This semester I had the chance to experience both Writing Appointments and Walk-ins. They are very different from each other.

I did appointments most of the semester because that is what first time tutors do before taking on some walk-ins. I did a walk-in earlier in the semester as a fill in but did not get any students, and am currently doing walk-ins for finals week.

With appointments, a tutor has work hours that are always offered, but unless the appointment is actually booked by the student, the tutor doesn’t have to go to the center and does not have to work that time frame. Appointments are meant for longer papers. This is because it is completely one on one, and the tutor can give the tutee their full attention and time to look over a longer paper. I have really enjoyed doing appointments for this reason.

I have put off writing about this subject because I have not yet hada tutee at my walk-ins, but I feel I know enough about how it works to write about it. Walk-ins are a set time frame for tutors to come to the center and sit with a sign in sheet and walk-in sign according to their subject. This is meant for smaller papers when it comes to writing because of the chance of there being multiple students at once and having to divide your attention to multiple students at one time. This is also in case the tutor doesn’t get much time with a student. A student also doesn’t have to apply for an appointment and committ to a time frame in case something comes up last minute, they can just walk-in whenever they have time. However, the benefit of an appointment is ensuring the time had with a tutor.

These are just some of my observations and both are beneficial in their own ways and meant for different things. While similar on the outside, they are quite a bit different at their core.