Round-up of Varsity Tutors reviews: is tutoring for Varsity Tutors worth it?

Varsity Tutor is a major player in online tutoring. They have almost a million likes on Facebook, and are on top of many of the search results for online tutoring. But, it’s worth asking: is tutoring for Varsity Tutors worth it?

In my short and sweet opinion as a professional tutor, the answer is no. You can make more by tutoring on your own and not giving Varsity Tutor any of your time. For example, I make $8000/month as a tutor.  One of the reasons I make that much is that I charge between $100/hr and $160/hr, which is far more than Varsity Tutor is willing to pay. When they tried to recruit me, they offered $90/hr, with no guarantee of how many clients I could get.

It’s far better to learn how to market yourself as a tutor online, then bill what you’re worth. Don’t leave money on the table.

But, that’s just my opinion. Let’s look at the review roundup!

Glassdoor Varsity Tutors Reviews: 4.3/5 stars

Selected Varsity Tutors quote: “Working your own schedule is wonderful!”

Before I begin, just a note: I filtered for “part-time” as I didn’t want to accidentally include reviews for people who work for Varsity Tutor corporate.

Anyhow, people on Glassdoor are generally happy.

The pros they list are:

1. Flexible hours (which comes with tutoring, of course)
2. Good pay for little experience required
3. Online platform is handy for keeping track of students
4. Good support from counselors and support staff
5. Online question bank is handy
6. Great students

The cons they list are

1. Opportunities can get taken quickly by other tutors
2. More money would be nice
3. Mileage can be a killer (hint: make your tutoring students come to you, then!)
4. Only paid once per month

Indeed Varsity Tutors Reviews: 4.1/5 work-life balance, 3.1/5 pay and benefits, 2.8/5 job security

Selected Indeed Quote: “Most likely if you sign up to be a tutor here–assuming it’s your main bread and butter– you’re going to starve.”

Once again, I filtered just for tutors, so as to avoid full-time employees.

There are some people on Indeed who are happy, and some who are very unhappy.

The pros they list are

1. It’s possible to work from home (again, comes with tutoring).
2. Not much interference from management.
3. Flexible schedule.
4. User-friendly website.
5. It’s nice to see students learn and improve.

The cons they list are

1. There aren’t enough clients to go around.
2. There’s no room for growth, because tutors are all paid roughly the same, regardless of qualifications.
3. The pay isn’t enough if you live in an expensive city.
4. The clients can be frustrating
5. Work is sporadic.

Reddit Varsity Tutors Review

Selected Reddit Quote: “They are a scam company with a service that screws over both their tutors and their clients.”

This guy on Reddit is very angry about Varsity Tutor. Other people in the comments largely disagree with him, but I thought I might as well share his side.

The pros they list are

1. 24 hours of tutoring a week, which is a pretty reasonable amount.

The cons they list are

1. The students are charged $65/hr, the tutor is paid $19/hr.
2. The materials provided are very poor.
3. There’s no tutor training.
4. The non-compete contract is incredibly onerous, and doesn’t allow him to work outside the platform (worth noting that this is the part that commenters disagree most strongly with, as they do not read the contract the same way).