Editor’s Pick π
Chemistry is arguably the most fascinating science subject. Gas laws, light, acids, and bases are just a few ways chemistry explains everyday phenomena. While it may be a riveting subject, it is also notoriously one of the most difficult to learn. To do well in chemistry, students also need a strong foundation in math, physics, and biology and a high level of spatial reasoning, visualization, and critical thinking skills. But mastering this subject can open up the doors to career paths in medicine, veterinary science, and biomedical science.
Chemistry is a challenging subject that requires persistence, practice, and a deep understanding of the underlying concepts. Working with a private online tutor is one of the best ways to help build these essential skills and your childβs confidence.
In this article, weβve rounded up the five best online chemistry tutoring services on the market. In particular, Learnerβs private and personalized online classes are a great way for your child to improve their grades and classroom confidence. Though each company will appeal to a different type of student, we guarantee that at least one of these top-notch services will have the best chemistry tutors for you.
A Quick Look
Learner
Ranks #1
Score: 93/100
Bottom Line: Learner prioritizes providing customers with excellent service and guaranteed results. With high-quality tutors, an excellent matching system, customized lesson plans, and affordable pricing, Learner is our top choice for an online chemistry tutoring service.
Wyzant
Ranks #2
Score: 86/100
Bottom Line: With over 80,000 instructors in its network, Wyzant serves as a tutoring marketplace allowing students to shop around for tutors that suit their interests and goals. Prices vary by tutor and experience level, allowing parents to hone in on chemistry tutors with rates that fit within their tutoring budget.
Varsity Tutors
Ranks #3
Score: 80/100
Bottom Line: Varsity Tutors is a popular tutoring platform for parents seeking quality tutoring at an affordable price. This program works on mobile phones, making it a great service for athletes or busy students who need chemistry help while away from their laptops.
How We Decided
We reviewed each platform independently and scored it using the criteria students care about.
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Students Consulted
7
Experts
Interviewed
11
Platforms
Reviewed
14
Subjects
Analyzed
73
Hours
Researched
11
Accreditation Verified
Also reviewed
Top 5 Online Chemistry Tutoring Services
With so many online chemistry tutoring services available, it can be hard to hone in on the best one for you. Weβve extensively reviewed the top 5 available services to help make this process easier for you. Hereβs what you need to know:
1. Learner
Of all the incredible online chemistry tutoring services, Learner is our number one choice for various reasons. This service prioritizes providing customers with excellent service and guaranteed results. Students are matched with tutors through a proprietary screening process, and the first tutoring session is free.
Learner has strict standards when accepting new science tutors into its network. To even apply, each tutor must have a bachelorβs degree from an accredited four-year university and several years of teaching experience. Only 5% of applicants are accepted into Learnerβs network.
Another one of Learnerβs standout features is its innovative technology. Each lesson takes place in a state-of-the-art virtual classroom with video and audio features and an interactive whiteboard for students and tutors to collaborate on chemistry problems. Additionally, all lessons are recorded for safety purposes and allow students to use their lessons for study tools down the line.
All private tutoring lessons are customized to fit studentsβ needs, goals, interests, and learning styles. Pricing starts at $60 per hour.
Pros
- Highly vetted tutors
- Innovative technology
- Customized lesson plans
- Tutor matching system
- Affordable pricing and free first session
Cons
- Not geared toward on-demand homework help
- Tutors are not available 24/7
Bottom Line: Learner prioritizes providing customers with excellent service and guaranteed results. With high-quality tutors, an excellent matching system, customized lesson plans, and affordable pricing, Learner is our top choice for an online chemistry tutoring service.
2. Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors is a popular tutoring platform for parents seeking quality tutoring at an affordable price. There are more than 40,000 tutors in Varsity Tutorsβ network. Itβs important to note that each instructor in the Varsity Tutorsβ network has varying levels of experience and education and, thus, varying rates.
This St. Louis-based company does not have strict qualifications for tutors applying to its network, so some instructors will only have a high school degree. Varsity Tutors uses a placement algorithm to match students with tutors based on factors such as schedule, educational needs, proficiency, learning style, interests, and goals.
The Varsity Tutors app works across platforms, even operating efficiently on mobile phones. This makes it a great program for athletes or busy students who need help while away from their laptops, either between classes or before sports practice. This tutoring service offers various packages, including a $269 package for one-on-one tutoring and unlimited access to live classes.
