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6+ years
Jeffrey
I am enrolled in the Mechanical Engineering PhD program at Rice University which will begin Fall 2020, and I am hoping to return to academia as a professor after earning my PhD. In the meantime, I am looking to share my passion for gaining knowledge, specifically in STEM, by educating the up and com...
University of Notre Dame
Bachelor of Science
Rice University
Doctor of Philosophy, Mechanical Engineering

Certified Tutor
6+ years
Mimi
I am an interdisciplinary educator with an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. from Dartmouth College. My background is primarily in integrated arts learning and museum education and I specialize in visual arts, history and art history, and object-based learning. In all su...
Harvard University
Masters in Education, Education
Dartmouth College
B.A.

Certified Tutor
Jacob
I am eager to help students thrive because I'm still very much a student myself, and will be for the foreseeable future. Though I enjoyed my time as an undergraduate student in Literature, and learned quite a bit during my time at Vanderbilt, there's still more work to be done. I am working towards ...
Vanderbilt University
Bachelors in Literature

Certified Tutor
10+ years
Sherry
I am a graduate of the University of Chicago, with a bachelor's degree in psychology and linguistics. Currently, I am pursuing a master's degree in speech-language pathology at Teachers College, Columbia University. In the past, I have worked as a teacher's aide in a public school classroom, a mento...
University of Chicago
Bachelor's degree in psychology and linguistics

Certified Tutor
I am a firm believer that clear, precise communication between student and tutor makes for a productive and fulfilling learning experience. When I work with students, I strive to listen carefully to find out exactly where they are struggling, and to impart corresponding strategies clearly and concis...
Boston University
PHD, American Studies
Harvard University
Bachelors

Certified Tutor
6+ years
Victoria
I am a Physician's Assistant student at Rutgers University. I completed my first Master's degree in Human Nutrition at Columbia University. I have tutored all throughout high school and college in various subjects, including the SAT, the sciences, math, English, and the GRE. I am an advocate of maki...
Columbia University
Master's degree in Human Nutrition
Columbia University in the City of New York
Master of Science, Human Nutrition
Rutgers University (New Brunswick)
Bachelor in Arts, Biological and Physical Sciences

Certified Tutor
Natasha
I'm a graduate student at MIT. I started tutoring from my first year of undergrad because I had such wonderful experiences when I was in high school learning with friends and upperclassmen. I am personally a social learner- I learn best when I'm talking and wrestling with concepts out loud and in a ...
Johns Hopkins
Bachelor of Science, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Certified Tutor
I'm a scientist with experience working in Research and Development in lubricants, greases, paints and other specialty chemicals. I tutor math and science because I really enjoy helping people and sharing my knowledge. Some great teachers made a big difference in my education because they helped me ...
University of Chicago
PhD in Chemistry
Lafayette College
Bachelors, Chemistry/Phyics

Certified Tutor
I am a graduate of Wesleyan University, where I received my Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with High Honors. With eight years of experience working in education, I've tutored students in math, science, history, and English, as well as helped students prepare for standardized tests. I've guided adults...
Harvard University
PHD, Education
Wesleyan University
Bachelor in Arts, Sociology

