PrepNow Tutoring Review – Can You Earn $20+ Per Hour Online Tutoring?
If you're trying to make money online and are an expert in a particular subject, you might have thought about becoming an online tutor before.
After all, there are tons of companies out there that pay you to be an online tutor, and you can usually earn well above minimum wage for your efforts.
PrepNow Tutoring, a test preparation and tutoring service, is one way to make money online by tutoring students.
But, is being a PrepNow tutor worth it, and how do you even land a job in the first place?
Well, our PrepNow Tutoring review is going to cover everything you need to know, from the application process to how much money you can make.
Let's get to it!
What Is PrepNow Tutoring?
PrepNow Tutoring is an online tutoring platform that began in 1999 and was founded by Gregory Zumas and Richard Enos.
The goal of PrepNow Tutoring is to help students prepare for specific test material, including:
- SAT
- PSAT
- ACT
- SSAT
Additionally, PrepNow Tutoring also lets tutors help students with specific subjects like:
- Biology
- Chemistry
- French
- Physics
- Spanish
- Writing
So, unlike many online tutoring gigs like QKids or other ESL tutoring jobs that focus on teaching students English, PrepNow Tutoring is more flexible.
All tutoring sessions are done online and are one-on-one between student and tutor, so this is definitely a more specialized online tutoring service.
But, how much money can you make as a PrepNow tutor, and what's the application process like?
How Do You Get A PrepNow Tutoring Job?
If you want to make money with PrepNow Tutoring, the entire process really takes four steps:
- Meet the job requirements
- Submit an application
- Tutor students
- Get paid
Let's cover each step in more detail!
1. Meet The PrepNow Tutor Requirements
Out of all the online tutoring gigs, PrepNow actually has some pretty high requirements to become a tutor.
PrepNow Tutor requirements include:
- Experience: You need at least two years of teaching or tutoring experience. You also need either a composite 28 on your ACT or a minimum of 650 on your SAT Math and SAT Verbal.
- Education: You must have a minimum of a bachelor's degree from a four year program at an accredited college or university.
- Availability: PrepNow Tutoring asks for at least 6 hours per week and that you're available on weeknights and some weekends.
- Style: This is more subjective, but you should ideally be friendly, fun, and an engaging tutor to tutor more effectively.
The degree and test score requirements are definitely the main barriers to entry in becoming a PrepNow Tutor, so keep these in mind.
You can probably get away with saying you have two years of tutoring experience, but it'll be difficult to lie about the other requirements, and you shouldn't lie!
2. Apply For Tutoring Positions
If you meet PrepNow Tutoring's requirements, you can click the “I want to apply” button on the tutor application page.
This brings you to a new page where you can apply to specific tutoring roles. Open positions include:
- College admissions essay tutors
- Math tutors
- SAT/ACT tutors
- Science tutors
- Admission consultants
You apply to roles individually, and PrepNow Tutoring outlines the requirements and a bit more information about each role in the job description.
Note that PrepNow Tutoring also asks for you to commit to the weekly 6 hour minimum for at least 4 to 6 months, which isn't apparent in the initial application page.
When you apply for different roles, you provide:
- A copy of your resume and CV.
- Name, number, and address.
- A description of your tutoring experience and education level.
- An explanation of why you're an awesome tutor.
- How PrepNow Tutoring should contact you
If you're applying for the SAT/ACT tutoring position, you also state your personal test scores and write about your experience taking the test.
You also answer a subject-specific question that gauges your comfort level with different subjects.
For example, the science tutor application asks what subjects you're confident tutoring in, like biology, AP biology, chemistry, and physics.
On the SAT/ACT application page, PrepNow Tutoring states: “One of our recruiters will reply to all qualified candidates within 1-2 business days.”
I believe this is the same process for all applications, so expect a call or email from a recruiter a few days after you complete your application.
The application process should probably take around 30 minutes if you tweak your resume and CV to match the job a bit more, which is probably a good idea.
From there, you might have a chat with a recruiter to answer additional questions before getting approved to tutor.
3. Tutor Students
If you get approved to be a PrepNow Tutoring tutor, you're ready to start this side hustle!
As mentioned, PrepNow Tutoring only offers one-on-one, online tutoring, so you don't have to go into an office or teach at someone's house.
To teach students, you use PrepNow Tutoring's software, which is basically an online learning environment, and voice-over-internet to communicate with students.
You don't need to have your webcam enabled as a tutor, but you should have a headset microphone and strong, reliable internet connection.
PrepNow Tutoring provides its own curicculum, so you don't have to come up with lesson plans for any of your students.
However, PrepNow Tutoring uses what it calls “adaptive homework,” and tailors lesson plans and difficulty depending on how well a student is doing.
So, as a tutor, the most important thing is to tailor your teaching style to match your student's pace and to focus on any problem areas that are most evident.
4. Get Paid
PrepNow Tutoring assigns you to students based on availability and the demand for the role you're tutoring for.
But, how much money you make as a PrepNow Tutor depends on your instructor tier, and this is a bit confusing.
You actually get a tier ranking depending on your application, experience, and how long you're with PrepNow Tutoring.
