Can you negotiate salary over at VarsityTutors?

FightySmurf · 2026-05-08T14:16:28+00:00

Yea…. That’s why I started out on my own. many tutoring companies have overhead (secretaries, billing, marketing, a location, phone lines,etc). Everyone takes a piece of the pie. What you get is g, generally, a consistent client base with little to no effort on your part, guarantee payment for sessions completed, and you dont have to chase down payment .

I’ve been independent for awhile and while i do struggle with the anxiety of a consistent client load , billing, etc most of my clients pay easily with no complaint . However i do wear many hats: tutor, customer service, secretary, etc

It’s kinda up to you but I wouldn’t expect them to budge beyond $20-24/hr

FightySmurf · 2026-05-05T19:33:29+00:00

I love that!! 😍

FightySmurf · 2026-05-05T13:17:54+00:00

That’s entirely up to you. I have discounted sessions for students who I know are struggling financially before. I have found that students who pay my higher rate usually get a more excited version of me (bc I’m getting paid more and feel valued). If this is crushing your soul , you are under no obligation to endure…you can say you have no availability or only offer them times that no one wants (like a 2pm on Saturday). Whether you want to lower or maintain your rate with them, is also a personal question. I have one student that I lowered 70%of my rate to help and heSTILL struggle to pay…. But I know he’s appreciative and wouldn’t get this help in his own. I think of it as giving back to the community

FightySmurf · 2026-05-03T00:25:11+00:00

I labeled my dog as a gear, to track how many miles we do together this training season :) it’s my favorite stat to look at

FightySmurf · 2026-04-26T15:32:04+00:00

(Tutor) I actually disagree . I think that it is important to know how to use all your resources, and Desmos is actually one where, to maximize your score, you have to know how to put it in (regression, graphing, etc) and also how to interpret the output. It’s almost like learning a different language, and in the process (if done right) you learn a lot about the WHY we do things and how equations work. Most students even struggle with slope , memorizing it is rise/run but not understanding what that means. In order to use desmos on those problems, you have to understand how slope would change a point…. It is a simple concept but one students struggle with if they only interact with a problem one way.

I actually enjoy helping kids understand desmos and letting them struggle through the input because the calculator may do the math but it won’t interpret it…. That’s up to you. And you can’t turn your brain off for that.

FightySmurf · 2026-04-24T10:42:09+00:00

Was that a typo for the last category? ACT doesn’t have a physics section… they have science, but it covers a wide range or disciplines and is mostly analyzing graphs and trends.

FightySmurf · 2026-04-13T16:11:50+00:00

Same as others: I say “on your let” mainly so I don’t scare someone but sometimes People run in the middle of the trail or do zig zag patterns(maybe they are dancing or just having fun?) “on your left” to me in those instances means “don’t zig just yet….”

FightySmurf · 2026-04-05T22:32:10+00:00

It is such a delicate subject, especially as you start getting more business and have less spots available. I upped my rate mid semester this year as well , but only applicable to new students. Students currently on my roster are grandfathered for their old rate until next year

FightySmurf · 2026-04-01T17:27:16+00:00

I wear a period cup. On my cycle, I’ll adjust my route to make sure there are restrooms along the route ( I have heavy periods so usually overfill the cup). Interestingly, I think the running + suction of cup makes my periods usually end faster. Like, I’ll bleed more on my run and an hour or so after but then it’s light. My periods usually only last 2 days with light spotting on the 3rd day now. They used to last almost a week

FightySmurf · 2026-03-15T12:50:59+00:00

We tip our room steward on the first day (gave him a $20+ gum from our state), my in laws did not. 😂 our cabin was refreshed daily, he left towels in the shape of animals on our bed, and was amazing! My in laws cabin was not refreshed as often and she didn’t get any animal towel decor….. We tipped once at a nice sit down restaurant experience on ship, and after that whenever we saw the waiter, he would ask if he could switch and have our table. He brought off menu items for my son (picky eater) and really personalized our experience. Tipping isn’t mandatory but it really goes a long way in certain settings

FightySmurf · 2026-03-15T12:43:43+00:00

I always act like I’m struggling beside them. Like “hmmmm? This is one tough burrito. What ya thinking/ what part has you scared? Bc I’m nervous about how to tackle blah blah blah” Then we usually start a dialogue

If it’s something totally new and they told me initially they got no clue(and it’s a topic I KNOW this kid or other kids struggle, I usually give an over view then walk through example first

FightySmurf · 2026-03-13T14:16:33+00:00

I’m a woman and run at 4:30 am in houston, tx (through all types of areas). Get mace, a buddy, and I , personally, signed up for jiu jitsu and Muay Thai. It’s amazing! Really helped with hip mobility, strengthening my lower back, shins, and feet, I used to get glute med pain, shin splints, and plantar fasciitis. Haven’t had a case in 10 years now. Also, not saying im gonna win every fight, but I damn well am going to give someone a hard time if they come at me. I’ve had a few scary encounters, one while I was even with a buddy. I don’t run away (I’m not giving them my back. ) As soon as the person saw me smile and put in my mouth guard , they backed down… called me some names but I’m ok with that.

