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Eric
I am patient and collaborative. I work with my students to help them come to the answers on their own, and I find creative and fun ways for students to think about the material in a new light.
Princeton University
Bachelor in Arts

Certified Tutor
8+ years
Amanda
I'm currently a fourth year medical student at a private medical school in Texas. I've been involved with tutoring since middle school continuing all the way through medical school. There are so many different ways to teach based on how students learn best and I am passionate about meeting the indiv...
The University of Alabama
Bachelor of Science, Biology, General
Baylor College of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine, Public Health

Certified Tutor
Marjorie
I am eager to help students prepare for college applications, including mastering standardized tests, college essays, and study strategies. I am also driven to teach young students to become better overall writers and critical readers as these skills will affect all facets of their educational caree...
Vanderbilt University
Bachelors

Certified Tutor
8+ years
Sanjul
I'm in my final year of medical school and have an interest in specializing in Oncology. I did my undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and a concentration in Pre-Professional Healthcare. I love to teach Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy, Biochemistry, Physiology, Microbiology, Pharmac...
Cleveland State University
Bachelor of Science, Biology, General
University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Doctor of Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine (DO)

Certified Tutor
8+ years
Caitlin
I am a rising senior at Duke University who is Pre Med and majoring in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. I was born and raised in Miami FL and went to public school until college (Sunset Elementary, GW Carver Middle and Coral Reef Senior High for those from Miami). I decided to start tutoring becaus...
Duke University
Current Undergrad Student, Asian Studies

Certified Tutor
4+ years
I am recent graduate of Yale University. After an intensive application cycle and four years of college, I hope to be able to impart to others the wisdom I have learned. I have four years of freelance tutoring experience in college admissions and the MCAT. Overall, tutoring is a way that I can suppo...
Yale University
Bachelor of Science

Certified Tutor
5+ years
Pallavi
I am a graduate of The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. I received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology (Neurobiology concentration), a Bachelor of Science in Economics (Healthcare Management and Policy concentration), and a Master's in Biology. Throughout my undergraduate, I have loved tutoring...
University of Pennsylvania
Master's in Biology
University of Pennsylvania
Bachelor of Arts in Biology (Neurobiology concentration)

Certified Tutor
Richard
I am currently a PhD candidate at Northwestern University, studying microbiology and public health (my two biggest passions). I received my Bachelor of Science with high honors from Emory University in 2011, where I double-majored in Biology and Spanish. During my time at Emory, I studied abroad in ...
Northwestern University
PHD, Biology and Public Health
Emory University
Bachelors, Biology and Spanish

Certified Tutor
5+ years
Richard
I am a graduate of the University of Toronto, Reichman University, and Western Governors University. I have been teaching children, youth, and adults in various academic settings since 2008. My teaching philosophy and tutoring style is that of open discourse and conversation, actively involving stud...
Reichman University
Master of Arts, Security System Technology
Western Governor's University
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science

