• DEVELOP REALISTIC STUDY GOALS & STRATEGIES:  Before convening your first tutorial session, meet with your professor to discuss what you must do to improve your performance in the course.  At this time try to clarify how the work you are doing relates to the "big picture".  Question.  Question.  Question.  Translate your professor's suggestions into the study goals you will need to reach during your tutorial sessions.
  • CULTIVATE GREATER INTELLECTUAL RESPONSIBILITY AND INDEPENDENCE:  Your own effort in the tutorial process will ultimately determine your ability to master your academic work without the assistance of a Peer Tutor.  Students who have successfully done this have consistently met with their tutors, prepared in advance for the tutorial, met regularly with their professors, and avoided cramming huge amounts of overdue work into an insufficient number of tutorial sessions.
  • FIND A GOOD PLACE TO STUDY:  Work with your tutor to establish where the tutorial sessions should take place, schedule convenient meetings, and start on time.
  • GO TO YOUR PROFESSOR'S OFFICE HOURS:  Working with your professor is the main ingredient in making your tutorial session effective.  Discuss your work with your professor after each tutorial session to make sure that your understanding of the material is improving.  Always arrange follow-up meetings with him or her.
  • AVOID CRAMMING:  Do not wait until the last minute to request tutorial assistance.  Experience has taught us that students who begin tutorial sessions either hours before a big exam or three weeks before the semester closes attempt to compress huge amounts of study into an insufficient amount of study sessions with virtually no success.  By contrast, students who meet regularly with their tutors and focus on manageable blocks of work usually raise their grades significantly.
  • REPLACE INEFFECTIVE TUTORS:  If you find that your tutor is unable to help you reach your study goals satisfactorily, use your faculty-approved tutor list to identify another tutor immediately.  Remember to inform by email Raphaela Moreno in Student Affairs, rmoreno@amherst.edu, of this change.
  • CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS:  Acknowledge your achievement and the promise of more to come.  Give yourself credit for being an assertive, smart, persistent, self-confident young scholar on the rise.  Let your tutor know how much you appreciate his or her assistance. Know that the Office of Student Affairs extends to you best wishes for continued success throughout your career at Amherst and beyond.
  • UTILIZE ALL YOUR RESOURCES BEFORE ASKING FOR ADDITIONAL TUTORING: Additional tutoring hours may be approved on a case by case basis, once a student has exhausted other available resources. To request additional tutoring, a student should meet with their course instructor to discuss their situation, who can then give a recommendation to the Peer Tutoring Coordinator. Professors should cc' students' academic advisors and class deans when recommending consistent (more than temporary for a specific exam/project) additional tutoring.