Pros
- Works on mobile phones
- Budget-friendly option
- Matching service
Cons
- Quality of service depends on the tutor
- Considered overpriced
Bottom Line: Varsity Tutors is a popular tutoring platform for parents seeking quality tutoring at an affordable price. This program works on mobile phones, making it a great service for athletes or busy students who need chemistry help while away from their laptops.
3. Wyzant
With over 80,000 instructors in its network, Wyzant serves as a tutoring marketplace allowing students to shop around for tutors that suit their interests and goals. Unlike many of the services included in this round-up, Wyzant does not have a matching specialist or an algorithm that does the heavy lifting of matching a student with a compatible tutor. While this might not benefit everyone, it makes this platform a great option for families who want to select their own tutor.
Prices vary by tutor and experience level, allowing parents to hone in on chemistry tutors with rates that fit within their tutoring budget. Wyzant promises that all of its tutors are highly qualified but also offers a money-back guarantee for the first hour of a lesson if a student is dissatisfied with their experience. The average price for a Wyzant tutor is about $40 per hour.
There are a large number of lessons already archived on Wyzantβs site. These lessons allow students to brush up on popular chemistry concepts when they are not actively engaged in a tutoring session.
Pros
- Money-back guarantee on the first hour
- Archived lessons included on the website
- Budget-friendly options
Cons
- Choosing a suitable tutor can be time-consuming
- Quality of instruction varies from tutor to tutor
Bottom Line: Wyzantβs wide selection of instructors and tutoring marketplace lets students shop around for tutors that suit their interests and goals. However, the quality can vary, and the sheer number of options can be overwhelming for some. Prices vary by tutor and experience level, allowing parents to hone in on chemistry tutors with rates that fit within their tutoring budget.
4. Revolution Prep
All of Revolution Prepβs tutors are full-time staff members of the company, setting this tutoring service apart from the crowd. Each tutor receives more than 150 hours of training and development before they are accepted into the Revolution Prep family.
Students can either opt for one-on-one tutoring or tutoring in a small class of up to three students. If your child is taking AP chemistry, they can also sign up for a service tailored directly to this curriculum. Students who sign up for one-on-one lessons will receive tailored learning plans centered on academic goals.
That said, this service is on the more expensive side. Just 12 hours at Revolution Prep starts at $1,398, while five hours of tutoring costs $199. If your child needs on-demand chemistry help, thereβs live homework assistance available for high school chemistry students seven days a week for $99 a month.
Pros
- Full-time and highly trained tutors
- Offers various packages and tutoring options
- Customized lesson plans
Cons
- Expensive
- Tutors must follow Revolution Prepβs methodology, which may prevent fully tailoring lesson plans to each student’s needs
Bottom Line: Revolution Prep differentiates itself from other online tutoring services by only hiring full-time tutors. While each tutor is highly qualified, their service comes at a cost. On average, one hour of private tutoring at Revolution Prep costs $116 an hour.
5. Skooli
Skooli is one of the best online tutoring services for instant homework help. This tutoring service is known for its pay-as-you-go option, which costs $0.82 per minute. The shortest a tutoring session can be is 15 minutes. If you sign up for a package, the cost will go down. For instance, Skooli charges $0.73 per minute for eight hours and $0.70 for 16 hours.
Like Wyzant, Skooli does not match you with a tutor; you must select one yourself. If you need immediate assistance with something, you can see which tutors are online and receive instant tutoring. Skooli mandates that every tutor has at least a bachelorβs degree or higher in their field, a teaching license, or a specialized certification in their field.
Each Skooli tutoring session takes place in a virtual classroom with an interactive whiteboard, which allows students and tutors to work on chemistry equations simultaneously.
Pros
- Pay-as-you-go option
- Highly qualified tutors
- Innovative technology
Cons
- No customized lesson plans
- No matching service
- Not a great option for individuals looking to build a long-term tutoring relationship
Bottom Line: Due to its affordable pay-as-you-go structure, Skooli is one of the best online tutoring services for instant homework help. That said, it might be best to look elsewhere if you would like to receive customized lesson plans or build a long-term relationship with a tutor.
Why Try Online Chemistry Tutoring?
There are many ways that chemistry students can benefit from online tutoring. Online chemistry tutors can help clarify difficult concepts, provide examples, and explain the material in a way that makes sense to the student. They can also ensure the student understands classroom material well before moving on to more difficult concepts. If your child needs a stronger foundation in specific math subjects, like trigonometry, calculus, or algebra, they can also work with an online math tutoring service.
