Smarthinking Reviews

They sure do want a lot for eleven dollars an hour. Smarthinking has a formula for tutoring students in writing that they think works really well. In fact, it is time consuming and counter-intuitive. Tutors are required to pointlessly quote the student's writing back to him at several points in the review, no matter how little is to be gained from doing so. Because apparently the student doesn't know what he wrote. The formula for reviewing is so repetitive that tutors end up making comments like "Well, this needs improvement because it is crappy writing, and crappy writing is a bad thing because it's crappy. Here's an example of your crappy writing and here's how to fix it. Now, please fix your crappy writing." As a student, I would find this kind of repetition deeply insulting, but if I fail to follow the formula, I get a poor evaluation. If I am honest with the student that his writing is kind of lifeless, I get an evaluation that says my comments are "hurtful." Oh, and we are REQUIRED to praise something in the paper--even when the paper is a total train wreck and there's absolutely not one good sentence in it to isolate as better than the rest. So, if I say something like, "Well, I can see that you have a lot of enthusiasm," the lead tutor accuses me of being insincere. Lead tutors make a big fuss about formatting, at least if mine is any indication. I mean, she really CARES about Verdana 10 point.

The expectations are absurd. Essays can range anywhere from first year college students composition papers, ESL papers, business reports, and resumes to PhD dissertation chapters. The tutor must create three original, personalized lessons for each paper in 30 minutes, even if the paper is over 20 pages and the subject matter is not even close to the tutor's field of study (such as nursing graduate papers or resumes for business majors). The essays are downloaded by the students, and the tutor has no idea what type of essay will appear or if the student includes any type of assignment instructions. Lead tutors always look for something wrong in the tutor's response and never, ever give high ratings for a tutor's work. If the tutor has a Ph,D. (and many do), they get a whopping $12/h. Those with masters degrees get $10. These rates are lower than what fast food workers make, and high expertise in writing, grammar, style, and career advice is required. Then the tutor's hard work and expertise is continuously bashed during reviews.