How Tutoring Will Help You Thrive in College

College-level courses can be challenging, even for the student who earned straight As in high school. Fortunately, many colleges and universities offer peer tutoring or academic support that can give you valuable tools for academic success. Here are a few good reasons why you should give tutoring a try:

1. Tutors help alleviate stress and anxiety.

It’s a tutor’s job to help you grow in your understanding and ability to demonstrate what you’re learning. Your tutor will walk you through concepts step by step, ensuring that you understand before moving on to something else. Your tutor can also give you tips on how to overcome test anxiety or help you strategize for meeting a project deadline. Because of the one-on-one attention tutors provide, many students leave a tutoring session feeling better and less stressed about an assignment or test.

2. Tutors model and teach successful study strategies.

Tutors are successful students themselves, so they can share what you’ll need to succeed in a particular class or as a student in general. Sometimes it’s as simple as explaining how much time you should study outside of class or reminding you to put your phone away until after your homework’s complete. Even if you already get good grades, your tutor’s study strategies may be more efficient and effective than your current methods.

3. Peer tutors have already taken the course and can give you insight on what the professor expects.

Colleges that offer peer tutoring usually recruit a course’s strongest performers to tutor future students. In some cases, the professor may even recommend students for the job. This is an excellent benefit for you, because it means your tutor already knows the professor and how the course is structured, so they can tell you exactly what to expect on tests and assignments.

4. Tutoring allows for individualized instruction and learning.

In college, you’ll likely find that classes cover a lot more content than they did in high school, and with some classes meeting only once or twice a week, you won’t have much time in the classroom to fully digest what you’re learning. Meeting with a tutor one-on-one gives you more time to ask questions and work through concepts until you understand them.

At Northwestern College, three out of four students use Northwestern’s Peer Learning Center regularly—including some with 4.0 GPAs. The center offers free tutoring services provided by 150 student tutors and a full-time professional science tutor, as well as academic counseling, learning disability accommodations, study sessions and training, and writing workshops. For more information on how Northwestern supports its students, visit nwciowa.edu.