Wyzant: Brief Overview
If you’ve ever tried to find lesser-known alternatives to Preply, you’ve probably come across www.wyzant.com, or Wyzant. Unlike most services we typically review, Wyzant isn’t an academic writing service. You can’t order an essay or a research paper there to have it ready in a few days or hours.
Instead, Wyzant is a tutoring platform. Whatever you’d like to improve - from chemistry to academic writing - you can find a tutor on Wyzant. Each tutor has an educational background, experience, methodology, and hourly rate. You’re free to choose whoever matches your criteria.
Once you check Wyzant’s online reviews, you will see why we decided to review it. On Trustpilot, Wyzant has a horrifying rating of 1.9/5. However, on Sitejabber, the rating is 3.8/5, and many customers’ feedback is positive.
Such a lack of consensus in clients’ reviews is confusing—no wonder we keep getting messages from our readers asking, “Is Wyzant tutoring good?” We always want to help, so we decided to test Wyzant ourselves and get the answers.
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Our Initial Thoughts on Wyzant
Wyzant is marketed as a tutoring platform, and it’s exactly what it is. On Wyzant, wannabe learners can connect with tutors who teach the subject they are interested in. One of the biggest perks of Wyzant is the number of options you have, especially if you’d like to learn something more or less mainstream.
For example, when we searched for writing tutors on Wyzant, the number of candidates we were offered (without any filters at this point) was 4,570. That’s a lot and can easily cause search overload. But at the same time, it’s also evidence of how popular Wyzant is and how many options its clients can access.
We tested the service with three different writing tutors to verify Wyzant online tutoring reviews and ensure that our review answers most of our readers’ questions. Our experiences with each differed, but we would give Wyzant a 3.5/10 overall. It’s alright, but it has much room for growth.
If you're looking for a more streamlined approach to academic support, you might consider exploring traditional writing services like PaperHelp. Checking out PaperHelp reviews can provide valuable insights into their offerings and customer experiences, helping you decide if this is a better fit for your needs. Let’s look at different aspects of the Wyzant tutoring platform separately:
What Wyzant Is and How It Works
One of the questions our readers interested in Wyzant come to us with is, “Is Wyzant legit?” Given the service's rating on Trustpilot and what most reviews there have to say about it, such a question makes perfect sense. Anyone would be wary of a service rated 1.9/5.
But first, let’s clarify how Wyzant works; it’s very straightforward. Once you create an account, you can look for tutors teaching the discipline, language, or skill you’re interested in. You can start browsing the options even without signing up, but your options might be fewer.
Once you choose a tutor, you can contact them and schedule a lesson. It’s better to leave at least some information about yourself and your learning goals so that the tutor, too, can understand whether or not they are the right match for what you’re after at the moment.
According to Wyzant, all lessons take place in the so-called Online Learning Tool, Wyzant’s platform for remote lessons. However, our brief experience with Wyzant suggests that's not the case. Although Wyzant discourages its tutors from doing so, two out of the three tutors we scheduled lessons with asked if we were okay with switching to Google Meet or Zoom.
Customer Support at Wyzant
If you’re wondering, “Is Wyzant real?” we assure you it is. It has an enormous database of tutors, and each can probably attest to Wyzant’s existence. Whether most reviews are positive or not, Wyzant is a legitimate platform.
However, the fact that Wyzant is real doesn’t change Wyzant’s failure to deliver on its promises, and there are problems on every front. For example, Wyzant’s customer support team is nonexistent. The “live chat” you can see on the website isn’t really a chat. Once you click on it, you’re redirected to the pre-written responses from Wyzant’s Help Center.
If you decide to take it a step further and contact Wyzant’s support team via email, you will likely be waiting for a response for a while, even more so if the problem you need to solve involves refunds. That’s where most angry and disappointed Wyzant reviews mention customer support.
How Good are Wyzant’s Tutors? Can You Trust Their Expertise?
As is always the case, especially when the platform is as large as Wyzant, some tutors are way better than others. It all depends on who you choose. We recommend you look at the candidates’ feedback from other clients and carefully study their profiles. Ideally, check those whose credentials Wyzant has verified. Otherwise, you won’t know if the tutor you’re taking classes with has the level of expertise they are claiming to have.
In addition to reading Wyzant tutors reviews, it’s a good idea to talk to them to get a feel of whether or not they are the right fit. Otherwise, you might miss all the signs and end up with an incompetent tutor who will hinder your progress instead of helping it. As many Wyzant reviews mention, the platform rarely runs background checks on tutors. As a result, the number of amateurs trying to teach after reading one book on it is unfortunately high.
We scheduled three lessons with three writing tutors when testing the service. We mentioned that we’re primarily interested in academic writing. Of those two, only one tutor had relevant education and worked as a writing teacher. Unsurprisingly, her course was also the best.
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Wyzant Pricing: Is Wyzant Free?
Wyzant isn’t free. And frankly, if you’d like to work with competent and experienced tutors, the Wyzant pay doesn’t matter. Despite the price argument, Wyzant has quite a few problems, and the payment model is only one of them, albeit a big one.
What makes things worse is that it’s unclear what you’re paying for. If a client can’t be sure that a certain tutor has graduated what they claim they have, how is it okay for the platform to let that tutor charge $500 an hour?
If you got a jump scare from this number, we need to warn you that it’s an actual fee some of Wyzant’s tutors charge per lesson. In fact, one of the writing tutors we hired to test Wyzant had the same hourly rate. They were the only ones whose lesson we genuinely enjoyed, though.
As the tutors are the ones who set their hourly rates, there are affordable options on Wyzant, too. Some charge $50 per hour or even less and still have better client reviews than their higher-charging colleagues. You can find a tutor who is well-reviewed yet affordable using the search filters.