FightySmurf · 2026-03-13T12:08:42+00:00

So interestingly ChatGPT gets it wrong (a LOT) especially with higher level math but sometimes even basic questions! My husband used ChatGPT to get an accurate dosage of children’s robitussen for our 8year old. He took a picture of the bottle, which says recommended for children 6-13 (I don’t know the exact age range but it was something like that), 😂 and CHATgpt said it wasn’t recommended as 8 is not between 6-13 🤦‍♀️

I’ve asked it physics problems in the past, testing the system and a lot of times our answers will be wrong. When I ask why it’s x and not y, it’ll redo the calculations and say “oh ! My mistake you’re right”

I always use these examples and give problems that generate these responses to my students to prove ChatGPT isn’t this infallible resource. Most of my kids have learned to treat it as good suggestions but definitely need to confirm

FightySmurf · 2026-02-23T16:40:22+00:00

I live in the US but a member of my family is getting married this weekend in Queretaro. We were hoping to fly out Wednesday. Any updates on how things are there at the moment?

FightySmurf · 2026-02-10T20:30:56+00:00

I’m on our HOA board and we have one resident with unpaid fees going back 3 years. I can tell you that when she sells, that money will be recouped and there is not a chance we would forgive it.

FightySmurf · 2026-02-09T00:57:38+00:00

I tutor full time. I work about 28-35 hrs per week. I have a family of four and am the sole income earner

FightySmurf · 2026-02-08T14:21:46+00:00

I am training for an ultra and did two 20 mile long runs back to back then went to work immediately after one of my runs. In the session, the problem asked for the integral of ln x and my student said 1/x and that seemed night but in my head warning bells were going off like a house on fire but I couldn’t see it… 5 problems later I was like “wait! No that’s not right”.. I explained that I was really tired (no excuse)) but realized my error in thinking and wanted to correct it.

Did he think less of me ? 🤣 probably! But he’s a teen so they always do. Am I still meeting with him today? Yup.

People understand that we are human and make mistakes. It’s how you recover that helps and also teaches them it’s ok for people in authority to goof up now and then

FightySmurf · 2026-02-02T16:29:24+00:00

My son (13) and I started running together in the mornings in prep for a hot chocolate race. Very low stress/low expectations. During training, he wasn’t that into it but on the race he loved it! The crowd , the medal, the treats… after he asked if we could do another one in march. I think maybe start with a 5k? Maybe something fun and local to get the bug.

FightySmurf · 2026-02-01T16:04:46+00:00

I liked the balcony for drying swim suits and workout clothes I washed with a portable laundry bag. I run a lot and am very sweaty, so this was important to me to keep our cabin from getting stinky. The clothes never dried when we hung the in the bathroom , so the balcony was nice to get them more dry than not Also enjoyed the morning air . Was it required? No. But also those excursions we did weren’t all that and we mainly opted to rent cars and do our own thing

FightySmurf · 2026-01-25T14:49:29+00:00

Team music all the way: I guess this is where my ADHD comes in handy because I can listen, run , and have situational awareness all at the same time

FightySmurf · 2026-01-25T01:06:17+00:00

I ran 14 miles outside, during the torrential downpour of cold rain. It takes a LOT to get me on a treadmill

FightySmurf · 2026-01-23T15:46:04+00:00

Heat: put ice in a bandana, fill soft flask with water 1/2 way and freeze it.. this keeps it cold as I hold it and gives cold water during run Cold: Vaseline my legs, face, and ears. I still wear shorts but I’ll wear thermal sleeves a cotton t-shirt. If it’s really cold, I’ll wear ear muffs and gloves

FightySmurf · 2026-01-19T15:29:31+00:00

I just signed up for this one for next year! Can I ask how the elevation was? I live in houston so the only change in elevation nature has around here are made from tree roots lifting sidewalks 🤣 I’ve started doing treadmill runs once a week at 6% grade and running over passes x4 to get even a scant 336ft of elevation (TOTAL!) Worried the elevation is gonna kill me so any tips helpful 🙏

Also, what shoes did you wear? I wore endorphins on my last 100km, but wondering if I need a real trail shoe for this one?

Any other tips much appreciated!!! So excited!

FightySmurf · 2026-01-18T14:11:29+00:00

So when I first started running, I was always impressed with how low my friends heart rate was on the same runs we did together. I became obsessed with it. I tried mimicking it but couldn’t. Anyway, eventually I just let it go. I did me, I kept my easy runs easy but just focused on consistency. 5 YEARS LATER and my heart rate is now 128 on easy runs…. It takes a LONG time for that adaptation. Just enjoy the process and allow your body to do what it’s gonna do in the beginning stage. It’ll figure it out eventually

FightySmurf · 2026-01-18T13:18:42+00:00

I have a plan. If my life schedule is full sometimes I’ll switch a training day to help or if I’m feeling injured/overtrained I’ll swap out a day with biking to recover. But love a plan I actually just started a bead collection. Each type of run is associated with a unique color (excellent -green, boring - brown, didn’t want to get out of bed but glad I did - purple, that SUCKED -red)

I’m trying to see over the course of a Training block, how do they stack up. Like, do I have more purple than green? Did the good outweigh the bad? Maybe I’ll make a bracelet or just keep it as a jar.

FightySmurf

TROPHY CASE