This tier ranges from rank 1 to rank 4, and here's how the hourly pricing works for customers depending on a tutor's tier:
- Tier 1: $80 per hour
- Tier 2: $115 per hour
- Tier 3: $165 per hour
- Tier 4: $265 per hour
If you look on PrepNow Tutoring's tutor page, you can see there's a variety of tutors at different tiers, all with varying hourly rates.
Now, you might be thinking: “awesome, I can make over $100 per hour by being an online tutor!”
However, this isn't the case at all.
PrepNow Tutors only earn around $15 to $30 per hour according to various salary review websites, so this is just a fraction of what the clients pay for the service.
You get paid through direct deposit, which is a plus, but your hourly rate isn't as high as you might think it is when you look at customer pricing.
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How Much Does PrepNow Tutoring Pay?
It wouldn't be a useful PrepNow Tutoring review without covering how much money you can actually make with this side job.
So, how much money do tutors make?
Well, here's some data from two different salary review websites for some info:
Considering that PrepNow Tutoring charges upwards of $265 per hour for SAT/ACT prep, this is honestly a pretty low hourly rate.
It's still well above minimum wage and comparable to other online tutoring gigs like VIPKid, but again, quite low when you compare it versus what clients pay.
Other PrepNow Tutoring Reviews
If you look for PrepNow reviews on Indeed and Glassdoor, you find a variety of positive and negative reviews.
Right now, PrepNow Tutoring has a 3.7 star rating on Indeed and 3.9 star rating on Glassdoor.
Here's what some PrepNow Tutoring reviews said on Indeed:
- A 4 star review said: “Tutoring with Prep Now is about as good as online tutoring gets, I think. you have tons of support from program supervisors, decent curriculum to work from, and you get to set your own hours–as few or as many as you want (though they can't guarantee to fill your schedule, of course.)”
- A 1 star review said: “This is so insulting. This company charges clients over two hundred dollars an hour for test prep and pays its tutors no more than TWENTY THREE an hour? This is insane. Talk about a racket.”
- A 5 star review said: “PrepNow is a great company to work for! You get to set your own schedule and work when it is convenient for you. The minimum requirement is 6 hours a week and tutoring can be done after work on the weekends. If you are looking to make a little extra money and you didn't hate standardized tests when you were in high school, this is a great place for you! I highly recommend to all my friends.”
As you can see, people like the flexibility and fact that this is a remote job.
However, some negative PrepNow Tutoring reviews state the pay is too low considering the job requirements and how much PrepNow Tutoring charges clients.
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Pros & Cons
If you're wondering if making money with PrepNow Tutoring is worth it or not, consider the following pros and cons of this teaching platform.
The Pros:
- Completely remote work
- Flexible schedule
- Only 6 hours per week as a requirement
- Get paid through direct deposit
- Variety of subjects and tests you can tutor students for
The Cons:
- Your hourly pay is quite low when you consider how much money students pay
- Strict hiring requirements
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PrepNow Tutoring Alternatives
There are plenty of websites like PrepNow Tutoring you can use to find work as an online tutoring or even get paid to do homework.
In fact, if you just Google “best online tutoring companies,” you'll find a list of companies or direct job leads on websites like Indeed you can apply to.
And, as mentioned, popular tutoring companies like VIPKid, QKids, and others will pay you to teach English online.
Other tutoring companies you can check out include:
- BookNook
- Chegg
- Club Z
- Preply
- Skooli
- TutorEye
- Studypool
However, one thing I want to note is that you can likely make more money with private tutoring on your own, especially if you got amazing SAT scores.
Granted, this requires more time to find clients, but I think your first step should be to post your services on local classifieds like Craigslist or even the Facebook Marketplace.
I mean, if parents are willing to pay hundreds per hour for SAT prep for their kid, you can simply undercut the middleman and tutor students in person and charge a similar amount.
Granted, this might not be remote, and you have to find test banks/come up with a curriculum, so more work is involved.
My advice is to check out several websites like PrepNow Tutoring, read about hourly rates, and apply to a few so you at least have some options!
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. How Much Does PrepNow Tutoring Cost?
PrepNow Tutoring costs parents and students between $80 to $265 per hour.
2. Is Working For PrepNow Tutoring Worth It?
If you want a way to diversify your monthly income and make money online, PrepNow Tutoring might be worth it.
You earn above minimum wage on average and work completely remotely.
Plus, all of the curriculum is made for you, and you only commit 6 hours per week.
However, if you can find clients on your own, I think you're better off offering private tutoring where you can probably charge $50 to $100 per hour or even more depending on the subject or test.
Final Thoughts
I hope our PrepNow Tutoring review helps you decide if this side hustle idea is worth it or not!
Honestly, the hiring requirements are pretty steep, and as mentioned, private tutoring on your own is probably more lucrative.
But, if you don't want to worry about finding clients yourself and want a fully remote and flexible job, tutoring for PrepNow might be worth it.
Thanks for reading! Catch you guys in the next one!
Looking for other money-making ideas? Checkout:
PrepNow Tutoring Review
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