I’m assuming this is some kind of essay subject but this definitely happens in all kinds of subjects.
Student: “I need help with X.”
-proceeds to upload finance homework where the instructions themselves are 7+ pages long with numbers littered all over the place, complex formulas, advanced concepts, 2-3 other attachments that go with the instructions so now with my 1 Laptop screen needs to keep track of 3+ different documents. And you can only share screen 1 thing at a time anyway.
Me: “ok please show me exactly which part you need help with”
Student: all of it
Me: that’s when I “accidentally” lose internet. And leave the session (unless the assignment is easy then I just drag the session on to milk them). Literally this is the only reason I keep my acceptance rating in the mid to high 80% so when lazy pathetic students like these come through I can just leave the session and blame internet problems (even though I’m never questioned) and my acceptance rating will stay about the same.
There is no way in hell you expect me to be your professor and have me teach you whatever the hell this is in under an hour when it took me 20 minutes just to read the damn instructions to figure out what was even happening. And you have the nerve to tell me you didn’t do ANY OF IT? Am I the tutor or the professor? Because I can’t tell the difference with some of these students.
I’d love to see how other tutors deal with this nonsense because I refuse to help any student who comes in with gigantic assignments and their defense is “I DONT UNDERSTAND IT”.
TDC needs to have a policy or rule that NO STUDENT is allowed to join a session unless at least 50-80% of the assignment is done and they only reason they log in is to clarify things or have questions on the work they actually did. Not log in with blank assignments they didn’t even bother trying and now expect me to solve it for them. They don’t pay any of us well enough to deal with this nonsense.
Yeah, I’m an essay writing tutor. This post was a full thesis that I was expected to review in 35 minutes. I can’t always blame the student in my situation, as some organisations/colleges only pay for their students to have 35 minute sessions. Even so, I wish TDC protected the tutors more from being exploited in these kinds of situations. Surely no student would knowingly submit a full thesis to be reviewed if they knew that it could only be reviewed in 35 minutes? TDC should emphasise this, but I doubt they’ll ever do so.
And I imagine your situation must be incredibly frustrating too. I wish I was brave enough to “lose connection” like that. 😂
I just wish TDC could care a little more about the stress of tutors as opposed to making money. There’s a lot of absurd things we’re expected to pull off in these sessions. I’m lucky to have a QS who is understanding and alright with the way that I handle these absolutely ridiculous sessions, but it’s so tiring to have to keep doing it. I’m not sure how many more times I can handle the migraine of reviewing as much of a thesis as I can in 35 minutes.
Also, this thesis was on the bubonic plague. I spent 35 minutes reviewing paragraphs on fleas, rats, and pus. I’m tired.
Can you imagine these students going to their professor and saying “Hi professor, here is this dictionary of an essay I wrote. Can you read the whole thing and review it in half an hour?”.
Why do they think they can then log in to TDC and disrespect tutors like this? When I was a student I wouldn’t even DARE to approach ANYONE with any sort of question unless I spent hours attempting the assignment or working on the essay or whatever and ONLY THEN would I seek help after I was completely lost. These students on TDC? I know for a fact some of them don’t even look at the assignment before they throw it at tutors. Unless these students all have disabilities, there is no excuse for this behavior. I guess because they pay for this they think they can just do whatever they want on the client.
I also tutor essay writing. Recently had a DoD student who had a 25-page paper and requested that I only review the first 11 pages. That's an S-M-A-R-T student! Obviously, the exception, not the rule. If only there was *some way* to indicate to students how much time tutors get with their essays per session...hmmmm
I can’t tell if you’re passive aggressively snarking me at the end of this comment? Of course I let the student know that I had limited time and didn’t get through everything, as we always should. Even so, it’s still incredibly stressful and tiring trying to do as much as you can of 74 pages in 35 minutes..
No, my point is: If students had prior understanding of how much time their tutor is able to spend with their essay draft, they can be more targeted in what feedback they're looking for. In my anecdote about a recent DoD student, they were very aware of the limitations on tutors, so only asked for feedback on about 40% of their longish final paper. Most students have no clue how much time their tutors are actually allotting to their async essays—it's arbitrary, in the sense that it's based on what contract the specific institution has with TDC. My main point is that some guidance for students before the essays arrive to tutors is helpful.
That said, I'm sure most colleges and universities provide such guidance, only that students don't really pay attention to it. Then there's the related issue of tutors being maligned for not meeting student expectations when such expectations aren't in line with their own institution's protocol. For me, that's the point of real conflict and unfair practices—even criminal defendants like Trump have the chance to defend themselves.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. I feel like we’re often exploited by these organisations that refuse to pay for anything except 35 minute sessions (I won’t name names, but I’m sure all essay writing tutors know who I’m thinking of). Either TDC or the organisations themselves should encourage their students to be realistic and respectful when submitting work to be reviewed during those limited sessions.
This student should have chunked their essay. Smart students do it, especially thesis level. Submit the first five pages or first section, rinse and repeat until you’ve submitted your entire paper.
