Tutoring Rates, Credentials, and My Promise to Students

Tutoring Rates.

My tutoring rate is $50/hour. I keep the same rate for in-person and on-line tutoring. 

For in-home tutoring, my rate is $75/hour.  

If you are experiencing financial hardship and need a discounted rate on tutoring, please contact me and we can discuss your situation. I care about serving the needs of my community.

I encourage all of my tutoring students to send me questions or study materials in advance. Whenever possible, I prepare for my sessions ahead of time in order to give my students a great tutoring experience.

My e-mail address: r-meissner@u.northwestern.edu

Subjects I Tutor.

For high school students, I tutor:

* Math (Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, and Precalculus)

* Chemistry

* Biology

* Physics

For college students, I tutor:

* General biology

* General chemistry

* Genetics

Credentials.

I’ve been tutoring students since October 2013 and have logged more than 2,000 tutoring hours. Many of my students choose to work with me again and again, which is the highest praise of all. I have a five-star rating on Wyzant Tutoring, which is the platform on which I began my tutoring career.

I’m a graduate of Albion College (2003) and Northwestern University (2009). At Albion, I majored in chemistry and minored in philosophy. I went on to earn a PhD in neuroscience from Northwestern University, where I studied behavior in fruit flies, a field that allowed me to use genetics and molecular biology to better understand behavior, which is, in my opinion, the ultimate output of nervous systems.

After earning my PhD, I spent several years working in various labs at Texas A&M Health Science Center and Texas A&M University, including a fruit fly lab, a worm lab, and a honey bee lab. Altogether, I have more than ten years of research experience. My research background has given me a well-rounded education in biology.

I am a passionate, lifelong learner. My tutoring work is part of that passion. I pride myself on making science and math accessible to my students. I continue to learn and grow in my areas of expertise, always working to find ways to work harmoniously with my students and their needs

My promise to students.

When I begin working with a student, I don't know how long our tutoring relationship will last. Some students need just 1-2 sessions. Others want recurring sessions every week for a semester or a full academic year.

My promise to students is that I will do everything I can to help you complete the course for which you have sought tutoring. I will commit to you with the same strength you commit to our tutoring sessions. Though tutoring is a freelance pursuit, I see myself as a professional and I don't quit in the middle of the project. If we have started working together, I will do my best to schedule sessions with you to help you meet your goals.

I am here for you.

The Grad School Series

I’m writing a series of posts about pursuing a science PhD.  Here you’ll find links to all the pieces I’ve published so far on that topic.

* So, It’s Your First Summer of Research in the Lab

* Advice to First-Year Graduate Students in Science

* Should You Sign Up for a Science PhD?

Coming soon…do you need permission to quit your PhD program?

Advice to First-Year Graduate Students in Science

“Scientific truth is beyond loyalty and disloyalty.”  Isaac Asimov, Foundation

When I asked my research friends for their advice for summer undergrad researchers, I got such great responses that I decided to write two posts.  I felt some of their advice was better for first-, second- or even third-year graduate students, people who are still early in their research training but who have some experience under their belts.  As you grow into your career, you’ll have different needs, and the advice you seek should reflect them.  Furthermore, there are different expectations of students at different stages.  Students who are trying their hand at research for the very first time should focus on learning and putting forth their best effort.  That’s a great way to jump into research.  Students who have entered a graduate program need to think more strategically about how they spend their time and efforts.  They need encouragement, of course, but I think it should be more sophisticated than “just keep trying!”  (Which is, to be honest, advice that I got as a postdoc and was far too simple for the level of anxiety I was feeling.  It didn’t work for me.)

The people who offered the following advice represent many levels of graduate school success.  Some, like me, finished PhDs, while others finished Master’s degrees.  Some are still going strong in grad school, while others realized that graduate school was not the right path for them.  Graduate school is nothing if not a learning process, so above all else, embrace that opportunity.

With that in mind, here are some thoughts on graduate school once you’ve committed to a degree path.