Certified Tutor
10+ years
Jonathan
I am currently a Master's student at Cornell University. I graduated with my Bachelor's of Science from Cornell in 2016 and I plan to attend medical school in the fall of 2017. I am really excited to be tutoring for Varsity tutors because I really enjoy helping students with subjects that gave me tr...
Cornell University
Bachelor of Science
Cornell University
Current Grad Student, Human Development
Top 20 Science Subjects
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Abrahim
Middle School Math Tutor • +81 Subjects
I am passionate about teaching because I understand greatly a lot of the academic struggles and problems students may face through education, especially as a first generation college student. Currently I am studying for my medical doctorate degree (M.D.) at the Medical College of Wisconsin. I graduated UCLA with a Biology degree with Asian Languages minor in 2019, cum laude honors. Both during my undergrad and days since, I had a chance to tutor private clients in Southern California and work for a few exam prep companies. I enjoy tutoring math, sciences (chemistry, biology mainly), social sciences (history, politics), essay writing, and Japanese. I also help assist in studying for standardized exams (SAT, ACT, SAT Subject, AP, MCAT, PCAT, OAT)! My tutoring style will be very direct in trying to identify gaps in knowledge and working/practicing on those gaps. I like to be interactive and answer the students' questions directly. I strongly believe education is one path in which students may be able to reach their dreams and I will be your supporter along the way. In my free time, I enjoy playing the piano, practicing martial arts, and watching anime/playing games.
Samantha
Applied Mathematics Tutor • +116 Subjects
I am a rising Junior at Princeton University who is passionate about the ways in which people learn, which has led me to pursue a degree in Neuropsychology. Through great experiences teaching English in Chiangmai, Thailand for two months and tutoring Calculus I and II through Princeton University's McGraw Tutoring program for two years, I have come across many learning styles and have developed a love for teaching. My strengths include standardized testing, Spanish, Mathematics (Algebra, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus) and ACT/SAT/CLEP prep. I have experience working with students who are in grades K-College.
Zofia
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I am an experienced tutor who is passionate about math and science education. I have a deep understanding of math and science. I recently graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, coursework in both the physical and natural sciences, and a GPA of 3.87. I also studied at an IB high school and graduated with the highest marks in my class.
Michael
Calculus Tutor • +64 Subjects
I am a graduate of the University of Michigan where I earned my bachelor of science degree in cellular and molecular biology. I chose this major because I am fascinated with how cells in the body interact with each other and the pathways in which they communicate. Originally being pre-med, I applied to medical schools the year after I graduated. Also during this gap year, I taught introductory chemistry lab for science majors at Grand Valley State University. After some self reflection I decided medical school was not the path I wanted to take and decided instead to move to New York City to pursue my other passion of performing on stage. However, due to my background in academia and teaching, I desired to maintain plugged into that world in whatever way I could. That is how I discovered VarsityTutors.
Zoey
Pre-Algebra Tutor • +54 Subjects
I'm hoping to help my students get as excited about learning as I always have been! My most recent teaching experience has been with a local marine biology summer camp, where I do my best to get the kids stoked about biology, ecology, environmental science, and conservation. While I feel most passionate about marine biology, I am also qualified to tutor a variety of different subjects. I have taken the SAT 11 different times, and feel very confident teaching standardized test subjects! For me, tutoring is about breaking down difficult subjects into bite-sized pieces for my students to understand. My motto is "baby steps," and I love finding new and personalized ways to make learning fun for my students. Outside of academia I can be found exercising, singing, playing the ukulele, lounging on the beach, or finding new and exciting ways to annoy my cat Mozart.
Laura
AP Calculus BC Tutor • +43 Subjects
I am an energetic tutor with an abundance of tutoring experience in a broad range of subjects. As a biology major at Washington University in St. Louis, I am well-versed in chemistry, biology, physics and calculus. I have privately tutored elementary through high school students in these areas of study, as well as algebra, trigonometry and geometry. However, my academic interests are not limited to math and science. My true academic passion is for French language and literature, which is my second major at my university. I developed this passion at a young age, but mastered the language during my semester abroad in a language-immersion program in Toulouse, France.
Mitchell
Pre-Algebra Tutor • +51 Subjects
Hobbies: art, books, hiking, sports, reading, music, writing
Fernando
Applied Mathematics Tutor • +81 Subjects
I am a math and science enthusiast first and foremost. Officially though, I am Harvard Biophysics graduate student. I enjoy problem-solving, discussing science, and sharing my expertise with others. Hobbies: sports, movies, books, reading, music, writing, art
Rithi
AP Statistics Tutor • +158 Subjects
I am now a medical student at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Alyna
Pre-Algebra Tutor • +26 Subjects
I am a graduate of Brown University, and I received my Bachelor of Arts in Classics and Evolutionary Biology. Throughout my undergraduate years, I tutored and mentored children from the local area, refugee children and adult immigrants. While living in Atlanta, I worked with the Fugees Family program tutoring and mentoring refugees, as well as worked with high school students from the Atlanta area. While I enjoy tutoring many subjects, I am most passionate about Classical and English Literature and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. In my experiences assisting students with tough concepts, I always try to cater to the student's best learning style and work to make the material approachable, engaging and relevant. I believe that learning how to learn and loving to learn are critical skills and I hope to pass on this appreciation to my students. In my spare time I enjoy playing soccer, reading, and making art.
