PrepNow Tutor - Andrew Y.
Andrew Y. had years of private tutoring experience before starting professionally in 2022. He holds a BS in computer science with minors in applied mathematics and physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has tutored myriad subjects: physics; computer science; and math (pre-algebra, algebra, pre-calculus, trigonometry, geometry, calculus, differential equations, discrete mathematics, probability, and statistics). Indeed, his breadth of experience in each of these areas makes Andrew a valuable resource to students at all levels.
Andrew takes a general approach to tutoring that he imagines many can relate to: he seeks to demonstrate to students how to solve problems. To do so, however, he knows he must employ an array of strategies to match teaching to a specific student. He says, “I emphasize intuition and common sense, drawing from various problem-solving approaches to help students understand problems fundamentally—not just procedurally. I also love drawing pictures, visualizing, graphing, and simulating the concepts students encounter—with computational and physical simulations, for instance.” In using such strategies, Andrew seeks to demystify math for his students. Because he finds that students often treat math like an alien language, he encourages them to use their common sense to anticipate answers and procedures. Ultimately, as he helps build student knowledge, he wants students to truly understand their answers. For Andrew, “A correct answer that doesn't make sense is as good as no answer at all.”
In high school, Andrew was a tournament-team tennis player, going to the state championships. These days, he hopes to pen the next great American novel. He also expresses his creativity by baking (banana bread is among his recent recipes). He likes to play piano in public. That is, if you are at a carnival, café, hotel, or hospital at the same time as Andrew, you might hear the dulcet sounds of him at the ivories.