* Pick a research advisor who can teach you.  I could write an entire dissertation on picking a research advisor, but I’ll refrain from that here.  The best advice I can offer on picking an advisor is to remember that you are in graduate school, so your number one task is to learn as much as you can about science and yourself.  Pick an advisor who can and will support you in that goal.  In many labs, you’ll have in-lab advisors (postdocs, more senior graduate students) who will teach you.  That’s a good thing.

The best way to learn if a potential advisor is a good match for you?  Ask the other graduate students about their experiences.  Are they learning, improving, succeeding?  Do they like working with their advisor?  Is the advisor good at managing her lab?  Is the advisor fair when dealing with in-lab conflicts? 

* Define the purpose of your research for yourself.  I don’t mean what you tell your family, your dissertation committee, or funding agencies.  What do you tell yourself about your research?  My friend Shawn Marie Wolffersdorff, who earned a Master’s degree in materials science and engineering, says, “It really helps to have a narrative about why what you are doing is good for the world. And it helps even more if you genuinely believe it to be true.”

* Find a mentor.  You’re going to have to make a lot of decisions during and after graduate school.  It’s immensely helpful to find a mentor or even several mentors to offer their perspective and care.  Another friend of mine, Dr. Valerie McCarthy, who earned her PhD in physical chemistry, says, “Find a mentor.  No matter what, you'll need a good sounding board for all kinds of things, big and small.  A great mentor can really help you tap into your strengths and develop them.”

* “Own your project,” advises Dr. Jeff Wilson, a professor of psychology at Albion College, my alma mater. “Don't wait for me to tell you what to do or what needs to be done.  Read the literature, think deeply, and come up with ideas.  I'll tell you if they suck (and why), or I'll tell you to act on those ideas, and I'll help make it happen.  The best research comes out of projects that are owned by the people who carry them out.”

But then there’s also this next opinion…

* Learn to collaborate.  Science is team-driven and deeply collaborative at the getting-shit-done level.  There’s a rhetoric in science about the lone hero who discovered penicillin, developed the polio vaccine, or discovered what causes ulcers.  And while those stories are valuable, today’s science is big, often too big for one person to do all the work for a story.  Learn to be part of a team, and you’ll go far in science.

So how do I square owning your project against learning to collaborate?  Ultimately, you need to be able to do both.  Different situations will require different responses from you.  Additionally, your own work preferences and temperament will shape how you approach science.

* Realize that science is 90% process and 10% success.  We’ve already talked about how failure is to be expected in research.  However, even when things are going well, daily life in a lab can be pretty mundane.  Within that context, I think it’s a good practice to learn to appreciate the processes that are science at work.  Shawn Marie says, “A little bit of statistics and design of experiments is good for the soul. If you find these two points at odds, research will be harder.”

* Get as much hands-on experience as you can.  If your graduate experience is anything like mine, you’ll have the chance to learn a lot of techniques.  Take advantage of them!  My friend Kim (who was a fellow chemistry major with me at Albion College) says, “Ask to use and touch any equipment you can.  Nothing is better than the hands-on experience of actually getting in there and doing the work!  And it is fun.”

Finally, take a deep breath and…

* “Don't forget to enjoy it,” says Dr. Dana Shaw Park, a recent PhD graduate from Texas A&M Health Science Center.  “There are so many parts of research that can be such a bummer, but don't forget to wonder at how cool science is.  You're on the forefront of uncharted territory—you're literally an explorer.  Science is just as much about creativity as it is about rigor and logic!  People forget the creativity part too often, I think.”

My best advice for those times when science is bumming you out?  Read some Carl Sagan.  His words always remind me of how amazing it is to practice science.  Two of my favorite Sagan books are The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark and Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space.

Have some advice to offer to graduate students?  Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments!

So, It’s Your First Summer of Research in the Lab

{Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building at Texas A&M University}

It’s June and undergraduate researchers are flocking to academic labs, eager to get started and maybe even—fingers crossed!—discover something new.  Perhaps you are one of these bright-eyed, super smart college students.  Good for you!  In the lab, you’ll learn valuable things about yourself, whether you love the experience or not.