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Liz
I am a graduate of Washington University in St Louis, where I received my Bachelor of Arts in History with minors in Humanities and Anthropology. Since graduation, I have worked as a tutor, teacher, and director of tutors at a charter public middle school in Boston. During this time I also received ...
Simmons College
Masters, Special Education: Mild to Moderate Disabilities 5-12
Washington University in St. Louis
Bachelor of Arts in History (minors in Humanities and Anthropology)
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Frequently Asked Questions
The two essays—Analyze an Issue and Analyze an Argument—require fundamentally different skills that don't come naturally together. Students often struggle with time management, trying to write perfectly polished essays in just 30 minutes each, when the real challenge is demonstrating clear reasoning and structure under pressure. Many also misunderstand what "analysis" means on the GRE; they write opinion pieces instead of examining the logical foundations of arguments, or they fail to identify unstated assumptions and counterarguments that scorers expect to see.
Analyze an Argument requires you to critique someone else's reasoning—identifying logical fallacies, unsupported claims, and missing evidence. You're not stating your own opinion but rather dissecting the argument's weaknesses. Analyze an Issue, by contrast, asks you to take a position and defend it with nuanced reasoning, acknowledging complexity and counterarguments. A tutor can help you recognize these distinct purposes and develop separate strategies: for Argument essays, learning to spot common fallacies and structure a critique; for Issue essays, building the ability to construct a balanced, multi-faceted argument that goes beyond surface-level agreement or disagreement.
The key is planning before you write. Spending 5 minutes on a clear outline—identifying your main points, examples, and counterarguments—actually saves time because you write with direction and avoid false starts. Many students waste minutes mid-essay realizing their structure is weak. A tutor can teach you templates and sentence starters that feel natural but accelerate your writing, plus help you identify which ideas are worth developing versus which are filler. Practice under timed conditions is essential; working through 10-15 full essays with feedback reveals where you're losing minutes and helps you build realistic pacing habits.
Scorers evaluate your ideas, organization, language use, and grammar—but they weight ideas and organization most heavily. A 6-score essay doesn't need perfect prose; it needs clear thinking, logical flow, and specific examples that support your reasoning. This means spending your energy on outlining and developing substantive points rather than polishing every sentence. For Argument essays, scorers specifically reward identifying multiple weaknesses and explaining why they matter. Understanding this scoring rubric helps you prioritize what to focus on during writing, and a tutor can show you real score-6 essays so you see exactly what "good enough" looks like under time pressure.
Generic examples—"for example, in today's society"—weaken your essay because they show you're thinking in abstractions rather than specifics. Strong examples are concrete (historical events, personal observations, research findings) and directly connected to your point with explanation. Many students write an example then move on; scorers want to see you analyze it—explaining exactly how it supports your claim. A tutor can help you build a library of versatile, substantive examples you can adapt across different prompts, and teach you the "example + explanation" framework so you're not just listing facts but demonstrating analytical thinking.
The GRE Argument section repeatedly tests your ability to spot fallacies like hasty generalization (drawing broad conclusions from limited evidence), correlation-causation confusion (assuming two things that occur together have a causal relationship), and appeal to authority (trusting an expert's claim outside their area of expertise). You'll also encounter circular reasoning, false dichotomies, and unsupported assumptions. Rather than memorizing fallacy names, a tutor focuses on teaching you to ask critical questions: "What evidence supports this claim?" "Could there be alternative explanations?" "Who says this is true, and why should I believe them?" Practicing with real GRE arguments helps you internalize these patterns so you spot them quickly during the test.
Reserve 3-5 minutes for revision, but use it strategically. Don't rewrite entire paragraphs; instead, scan for clarity issues (confusing sentences), logical gaps (where you jumped to a conclusion), and obvious grammar errors that distract readers. A tutor can help you develop a personal revision checklist based on your recurring mistakes—if you consistently write run-on sentences, you'll scan for those; if you forget counterarguments, you'll check for that. The reality is that perfect essays don't happen in 30 minutes, so revision is about damage control and ensuring your strongest ideas come through clearly.
Writing practice essays without feedback is like practicing tennis against a wall—you might stay busy, but you won't improve. Each practice essay should be followed by detailed feedback identifying patterns in your thinking (Do you support claims with evidence? Do you address counterarguments?) and writing (Are your sentences clear? Do you vary structure?). A tutor reviews your essays against the actual GRE rubric, showing you exactly why a point earned a 5 instead of a 6, then targets your next practice essay on that specific weakness. Most students benefit from 8-12 guided practice essays spaced over 4-6 weeks, with tutoring focused on analyzing what's working and what needs adjustment.
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