Top 20 Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Students often find phylogenetic trees and cladistics challenging because they require visualizing evolutionary relationships across time and interpreting branching patterns correctly. Population genetics—particularly Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, allele frequency calculations, and understanding how mutation, selection, and drift interact—is another major stumbling block. Many students also struggle to connect microevolution (small-scale changes within populations) to macroevolution (large-scale patterns across species), and they frequently confuse mechanisms like natural selection with outcomes like adaptation. A tutor can break down these abstract concepts using concrete examples and help you build the mathematical and conceptual foundations needed to understand how evolution actually works.
Evolution is supported by multiple independent evidence streams—fossil records, comparative anatomy, molecular biology, and direct observation—and students often memorize these without truly connecting them. A tutor helps you see how these pieces fit together: for example, how homologous structures in mammal limbs, DNA sequence similarities across species, and fossil transitional forms all point to common ancestry. Rather than listing facts, you'll learn to think like an evolutionary biologist by asking questions like "What would we expect to see if evolution were true?" and "How does this evidence support or challenge that prediction?" This approach transforms evidence from isolated facts into a coherent, testable framework.
Population genetics requires you to simultaneously manage algebra, probability, and biological reasoning—and many students struggle because they don't see the connection between the math and what's actually happening in a population. Concepts like allele frequency, genotype frequency, and the Hardy-Weinberg equation feel abstract when you're just plugging numbers into formulas. A tutor walks you through the logic: why we use these equations, what each variable represents biologically, and how to set up problems from scratch rather than memorizing templates. With practice on real scenarios—tracking how a recessive allele spreads, predicting changes under selection—the math becomes a tool for understanding evolution rather than an obstacle.
These mechanisms are often confused because students learn them as separate topics rather than understanding how they interact and produce different outcomes. Natural selection requires variation and differential reproduction; genetic drift is random change that matters more in small populations; gene flow homogenizes populations; mutation introduces new variation. A tutor helps you build a mental framework by comparing mechanisms side-by-side: Which ones require fitness differences? Which are random? How do they interact in real populations? You'll work through scenarios where you predict which mechanism is most important—say, in a small isolated population versus a large connected one—which deepens your intuition far beyond memorization.
Many students misread trees by focusing on left-right positioning instead of branching patterns, or they assume that branch length always indicates evolutionary time or amount of change (it doesn't, unless explicitly stated). A tutor teaches you to read trees systematically: identify the root, trace back to find most recent common ancestors, and recognize that only branching order matters for relationships—not where species are drawn horizontally. You'll practice extracting specific information ("Which species are most closely related?", "When did this lineage diverge?") and constructing trees from data yourself, which builds genuine understanding. This hands-on approach prevents the common trap of memorizing tree-reading rules without grasping the underlying logic.
Evolutionary biology isn't just content—it's a way of thinking about how to test hypotheses about life's history and mechanisms. Tutors help you design experiments or interpret studies: How would you test whether a trait is adaptive? What would disprove a phylogenetic hypothesis? How do you control variables when studying evolution in the lab or field? You'll learn to critique experimental design, recognize confounding variables, and understand why some evolutionary claims are stronger than others. This scientific reasoning skill transfers across biology and helps you engage critically with evolutionary research, not just memorize textbook examples.
Understanding principles is far more valuable in evolutionary biology because the field is built on a small number of core ideas—variation, inheritance, differential reproduction, and time—that explain an enormous range of phenomena. Memorizing specific examples (Darwin's finches, peppered moths, antibiotic resistance) without grasping the underlying mechanism leaves you unable to apply those principles to new situations, which is what exams and real science require. A tutor helps you build conceptual frameworks first, then use examples to illustrate and test your understanding. This approach means you can tackle unfamiliar scenarios on exams or in discussions because you're thinking about evolution, not recalling facts.
A strong evolutionary biology tutor should have deep knowledge of both the conceptual foundations (how evolution works) and the mathematical tools (population genetics, phylogenetic methods), and they should be able to explain why these tools matter. They should be comfortable with abstract thinking and visualization—helping you see how populations change over time, how trees represent relationships, how molecular data reveals evolutionary history. Look for someone who asks probing questions to uncover your actual misunderstandings rather than just re-explaining textbook material, and who can connect evolutionary concepts to real research and current examples. Varsity Tutors connects you with tutors who combine subject expertise with the ability to adapt explanations to your learning style.
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