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Show HN: I made a cheap alternative to college-level math & physics tutoring

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Re: Show HN: I made a cheap alternative to college-level math & physics tutoring

#142

in nature it is the restriction that affords growth. Not growth itself. Growth is like cancer. Restriction is like selection. Upvoting alone also doesnt outline content that is toxic, incorrect and makes it harder to find content that we are interested in. Afterall, you have a title that explains if the content is of our own intrest fairly well.. the upvote is a popularity contest. Downvoteing alone allows our own al…

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Re: Show HN: I made a cheap alternative to college-level math & physics tutoring

#144
post #6

That's a compelling story, I wish you the best of luck! EDIT: Explore AI as part of this (e.g. using RAG), many have found it super useful as a tutor for personalized explanations when you don't understand the textbook. If you have it grounded in the textbook or other sources, it should have fairly minimal hallucinations.

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Re: Show HN: I made a cheap alternative to college-level math & physics tutoring

#145

> cheap alternative Here from my experience is a still cheaper alternative: My experience? From 9th grade on, concentrated on math. In college also took a lot of physics. Got a Ph.D. in applied math. Taught math in two big universities. Applied math to US national security (mostly Navy work), FedEx, and computing. From that some advice: (1) Get a good outline of math, that is, a list, with short descriptions, of the…

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Re: Show HN: I made a cheap alternative to college-level math & physics tutoring

#146
post #78
post #31

> but very expensive e.g. $100/hour Yeah getting specialized human help that is worth while for anything is expensive. I tried to being a tutor/mentor on some site, forgot off the top of my head. I'm pretty sure in and out or target pays more. 100/hr seems right to charge. Probably still not even enough. If you break it down, you spend a ton of time unpaid doing prep and searching for clients, the work it self is inc…

>I also just got asked to answer homework questions for cheap. My exact experience as a tutor. The clients do not want tutoring, they want an afterschool homework program.

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Re: Show HN: I made a cheap alternative to college-level math & physics tutoring

#147
post #31

> but very expensive e.g. $100/hour Yeah getting specialized human help that is worth while for anything is expensive. I tried to being a tutor/mentor on some site, forgot off the top of my head. I'm pretty sure in and out or target pays more. 100/hr seems right to charge. Probably still not even enough. If you break it down, you spend a ton of time unpaid doing prep and searching for clients, the work it self is inc…

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Re: Show HN: I made a cheap alternative to college-level math & physics tutoring

#150

Can this service expand to include coding/programming?

Which programming subject do you want in particular? If it's coding syntax heavy, then the blackboard format might not be suitable. But if it's algorithm-heavy, then blackboard visuals could be very helpful.

Feel free to email me eltonlin@alum.mit.edu or if you prefer calling https://cal.com/eltonlin1998/15min

(BTW the things I described like overcrowded Office Hours etc., restricted access to past problems, were all Comp. Sci classes - Intro to Algorithms, Design & Analysis of Algorithms.)

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