Tutoring News

The greatest Greek philosopher, Aristotle, said, “We are what we do repeatedly. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” For students who do not have good study habits, what should be done? Create a ritual A ritual is something that someone does repeatedly. For a tennis player, before a player serves the ball, he may bounce the ball a few times to help him focus. This allows him to hone his mind for what he is about to do. Good study habits require a ritual as well. What would be an example of a ritual involving good study [...]

Have you ever shown up to class, only to be surprised to hear the dreaded words, “OK, everyone, put your books away while I hand out tests.” “Test? What test? I didn’t know we have a test today.” Whoops. Most people have had this experience at some point in their lives. But academic success is more easily attained by those who are more organized than by those who don’t know what is supposed to happen or when it is supposed to happen. What are the keys for staying organized to achieve academic success? First, keep a master calendar that has [...]

We all need goals to give ourselves something to shoot for. How can we determine if our goals are, in the first place, attainable, and second, whether we are on track to attaining them? If we find out we are behind schedule or not on track to successful attainment, how do we close the gap? Or if the goal is unrealistic, at what point do we know when to reformulate our goals? One way to determine whether our goals are attainable is through testing. We can be tested to tell us what we are naturally good at, and what we [...]

You’ve done the hard part; you’ve landed the big interview for med school, law school, business school, or even that dream job. Now it all comes down to the interview. Oh my, how does one not “freak out” when the stakes are so high? Like most things in life, success in interviews hinges on preparation. Wouldn’t it be nice if your interviewers would give you a little help and give you the questions ahead of time? Well, unfortunately, that ain't gonna happen, otherwise, it wouldn’t be an interview, right? So what does one do exactly to ready oneself for the [...]

A curriculum vitae (CV), literally the “race of life,” is a document similar to a resume, but is more detailed. The purpose of a CV is generally the same as the purpose of a resume: to obtain a job interview. However, the job in question is usually in academia. A second purpose for a CV is to assist one who will write a letter of recommendation for an applicant; the CV provides valuable information to a letter writer and makes their job easier. In general, the CV should be updated regularly to include the most relevant and pertinent information. It [...]

Everyone knows that having an effective resume is an important aspect of getting the big interview. In fact, the whole purpose of writing a resume is to get a job interview. Once you get the job interview, it means that your prospective employer is interested in you as a candidate. So what exactly are the keys for a successful resume? The first key to writing a successful resume is to have already determined what kind of job position you want. If you don’t know your desired destination, then it would be hard to try to figure out how to get [...]

Are you intimidated by those one page essays on “Why do you want to become a ____?” You are not alone. A lot rides on that essay. What is the best strategy for the personal essay? One important overriding principle of the Personal Statement is to avoid generalities that are not supported by specific examples. For example, if you are applying to medical school, don’t say simply that you want to go to medical school because you want to help people. This is a cliché, and will draw nothing more than a collective yawn from the admissions committee. You can [...]

OK, you’ve worked hard and gotten through four years of a challenging college education. You’ve heard rumors of a competitive job market, and you want to know how to maximize your chances of landing that sweet job right out of college, so that you can put that four years of learning to good use and start paying off those ugly student loans. But how to do it? That is the question. Believe it or not, the process of landing that first job starts well before you walk the stage and get handed that fancy piece of paper. In fact, it [...]

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) refer to a group of related conditions in which kids, and sometimes adults, have trouble staying focused, fidget a lot, and tend to jump from one thing to another. These students struggle in school because of the need to sit and listen quietly to the teacher, get assignments done, and prepare for exams. If you suspect that your child may have ADD or ADHD, he or she should be tested by a clinical psychologist, a psychiatrist, or a developmental /behavioral pediatrician to confirm the diagnosis. The standard treatment is either [...]