books, and other art

• Choose a song quote, write it down, and free-write from there.
• Choose a song, and write a story in which that song is playing in the car.
• Choose a song, and write to the rhythm of that song.
• Choose a character from a book, and describe an event in your life from the perspective of that character.
• Go to a library and write down 10 book titles that catch your eye. Free-write for 5 minutes beginning with each one.
• Go to a library and open to random book pages, and write down 5 sentences that catch your attention. Use those sentences as prompts and free-write for 5-minutes with each.
• Choose a piece of abstract artwork. Jot down 10 words that come to mind from the painting or drawing, and free-write for 2 minutes based on each word.
• Find a picture of a dramatic Renaissance painting online. Tell a story about what’s going on in the painting that has nothing to do with what the artist intended.
• Write about your day in five acts, like a Shakespearean play. If your day were a play, what would be the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution?
• Narrate a complicated book or film plot using only short sentences.
• Read a short poem. Then write a poem that could be a “sister” or “cousin” of that poem.

Abstract ideas as creative writing prompts

• Write about an experience that demonstrates an abstract idea, such as “love” or “home” or “freedom” or “loss” without ever using the word itself.
• Write a list of ways to say “hello” without actually saying “hello.”
• Write a list of ways to say “I love you” without actually saying “I love you.”
• Do you believe in ghosts? Describe a ghost.
• Invent a mode of time travel.
• Glass half-full/half-empty: Write about an event or situation with a positive outlook. Then write about it with a miserable outlook.
• Free-write beginning with “my religion is…” (what comes next can have as much or as little to do with organized religion as you’d like).
• Free-write beginning with “my gender is…” (what comes next can have as much or as little to do with common ideas of gender as you’d like).
• Write about a person or character that is “good” and one that is “evil.” Then write about the “evil” in the good character and the “good” in the evil character.
• Write like you’re telling a secret.
• Describe a moment of beauty you witnessed. What makes something beautiful?

Prompts for playing with narrative and character

• Begin writing with the phrase, “It all started when…”
• Tell a story from the middle of the most dramatic part.
• Write a story that begins with the ending.
• Begin a story but give it 5 possible endings.
• Write a list of ways to dramatically quit a terrible job.
• Write about a character breaking a social rule or ritual (i.e., walking backwards, sitting on the floor of a restaurant, wearing a ballgown to the grocery store). What are the ramifications?
• You are sent to the principal’s office. Justify your bad behavior.
• Re-write a well-known fairytale but set it in your school.
• Write your own version of the TV show trope where someone gets stuck in an elevator with a stranger, or a secret love interest, or a nemesis.
• Imagine a day where you said everything you were thinking, and write about it.
• Write about a scenario in which you have too much of a good thing.
• Write about a scenario in which money can buy happiness.
• Invent a bank or museum heist.
• Invent a superhero, including an origin story.
• Write using the form of the scientific method (question, hypothesis, test, analyze data conclusion).
• Write using the form of a recipe.

Middle School & High School Creative writing prompts for playing with fact vs. fiction

• Write something you know for sure is true, and then, “but maybe it isn’t.” Then explain why that thing may not be true.
• Write a statement and contradict that statement. Then do it again.
• Draft an email with an outlandish excuse as to why you didn’t do your homework or why you need an extension.
• Write about your morning routine, and make it sound extravagant/luxurious (even if it isn’t).
• You’ve just won an award for doing a very mundane and simple task. Write your acceptance speech.
• Write about a non-athletic event as though it were a sports game.
• Write about the most complicated way to complete a simple task.
• Write a brief history of your life, and exaggerate everything.
• Write about your day, but lie about some things.
• Tell the story of your birth.
• Choose a historical event and write an alternative outcome.
• Write about a day in the life of a famous person in history.
• Read an instructional manual, and change three instructions to include some kind of magical or otherwise impossible element.

Prompts for starting with dialogue

• Write a texting conversation between two friends who haven’t spoken in years.
• Write a texting conversation between two friends who speak every day and know each other better than anyone.
• Watch two people on the street having a conversation, and imagine the conversation they’re having. Write it down.
• Write an overheard conversation behind a closed door that you shouldn’t be listening to.
• Write a conversation between two characters arguing about contradicting memories of what happened.
• You have a difficult decision to make. Write a conversation about it with yourself.
• Write a conversation with a total lack of communication.
• Write a job interview gone badly.

Final Thoughts – Creative Writing Prompts for Middle School & High School 

Hopefully you have found several of these creative writing prompts helpful. Remember that when writing creatively, especially on your own, you can mix, match, and change prompts. For more on writing for high school students, check out the following articles:

• College Application Essay Topics to Avoid
• 160 Good Argumentative Essay Topics
• 150 Good Persuasive Speech Topics
• Good Transition Words for Essays
• High School Success

Sarah Mininsohn

With a BA from Wesleyan University and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sarah is a writer, educator, and artist. She served as a graduate instructor at the University of Illinois, a tutor at St Peter’s School in Philadelphia, and an academic writing tutor and thesis mentor at Wesleyan’s Writing Workshop.

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