Additionally, private tutoring environments are a great way for students to practice solving problems and completing assignments with the guidance of a tutor. Receiving positive reinforcement and encouragement can also help build a student’s confidence as they overcome their struggles and feel more prepared for exams and coursework. Plus, studies show that increased classroom confidence and improved grades are directly correlated.
How Do I Find the Right Online Chemistry Tutor?
During your search for the best chemistry tutor, you should prioritize finding someone compatible with your needs. Here are some factors to consider during your search:
Use a reputable online tutoring platform
Some online tutoring companies are more reputable than others. For instance, most people have heard about The Princeton Review, as this tutoring company has established a respectable reputation for itself. Do some digging into the online tutoring services you are considering and see what information you can find on them.
Look into tutoring servicesβ hiring process and if they offer a money-back guarantee. Ideally, you want to work with a qualified tutor who has been vetted, interviewed, and undergone a background check.
Check tutor credentials
If you are working with a service like Wyzant or Skooli where you handpick the tutor yourself, you want to ensure you look into a tutorβs credentials. Do they have relevant experience, such as a chemistry degree or chemistry-specific certifications?
Every tutor should have an online profile that details their education, teaching experience, and tutoring approach. This information will help you weed out anyone who doesnβt have the experience to help lead your child to academic success.
Read reviews and ratings
While education and experience are important, they are not the be-all and end-all. Your instructor could be a chemistry expert and an excellent teacher, but if they donβt align with your childβs learning style and needs, they arenβt going to be a good fit.
Reviews and ratings are a great place to turn to discover information not disclosed in a profile. Customer reviews will give you honest information about a tutorβs approach, philosophy, and success rate.
Ask for recommendations
One of the best ways to find an online chemistry tutor you can trust is through a direct recommendation or referral. Ask around your various communities to see if fellow parents have worked with an excellent online chemistry tutor.
Check with neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family. It is also worthwhile consulting your childβs chemistry teacher. Not only might they have direct recommendations, but they will also know what type of tutor will best suit your childβs needs.
Conduct an interview
Once youβve narrowed your search down to a handful of candidates, interviews are an excellent method to make your final selection. Ask your candidates if they would be willing to answer a few final questions over the phone. Not only can you ask them questions about things that werenβt disclosed in their profile, such as tutoring philosophy, approach, price, and availability, but you can also gauge their personality and demeanor.
If you have extra time, ask your candidate if they would be willing to walk you through what a chemistry lesson with them might look like.
How We Chose the Top 5 Chemistry Tutoring Services
You may wonder how we chose the best online chemistry tutoring services among the dozens available online. Here are the criteria we considered when hand-picking these services:
Quality of tutors
In many cases, a tutoring service is only as good as the tutors the service hires. Therefore, we wanted to prioritize services that rigorously vetted its tutors with background checks and interviews. In many cases, these online tutoring services only hire tutors with at least a bachelorβs degree from a four-year university and extensive experience, and some also conduct training programs that new instructors must participate in. However, tutors with only a high school degree are often more affordable, making them a great option for families on a budget.
Customized learning plans
One of the most significant benefits of private tutoring is that instructors can create customized learning plans tailored to their studentβs needs, which means instructors can bypass the areas a student feels confident in and hone in on the areas they need the most assistance with. Excellent instructors may even try to integrate a studentβs hobbies and interests into chemistry lesson plans to help further engage their tutees.
Customized lesson plans are one of the main ways that private tutoring leads to academic success; therefore, we wanted to prioritize finding companies that included them in their services.
Availability and flexibility
Many high school students and college students work during irregular hours. Due to after-school sports, extracurriculars, and part-time jobs, many chemistry students are forced to do homework early in the morning, late at night, or on the weekends. We wanted to prioritize selecting services that offer evening and weekend hours, as well as long-term tutoring packages, pay-as-you-go, and on-demand homework help.
Communication and feedback
The best tutoring companies have clear communication channels and provide regular feedback to students and their families. Parents need to be in the loop about their childβs chemistry progress so they can take action when necessary. For instance, if a studentβs chemistry grades have rapidly improved after a few months, parents may want to cut their sessions down from twice to once a week.
Because communication and feedback are important, we prioritized selecting tutoring companies that regularly track student progress, communicate with parents and guardians, and provide regular updates.
Technology and resources
One of the reasons online tutoring is so popular is because of innovative technology. Students and their families no longer consider online tutoring as a backup for in-person tutoring; it is now considered to be a more convenient and equally effective option. That said, online tutoring is only valuable if services utilize innovative technology.
