One-on-one Tutorials

One-on-one tutorials are by far the most popular service the On-Campus Writing Lab at Purdue offers. Students can schedule appointments for tutorials by using our online scheduler. 

Appointments guarantee that you can meet with a tutor during your preferred day and time. A certain number of same-day appointments are released each day at 9:00 am. We will take walk-ins if space is available, but slots become less available as the semester goes on.

If you are a writer, we can help you

Thousands of Purdue students, especially good writers, come to the Lab because they know it's useful to talk about what they're writing and to get some feedback. Writers bring in papers from courses in biology, engineering, political science, technology, communications, and many other courses besides English. They also come in to work on resumes and job applications, internship and co-op reports, or any other writing task they're working on, including papers for graduate seminars. We help Purdue undergraduates, graduate students, and students learning English as a second language.

On-Campus Writing Lab tutorials are useful at any point in your writing process

Our tutors are happy to help you get started on a paper by discussing the topic and starting strategies. We'll also help you with any drafts you might be working on. Remember that it's best to come to the lab well before a draft is due. Give yourself plenty of time so you will be able to make significant changes that will occur to you after talking with a tutor.

On-Campus Writing Lab tutorials are not for catching typos and small errors

Finely-polishing your manuscript would make us better editors, but wouldn't help you become a better writer. But, we will help you learn how to be a better proofreader. Please familiarize yourself with our FAQs for Lab Tutorials.

Here are some suggestions to help you get the most out of your tutorial

Our tutors want to do their very best to help you with your writing--but they are looking to you to provide some thoughtful direction for your tutorial.

Set your own goals for the tutorial.

Think about what kind of help you really want from a tutor. Do you, for example, want to develop ideas that are already pretty well organized, or do you have boatloads of ideas but no boats to arrange them in? If you set a rough agenda of items to cover in the tutorial, you can be sure to get the most out of your time together.

Bring both your assignment and any work you've done so far.

If possible, bring along your instructor's assignment sheet, a description of the assignment from your textbook, or your class notes. Even if you don't have a draft yet, bring in your questions.

Think carefully about the assignment.

Does your draft satisfy the assignment? You might list some characteristics your paper should have in order to meet the goals of the assignment.

Mark sections of your draft that you're unsure of and would like to concentrate on.

Write down your questions. They can be very helpful. If you can pinpoint specific sections or sentences in your draft, you won't have to wait for the tutor to find them. You'll be a happier camper in a lot less time.

Think about comments and suggestions that have been made on other papers that you've written.

You can significantly cut down your writing and revising workload and can use your tutorial time more efficiently by getting a handle on your instructor's comments.

Watch this short video for even more on how to be a good tutee in the On-Campus Writing Lab.