Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

If you're having a technical or payment issue, please visit our help page for more info.

What's my username?

As of mid-2019, your username is just the address that you use to sign up.

Can I switch plans?

Yes you can, just be sure to cancel the old plan so you don't keep getting charged for both plans.

Is it easy to cancel?

You betcha! Click your name at the top of the site to visit your dashboard, and on that page is a link that says "your account". Once on your account page, underneath your plan information is a link that says "click here to cancel".

There's lots of free video on the web, and sites with free trials, so why pay for ThatTutorGuy.com?

This is the most common question people have, yet people keep using our service. Why? Because we're the best! The people behind those free trial sites look at what we've accomplished, and how easy Chris makes it look to explain these topics so well, and they think "I can do that!" So they throw up confusing videos of some math professor doing the same lecture that sends his real-life students searching for sites like ours, then they wonder why nobody is signing up, and they resort to free trials that everyone abuses because otherwise nobody would sign up at all. But copy-cat sites are just that - a lesser copy of the original - and there's a reason they have to give it away with free trials. (They sometimes even copy our ads and features or use our name in their search results to try to syphon our traffic, so don't be fooled!)

Chris has tutored students from all these classes tons of times, so through years of humbling experience he has learned how to explain things in ways that actually help "normal people" (i.e. anyone who isn't a math genius). And we hear all the time that he actually makes learning math fun. You get what you pay for, which in our case is the original that spawned all the copies!

Does the site have worksheets or other practice materials?

Almost all our customers are in currently enrolled in classes which have textbooks and homework, so we don't offer additional work for you to do. However, if you are not in a class right now, email us with the name of the class you're interested in and we can recommend a book that can be purchased used on Amazon for less than $10. Prior editions of textbooks are great for this kind of thing, because they have less pictures than the new ones AND they're crazy cheap!

Is it okay if two students from the same family use the membership?

Sharing within a family is fine, assuming that those family members do not log in from so many devices on so many different networks (coffee shops, schools, cell network, etc) that your account would appear to have been compromised. Password sharing outside a family is not cool and may result in your account being frozen. This is not recommended, as un-freezing your account may take up to 24 hours, which would be unfortunate if you have a test the next day (or the next hour).

What about those famous sites that you hear about on the news, funded by universities and foundations?

If you wanted to get confused by a math genius who doesn't know how to explain things, you don't need Khan Academy: you're already getting that every day in math class! But seriously, humility is important when it comes to teaching math. In school, Chris was pretty good at math too, but only through years of one-on-one tutoring experience did he learn how to explain it in a way that normal people could get. Physics is even harder. Teaching is a skill you learn over time, yet those sites' lessons are taught by geniuses and Ivy League professors who have never worked with normal students, or in some cases have never worked with students at all.

Why no free trial?

We'd love to offer a free trial, but we know the ways we ourselves abuse free trials at other sites from time to time (multiple email accounts anyone?) and we are just too busy putting new classes together. And you're going to be saving a lot of money on caffeinated beverages, so you'll more than break even on the deal.

I'm nervous about giving some random web people my credit card info.

We never actually see your credit card info. Whether you elect to use PayPal or enter a credit card, your transaction is handled by the secure servers of another company which specializes in secure internet payments. As soon as you click Subscribe, your connection is encrypted six ways to Sunday, totally secure. All the processor server tells us is your email, name, last four digits, and that you've paid. They don't tell us any of your credit card info, and they handle all the monthly payments as well.

Do I have to watch the videos in order?

Once you find the page of videos that matches your topic, it's best to start at the beginning of that page because everything builds. Also, Chris has found in his tutoring practice that confusion on harder problems usually originates from a misunderstanding of the more basic ones, so even if you think you just need help on the hard ones, often it's actually quicker to start from scratch doing things the right way (i.e. watch the chapter from the beginning). Every student is different, though, so maybe you'll find you're okay skipping around.

Our site also keeps track of which videos you've watched and shows you little "play progress" bars next to each video you've started. And now we've got playlists, so you can organize videos you want to review closer to test time.

Can ThatTutorGuy help me with test anxiety?

The best way to reduce your anxiety and perform to your potential -- whether you have mild anxiety or major -- is to have memorized (and practiced) the process for solving each of the specific types of problems that are going to be on your test. Often struggling students look at the A students and think those kids "just get it", but the truth is that the A-getters are just really good at breaking problems down into a series of steps that they do the same way every time (a.k.a. "plug and chug"). And they do their homework on time.

Ironically, the smarter students who want to "understand the material" are often the ones getting bad grades because they look down on plug-and-chug, expecting everything to just "click" at some point. What these students don't realize is that understanding only comes AFTER plug-and-chug. That's why Chris's videos help with anxiety by focusing you in on the step-by-step process for each type of problem, so that you can just "lock in" on doing the right series of steps every time and not have to "think" (a.k.a. waste time) during the test. Even with this site, though, you'll still need to practice practice practice, always checking answers to make sure you're doing it right. And you've got to actually WORK each and every practice problem: just "looking over" your quizzes and notes doesn't count!

Technical trouble, like videos aren't loading or there's a blank where videos should be...

Pretty much every problem any user has ever had could be fixed by wiping their hard drive and re-installing the operating system and browser, then emailing the FBI... Just kidding! It is a browser problem, though, so try an incognito window or a different browser. For more, check out our help page.

Does Chris still offer one-on-one tutoring in the West L.A. area?

Not at this time. Too busy shooting new videos!