We prioritized finding tutoring services that incorporate interactive whiteboards, screen sharing, and video and audio features. We also looked at services that record their chemistry lessons. Not only are recorded sessions valuable for safety reasons, but students can also use these lessons as study tools.
Benefits of Online Chemistry Tutoring
There are many advantages online chemistry tutoring has over in-person tutoring and classroom learning. Here are some of the ways your child can benefit from online tutoring:
Convenience
One of the biggest hassles of in-person tutoring is commuting to and from the destination, whether itβs the instructorβs home or a tutoring center. Even if the commute is only 20-30 minutes each way, this can almost double the time commitment students need to make to tutoring each week. Online tutoring completely removes the hassle of commuting. Students can sign on wherever they are, whether itβs school, home, or from out of town, to meet with their private instructor.
The convenience of online tutoring is especially beneficial to high school and college-level chemistry students who may otherwise struggle to fit tutoring into their busy schedules.
Personalization
In the classroom, chemistry teachers must cater lesson plans to most students in the room. While this may benefit some students, others may struggle to adapt to a teacherβs pace or teaching style. Private tutors only have to tailor their lesson plans to one student. This means they can teach as quickly or slowly as a student needs them to and focus on the areas they need the most assistance with.
Access to a wider range of tutors
Whether you live in a small town or a big city, finding a compatible chemistry tutor who meets your exact needs can be difficult. Some tutors may not have a schedule that aligns with your child, while others may not know how to build a curriculum around AP chemistry. Geography isnβt a factor with online tutoring. Students can work with a tutor from anywhere in the country, whether they are on the other side of town or thousands of miles away.
More affordable
There are many reasons why online tutoring is typically more affordable than in-person tutoring. In-person tutors often have to pay overhead costs on things like rent, utilities, and resources. If an instructor has to travel anywhere for lessons, they might factor their commute’s cost and time commitment into their hourly rate. A lot of the time, there is also more demand and competition for in-person tutors, which allows in-person tutors to increase their rates.
Technology integration
Today, online tutoring is no longer considered a backup to in-person tutoring, thanks to technology. Many online tutoring services have created state-of-the-art virtual classrooms with tools like interactive whiteboards, screen sharing, and video and audio features to mimic the feeling of in-person tutoring environments.
Some online tutoring services also record each lesson, which is an advantage online tutoring has over in-person tutoring. Students can use these recordings as study tools when preparing for a big chemistry test or working on a problem set.
Why Choose Learner
If your child needs help with chemistry, there are many beneficial resources your family can turn to, from group courses to online support. Our deep dive into the best online tutoring platforms available breaks down the bottom line for each company so that you know exactly what you can expect.Overall, we believe Learner offers the premium chemistry tutoring service to students with their science experts, personalized lessons, and value. If youβre ready to find the best private science tutor to help your child excel in chemistry, consider giving Learner a try and getting matched with one of their instructors!
Frequently Asked Questions
Online chemistry tutoring services offer individual or group tutoring sessions to students who need help with topics such as analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry, etc. In case you still have remaining questions about choosing the right platform for you, we’ve compiled some of the most common topics parents ask about.
Who should use online chemistry tutoring services?
Any chemistry student can benefit from online chemistry tutoring services in some way. Some students may need to brush up on foundational skills, whereas others may simply need help preparing for a big organic chemistry test or working on a difficult problem set.
How much do online chemistry tutoring services cost?
Online chemistry tutoring services have different rates and payment plans. Some tutoring services charge by the hour, while others offer a pay-as-you-go payment structure that charges by the minute. On average, rates typically start at $40 an hour and can go up to $120 per hour.
What should you look for in online chemistry tutoring services?
You should consider many factors when selecting an online chemistry tutoring service, including the quality and availability of the tutors and the cost of the service. You also want to consider what tutoring service is more in-line with your needs: one-off homework help or private lessons with a long-term chemistry tutor.
What are the pros of using online chemistry tutoring services?
There are many benefits of working with an online chemistry tutor who can offer convenient and affordable chemistry help from anywhere in the country. A private chemistry tutor can customize their lesson plans to meet their studentβs needs in a way that isnβt possible in a large classroom setting.
What are the cons of using online chemistry tutoring services?
Some students struggle to stay engaged when looking at a screen. If your child is prone to distraction or has a learning disability, you may want to consider whether they will learn chemistry better in an in-person environment.
Drawing on her experience as a middle and high school teacher, Margaret Lipman strives to provide valuable insights for students when writing about scholarships and college application strategies in her articles for Scholarship Institute.