THE UNDERGRADUATE TUTOR

The Tutoring Bureau is one of the few activities at present conducted by Phi Beta Kappa at Harvard, and it is potentially one of the most valuable ways in which the Society can be of service. It is unfortunate that the Bureau is not organized sooner in the year, but the small number of members until after the November elections is responsible for its late appearance. The aim of this type of tutoring is not identical with that of the coaching-schools that have mushroomed up around the Square. The art of studying is not to be learned the night before an examination; unless a man is willing to get, this sort of instruction earlier than the last minute, he must be content with professional cramming instead of guidance from students who have recently met and coped with his problems.

Last year the Bureau was maintained throughout most of the second half-year, without being much employed, Such an experiment could well be repeated, but its value depends entirely on the consent of the tutees. In teaching while there is still time to learn, the organization should be useful and stimulating; but the accurate compilation of spot passages is, properly, outside its sphere, and the man who aims merely at passing examinations will find it of little use.