Haaris A.
Private tutor in Broomall, PA
Education
I am a Cell and Molecular Biology Major at West Chester University. I am set receive a Bachelors degree in May 2018 in the stated major and then intend to go to medical school. I currently hold a 3.96 GPA and have made Dean's list for all three years of my undergraduate career. I graduated high school from The Downingtown S.T.E.M Academy in 2014 with an International Baccalaureate diploma. I also attended the International School of Islamabad where I first started the IB program. I was a part of the National Honor Society there as well as captain of the tennis team. Before either of these schools, I attended West Chester East High School.
Experience
Hi! I'm Haaris and I am a Cell and Molecular Biology major heading into my senior year at West Chester University. As of right now, I have not tutored professionally. However, I will be employed as a general chemistry tutor at the West Chester University Learning and Assistance Center this next semester and would be happy to start helping students in the community this summer. Additionally, at my former position as a Medical Assistant at an urgent care center, I was occasionally tasked with helping new employees familiarize with the electronic medical record system and learn certain protocols and procedures. These experiences helped to build my instructing abilities. I feel lucky in saying that I have thoroughly enjoyed learning over the course of my undergraduate career and would love to see others do so as well. There are many different types and methods of instruction I have observed under various professors. Personal experience through helping peers and friends has shown me that everyone learns differently and is responsive to different approaches. For this reason, I don't apply a rigid instruction model. Instead, I believe in tailoring the approach to best fit the needs and strengths of the student. I also believe in reinforcing students' learning of concepts by following up with plenty of practice and application. Due to the requirements of my major, I have taken a multitude of science courses including: general biology, microbiology, genetics, zoology, cell physiology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, psychology, sociology, and algebra based general physics. With each course, I would take the first couple of weeks to assess the nature of the material. Based on my thoughts, I would then proceed to use necessary resources such as lecture notes, textbook, homework, outside practice etc. I will say that allocation of time spent on each type of resource varied between classes and is quite sensitive to the learner himself. This is why I believe in sitting down and setting goals before starting anything. Keeping your strengths and weaknesses in mind, I then recommend keeping a weekly study plan with special planning in place for the days leading up to the exams. For me personally, it was key to stick to the plan as part of a routine and to continually monitor your progress. I would ask myself questions such as, “Am I thoroughly understanding the material?” and “Can I apply this concept in addition to memorizing information?”. If I was not progressing in a manner necessary in order to perform well on the test, I would make little adjustments to my routine until I did. This would involve changing study techniques (outlining textbooks, doing practice problems, etc.) as well as using professor office hours and even using outside resources. As a tutor, I would help you develop these plans according to your goals and help you in understanding along the way. Additionally, I just recently took the MCAT in March 2017 and would be available to provide test prep help. Through my MCAT preparations, I was able to take information learned in a very disciplinary manner and integrate it holistically by making conceptual connections across the sciences. I split my MCAT studying into two phases: Content and Passage Practice/Full lengths. In the very beginning, I took a diagnostic half-length MCAT to assess my standing and set targets. Then, for about three months, I read through each subject book and outlined pertinent concepts and details. Please note that this could be done in a smaller amount of time; I did so while being a full time student and working part time. Once I felt I had an adequate understanding of majority of the material, I began doing practice passages in timed conditions and reviewing what and why I got questions incorrect. This phase lasted about three months as well. During analysis, I looked for patterns into types of questions and or passages that gave me more trouble and worked on those especially. I would say that I completed thousands of passage based questions which helped acclimatize me to the nature of the test (pace, what to look for) in addition to solidifying lapses in content knowledge. About two months prior to exam day, I started taking one full length every other week and increasing this frequency to once a week in the month before the test. In the final week leading to the exam, I took two AAMC released practice full lengths to approximate my score as they are the best predictors of your exam day score. It was a lengthy and effort filled experience, but I came away learning a great deal about myself as a learner as well as gaining a much better mastery of content I learned previously as part of undergraduate courses. I welcome any questions about my methods and course of tutoring. I have experience working with a diverse set of individuals as I attended high school at the International School of Islamabad in Pakistan for two years being the only American citizen in my class. Despite moving to an unfamiliar environment, I achieved academic excellence in the IB program and was able to complete projects with fellow National Honor Society members such as arranging fundraisers with local businesses. In addition, I have experience working in the healthcare field where I was constantly explaining concepts to patients and new employees. With reference to my academic achievement, resume and college transcript can be provided upon request. I have listed relevant standardized test scores below. Don't hesitate to contact me if interested. We'll set up an introductory consultation visit to discuss your goals and how I can best help you achieve them. Thanks, and I look forward to working with you. Test Scores SAT: critical reading- 590 Math- 680 Math subject test- 730 MCAT: 513 C/P- 129 CARS- 126 B/B- 131 PS- 127
Subject Expertise
GeneticsAlgebra 1Algebra 2BiochemistryBiologyCell BiologyChemistryElementary AlgebraElementary MathEvolutionary BiologyGeneral BiologyGeneral ChemistryZoologyIB BIology HLMCATMCAT Biological SciencesMCAT Physical SciencesMicrobiologyOrganic ChemistryPre-AlgebraPhysicsSAT MathSummer TutoringTrigonometry
Availability
Weekdays after 9AM, Weekends in the afternoon, Weekends in the morning
Can Meet
Up to 25 minutes away for no additional charge
Hobbies
I find that maintaining a good balance is key to success, especially when dealing with a rigorous course load. Personally, I make it a priority to go the gym at least three times a week. Studying hard is very important, yet taking care of yourself and staying healthy is right up there in my opinion. I always found that exercising regularly helped me keep focus when needed and offered a de-stressing activity every now and then. I also like listening to music in my downtime. My taste in music is very diverse and so I like a little bit of everything. Going for a nice drive around the suburbs of town is also something I enjoy doing. On less busy weekends, I will spend time with my family and hang out with my little brother who is now eight years old. We'll sometimes play outside or just stay in and watch sci-fi movies. Occasionally, I'll be able to help my sister, who is a sophomore in high school, with some of her work as well.
Show More
Inquire About This Tutor
Thanks!
Most tutors respond within 48 hours.
Feel free to contact other tutors while you wait.