I’ve been working in research labs for ten years, starting as an undergrad myself.  I went on to earn a PhD, and I’ve worked in three different labs after graduate school, two as a postdoc and one as a lab manager.  I’ve been around the block a few times.  I’ve seen many undergrads and first-year graduate students come and go.  With all that in mind, I’d like to offer a few tips to help you get the most out of your summertime research experience.

* Be open to learning.  Your primary task is to learn as much as you can.  As a research student, you have the chance to learn by doing, which is invaluable.  But you also have the chance to get critical feedback from your in-lab mentors and the professor in whose lab you are working.

* Take good notes on what you are doing.  Oh my gosh, I cannot stress this enough.  When you’re busy doing an experiment, you think you’ll remember what you did.  And you might.  But will you remember two months from now?  Probably not.  Do yourself (and your supervisor) a favor and WRITE IT DOWN.  Write down what you did, what you observed, what you were thinking.  Even your speculations are good lab notebook material.  WRITE IT ALL DOWN!

* Take your time.  This one is hard, I know.  We live in a rush-rush-rush world.  But science will bite you in the ass if you don’t let yourself slow down, think, and develop “good hands.”  (“Good hands” is a phrase my friend Matt introduced to me, and it’s the idea of being able to execute your benchwork smoothly and easily.  Think of all the muscle movements you must do to carry out an experiment at the bench, such as pipetting, pouring, mixing, injecting, and putting together your equipment.  Good hands make your life much, much easier in the lab.)  

* Be assertive but respectful. You should ask for what you need, absolutely.  The social culture of the lab will play a role in when, how, and why people ask for things from each other.  Try to avoid what I call “the lurker,” where you approach someone and stand there, waiting for them to acknowledge you when they are clearly at work on something.  Instead, approach, say hello, and ask them if you can make a request.  If they say yes, then go for it.  If they say no, don’t take it personally, just come back at a later time.

Please understand that for long-time lab veterans, it can be hard to get anything done because of the number of interruptions during a day in the lab.  Try to respect that they want to get their work done, just like you.  Veterans have had to learn how to focus and say no amid the chaos of a busy lab, and sometimes they’ll say no to you, even if they really want to help you (just not right this moment).

* Eat some humble pie.  “Don't be surprised at how often science doesn't work,” says my friend Tonya Shepherd, a PhD candidate in microbiology at Texas A&M University.  Indeed, this is painfully common in science.  Embrace your failures, learn from them, move forward with grace.  Know that when you’ve failed, it also means that you tried something, and that counts for a lot.

* Organize, organize!  This one might strike you as boring and anal-retentive, but having worked with the most organized PI ever last year, I can assure you that any organizational efforts you put forth will be rewarded tenfold.  Label things well and make a database (like an Excel spreadsheet) for any sets you have or make.  DNA extracts, primers, plasmids—these are all good examples of things that belong in a spreadsheet for future reference. 

* Read.  This advice comes from my friend Christopher Jagge, PhD, who manages the Amrein lab at the Texas A&M Health Science Center.  When I asked him what one habit he’d advise young graduate students to cultivate, it was this: read.  I’d add that it’s good for you to push yourself to read challenging publications from your field of study.  The more you read, the better you will get at reading the hard stuff and actually remembering something from it.

* Go to lab meeting, dammit!  If you’re doing research in a lab, even if it’s only a part-time thing, you should go to lab meeting.  You’ll learn not only what everyone in the lab is doing, but you’ll learn a lot about how the lab thinks about science, their projects, troubleshooting, the state of their field, and so much more.  Yes, I know, sometimes lab meeting is painfully boring—trust me, I’ve been there.  But sometimes lab meeting is exciting and invigorating, a place where new ideas are born.

Ultimately, your research experience will be like many things in life: you get out of it what you put into it.  In the words of my own undergraduate research advisor, Cliff Harris, PhD, of Albion College, “Immerse yourself.  Read, think, ask, think about what you are about to do, ask, safely do, think about what you read and did, ask, write it all down all the time.” 

Wise words from a chemistry professor who has had over a hundred undergraduate research students over the years.

Good luck and have fun!

Learning Resources

Here’s a list of various learning resources I’ve shared on the blog.

* Useful Math Links