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Wyzant’s Refunds
Even when you’re looking for a simple answer to how Wyzant works, you can’t miss all the frustrated reviews from clients complaining that Wyzant fails to deliver on its promises. One of the specific issues that keep coming up is refunds. They are one of the safety pillows that keep tutors accountable and clients protected. Unfortunately, Wyzant doesn’t seem to understand this.
Wyzant has a policy called Good Fit Guarantee. The platform claims that if you didn’t like the lesson and don’t plan on coming back to the same tutor, you will be refunded. We haven’t had a chance to test this, but other clients’ reviews suggest that a refund after a disappointing lesson is no guarantee.
That’s one of the reasons we keep encouraging our readers to approach the choice of a tutor on learning platforms responsibly. The more time and effort you put into the search, the more likely you will make the money you pay worth it. With refunds unattainable, it’s the only way for you to ensure that you aren’t just throwing your money around with no results.
Communicating with Tutors on Wyzant
Similarly to the quality of teaching, learner-tutor communication depends largely on the tutor. That’s one more reason to choose your tutor carefully and avoid choosing the cheapest option. When you prioritize the price only, you risk losing your money—be it because of poor teaching quality or because the tutor misses the scheduled lesson altogether.
We haven’t experienced such a problem, but quite a few Wyzant reviews mention tutors failing to let the learner know they cannot show up when the learner selected. As a result, learners are often stood up. Even more frustratingly, they are sometimes still charged for the lessons that didn’t happen.
Also, if the ethics of the company you’re supporting matters to you, you might be looking for an answer to the question, “Is Wyzant good for tutors?” Well, most of them admit that it isn’t. Not only does the platform take a 25% cut of everything a tutor makes, but it also offers very little, if any, protection for their tutors. Looks like most of Wyzant’s competitors treat their tutors better.
Can Wyzant Help Struggling Writers?
If you’re wondering about Wyzant because you’d like to find a writing tutor and improve your academic writing skills, we don’t think you will have any problem finding a good match for you. As discussed, there are almost 5,000 writing tutors on Wyzant, and a lot, if not most, of them also teach academic writing.
One of the tutors we had a lesson with was great, although their enormous hourly rate did leave a mark on our budget. We are sure that with so many options, you can find a competent writing tutor with more affordable fees. If you struggle with grammar and need help refining your essay, dive into at least one from many Grammarly reviews. Check the service’s pros and cons and how it can help you with writing and proofreading.
We’ve browsed hundreds of Wyzant student reviews to determine whether they discuss academic writing. We’ve found a few, and some were complimentary. Hopefully, if you try Wyzant, you will also have mostly good things to say afterward.
Top Wyzant Alternatives
As you can see from our score and feedback, we can’t say that our verdict on Wyzant is particularly positive. We can’t recommend it, so we feel we have to offer our audience a list of decent alternatives, meaning tutoring sites like Wyzant.
Here are some of your options:
- Preply.
Preply is a better-known and more affordable alternative to Wyzant. It’s not perfect, but in our experience, it’s still better. You can find a tutor in anything there, including academic writing. - Wiingy.
Wiingy is a carbon copy of Preply and Wyzant.
italki. italki is primarily for language learning, but it’s a great platform. - HelloTalk.
The purpose of HelloTalk is language exchange, which is why many ESL students use it. Improving your language skills can help you become a better writer, too. - Masterclass.
Masterclass may be pricey, but it is the best learning platform for everything involving creativity, including writing. Best-selling writers teach courses so you can be sure they know what they are doing.
If you’d like to learn more about each of these services, we invite you to check out our article comparing them. Also, don’t forget to check out the WritePapers review if you are searching for a traditional essay writing service.
Pros and Cons: Where Wyzant Excels vs. Where It Falls Short
So, is Wyzant a good company? If we had to answer in just one sentence, the answer would be “not really.” Still, please make your own informed decision, so let’s summarize everything we’ve discussed here in a list of Wyzant’s pros and cons.
Hopefully, this will help.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wyzant tutoring legit?
If you’re looking for an answer on whether to trust Wyzant legit service, the answer is “not fully.” Once you find a decent tutor, everything will run smoothly. But before that, brace yourself for many questionable experts and missed classes.
Is Wyzant reliable? Can I have regularly scheduled lessons there?
Wyzant isn’t very reliable. Wyzant’s tutors often reschedule classes, cancel them at the last minute, or don’t attend. That’s especially common for their first lessons with clients.
Is Wyzant scam? Will I lose my money?
The answer to the question, “Is Wyzant tutoring a scam?” is no. If you are lucky and find a decent tutor, you will probably enjoy your experience with the platform and benefit from the lesson. But if you don’t achieve this on the first try, don’t count on getting a refund.
Is Wyzant worth it? Will it help me get better?
Is Wyzant good? Not really; there are much better alternatives out there. However, if you put in the work and find a great tutor who matches your learning goals, Wyzant might be worth it for you.
Is Wyzant safe? Can I share my data?
For the most part, the answer to the question, “Is Wyzant a safe site?” is yes. Most customers have no issues with it except for the difficulties with getting a refund or poor teaching quality. However, a few clients complain that they were wrongly charged for never-mentioned lessons, so be careful.
Is Wyzant trustworthy? Will I get a refund if I'm promised one?
Is Wyzant trustworthy? No, our experience with Wyzant and other client reviews show that Wyzant can’t be fully trusted. Getting a refund is nearly impossible despite the promises, and it’s also not uncommon for Wyzant’s clients to be charged for something they didn’t consent to pay for.
*Screenshots used for review and criticism purposes fall under the 'fair use' doctrine of the United States Copyright Law.
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