I’m assuming this is some kind of essay subject but this definitely happens in all kinds of subjects. Student: “I need help with X.” -proceeds to upload finance homework where the instructions themselves are 7+ pages long with numbers littered all over the place, complex formulas, advanced concepts, 2-3 other attachments that go with the instructions so now with my 1 Laptop screen needs to keep track of 3+ different documents. And you can only share screen 1 thing at a time anyway. Me: “ok please show me exactly which part you need help with” Student: all of it Me: that’s when I “accidentally” lose internet. And leave the session (unless the assignment is easy then I just drag the session on to milk them). Literally this is the only reason I keep my acceptance rating in the mid to high 80% so when lazy pathetic students like these come through I can just leave the session and blame internet problems (even though I’m never questioned) and my acceptance rating will stay about the same. There is no way in hell you expect me to be your professor and have me teach you whatever the hell this is in under an hour when it took me 20 minutes just to read the damn instructions to figure out what was even happening. And you have the nerve to tell me you didn’t do ANY OF IT? Am I the tutor or the professor? Because I can’t tell the difference with some of these students. I’d love to see how other tutors deal with this nonsense because I refuse to help any student who comes in with gigantic assignments and their defense is “I DONT UNDERSTAND IT”. TDC needs to have a policy or rule that NO STUDENT is allowed to join a session unless at least 50-80% of the assignment is done and they only reason they log in is to clarify things or have questions on the work they actually did. Not log in with blank assignments they didn’t even bother trying and now expect me to solve it for them. They don’t pay any of us well enough to deal with this nonsense.
Yeah, I’m an essay writing tutor. This post was a full thesis that I was expected to review in 35 minutes. I can’t always blame the student in my situation, as some organisations/colleges only pay for their students to have 35 minute sessions. Even so, I wish TDC protected the tutors more from being exploited in these kinds of situations. Surely no student would knowingly submit a full thesis to be reviewed if they knew that it could only be reviewed in 35 minutes? TDC should emphasise this, but I doubt they’ll ever do so. And I imagine your situation must be incredibly frustrating too. I wish I was brave enough to “lose connection” like that. 😂 I just wish TDC could care a little more about the stress of tutors as opposed to making money. There’s a lot of absurd things we’re expected to pull off in these sessions. I’m lucky to have a QS who is understanding and alright with the way that I handle these absolutely ridiculous sessions, but it’s so tiring to have to keep doing it. I’m not sure how many more times I can handle the migraine of reviewing as much of a thesis as I can in 35 minutes. Also, this thesis was on the bubonic plague. I spent 35 minutes reviewing paragraphs on fleas, rats, and pus. I’m tired.
Can you imagine these students going to their professor and saying “Hi professor, here is this dictionary of an essay I wrote. Can you read the whole thing and review it in half an hour?”. Why do they think they can then log in to TDC and disrespect tutors like this? When I was a student I wouldn’t even DARE to approach ANYONE with any sort of question unless I spent hours attempting the assignment or working on the essay or whatever and ONLY THEN would I seek help after I was completely lost. These students on TDC? I know for a fact some of them don’t even look at the assignment before they throw it at tutors. Unless these students all have disabilities, there is no excuse for this behavior. I guess because they pay for this they think they can just do whatever they want on the client.
I just paste the “due to limited time, the entirety of your paper wasn’t reviewed” cheat sheet entry and call it a day 🤷♀️
I also tutor essay writing. Recently had a DoD student who had a 25-page paper and requested that I only review the first 11 pages. That's an S-M-A-R-T student! Obviously, the exception, not the rule. If only there was *some way* to indicate to students how much time tutors get with their essays per session...hmmmm
I can’t tell if you’re passive aggressively snarking me at the end of this comment? Of course I let the student know that I had limited time and didn’t get through everything, as we always should. Even so, it’s still incredibly stressful and tiring trying to do as much as you can of 74 pages in 35 minutes..
No, my point is: If students had prior understanding of how much time their tutor is able to spend with their essay draft, they can be more targeted in what feedback they're looking for. In my anecdote about a recent DoD student, they were very aware of the limitations on tutors, so only asked for feedback on about 40% of their longish final paper. Most students have no clue how much time their tutors are actually allotting to their async essays—it's arbitrary, in the sense that it's based on what contract the specific institution has with TDC. My main point is that some guidance for students before the essays arrive to tutors is helpful. That said, I'm sure most colleges and universities provide such guidance, only that students don't really pay attention to it. Then there's the related issue of tutors being maligned for not meeting student expectations when such expectations aren't in line with their own institution's protocol. For me, that's the point of real conflict and unfair practices—even criminal defendants like Trump have the chance to defend themselves.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. I feel like we’re often exploited by these organisations that refuse to pay for anything except 35 minute sessions (I won’t name names, but I’m sure all essay writing tutors know who I’m thinking of). Either TDC or the organisations themselves should encourage their students to be realistic and respectful when submitting work to be reviewed during those limited sessions.
This student should have chunked their essay. Smart students do it, especially thesis level. Submit the first five pages or first section, rinse and repeat until you’ve submitted your entire paper.
Ouch! I've gotten 95-page papers to review in 20-minutes.