Interested in Tutoring with Us?
Hi, I'm Matt S and I am looking for experienced professionals and educators to join the growing Cognitrell marketplace as independent advanced STEM online tutors!
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We strive to be a place where TEACHING EXCELLENCE is central to everything we do. Our mission is two-fold:
1. Connect STEM students to world-class tutors for academic support and mentorship.
2. Provide a marketplace where teachers are treated fairly and receive pay commensurate to the value they have to their students.
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Cognitrell is a broker that connects outstanding online independent tutors to clients. Tutors are not employees of Cognitrell. Tutors act as independent contractors and are free to work when they want and how much they want. Most tutors on the Cognitrell marketplace work 3-10 hours per week with 2-5 students, but some work 20+ hours per week. Tutors are a mixture of retirees from STEM fields who want to work with the next generation of STEM students, working professionals who want to keep their academic skills sharp as part of their side-hustle, and full-time education professionals. Sessions are conducted online via video meetings with a collaborative whiteboard.
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The typical student shopping the Cognitrell marketplace is in a STEM course at the AP or undergraduate level. Most college students are in a STEM major. Examples of courses frequently tutored are AP and college intro Calc, AP and college intro Physics, AP and college intro Chemistry, Differential Equations, Statics, Dynamics, Thermodynamics, Fluids, Optics, Quantum Mechanics, etc. Typically our students are seeking out recurring help (one to three hours per week for the length of the course).
In addition to technical help in their courses, the typical student needs to improve learning skills, problem-solving, STEM critical thinking, etc. I want tutors on the marketplace that have the goal of "teaching themselves out of a job". In other words, the best tutors aim to improve learning skills while also addressing specific technical issues so that the student is more prepared for future coursework.
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I built Cognitrell based on three observations made during thousands of hours of online tutoring:
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1. Online tutoring is incredibly effective for advanced STEM students. My assistance was essential to my students succeeding technically in individual courses. But probably more helpful to my students and more fulfilling for me was that I was able to develop my student's STEM learning skills so they could succeed in future courses as well. I was also able to use my engineering experience to demonstrate how the classroom concepts apply in a real-world context resulting in improved student motivation and perspective on career opportunities.
2. The tutoring companies and tutoring marketplaces I've dealt with are exploitative and not optimized for online tutoring or advanced STEM tutoring. Effective fee percentages of 30-60% with uncapped fees are typical. Their business models are set up so that their highest priorities are marketing and keeping all tutor-student interactions "on-platform". In that environment, tutors and students have to deal with communication, scheduling, and interaction barriers and inefficiencies. The companies need to charge high fee percentages since most of their tutors are in less advanced topics for tutors earning sub $50 per hour. For advanced STEM tutors earning $60-$100+ per hour, the uncapped fee structure is outrageous.
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3. As a fully independent tutor operating outside a tutoring company or marketplace, marketing is challenging and billing is frustrating. I was spending a lot of time on no teaching activities that were less fulfilling and cut into the value proposition of being an online tutor.
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The Cognitrell approach is to provide an industry-leading experience for online advanced STEM independent tutors. By offering the best conditions for advanced STEM tutors Cognitrell gets the best advanced STEM tutors. By getting the best advanced STEM tutors, Cognitrell can best serve STEM students.
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Cognitrell makes money through a client fee of 5% and two different fee tutor fee structures for "Cognitrell Referred Clients", who are referred to tutors through the Cognitrell website, and "Tutor Referred Clients", who tutors bring to the site on their own.
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1. Cognitrell Referred Clients. These clients are charged a 5% marketplace fee. Tutors are charged a "capped referral fee" for Cognitrell-referred students. The referral fee is taken out of each lesson you bill until you reach the "referral fee cap" of $260. From each hour you bill, there is a "referral fee percentage" of 5% and a "referral fee flat charge" of $10/hour. Once you reach the referral fee cap you are free to propose to your client that you move "off-platform" or continue to stay "on-platform" at the "reduced fee percentage" (see below).
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2. Tutor Referred Clients. Independent tutors can use our client billing system at a "reduced fee percentage" of 5% and "reduced fee flat charge" of $5/hour for "self-referred clients" or "capped Cognitrell-referred clients".
Advantages of posting on the Cognitrell Marketplace:
1. Competitive marketplace fee (especially for tutors charging more than $50/hour).
2. Industry-unique capped referral fee.
3. Tutors can set individual rates for different subjects.
4. You only need to tutor, log the session, and provide a brief lesson report in an easy to use client management system. I handle all the backend billing in a fully transparent system that lets you easily track your earnings.
5. I guarantee your pay for each session subject to some reasonable terms and conditions.
6. I collect and consolidate your reviews under a linkable URL that you are free to use inside or outside of Cognitrell. The reviews are yours!
7.You are free to use whatever scheduling, video meeting, and whiteboard application you want. I can recommend free options if you don't have access to your own applications.
8. Regular (optional) online tutoring workshops for tutors participating in the Cognitrell marketplace.
9. Counseling for new tutors participating in the Cognitrell marketplace.
10. Referral percentage capped at $40 for students you refer to another tutor inside the Cognitrell marketplace.
11. Hours are completely at your own discretion.
12. Pause your listing on the marketplace if you get too busy and then unpause later at your discretion.
13. You have great freedom in how you market yourself on the site via a "bio" document that you write and edit.
14. You can advertise and offer specials inside the marketplace as you see fit (e.g. first 30 minutes free).
15. Two payment periods per month.
16. Low overhead to get listed on the site.
17. Seamlessly update your subjects, rates, availability, and bio from within your web browser.
18. Access to a community of other advanced online STEM tutors. Get coverage for vacation or illness. Reach out with questions and advice on online tutoring.
19. Consolidation of tax info and timely submission of 1099s.
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Our full terms and conditions for tutors are here.
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If you are interested in applying for a listing on the Cognitrell marketplace, please complete this application form.
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