SAT calling: Students find new way of studying for college test

Mon, 08 Nov 2004 17:13:00 GMT

By Marisol Rodriguez/Health Editor

graphic by David Orp

One of the biggest pressures high school students are faced with is achieving the scores needed for college admissions. With the institution of the new SAT, anxiety has risen, and people are desperately seeking for new ways to study. Some have enrolled in expensive SAT prep classes like Kaplan or signed up for the classes offered here at Varela. For college bound students attempting to beat the system and do well on the SAT’s, a new tool might help them do just that. Studying for college entrance exams has just been made easier with a new program started by the Princeton Review Company. For years, anxious test takers have had to carry around stacks of paper, expensive practice test books, and flash cards if they wanted to study, but now, this program allows teenagers to prepare with just the simple convenience of their cell-phones. According to an article posted on Wired.com, the program “allows students to do practice drills in math, reading and grammar by having the questions sent to their phones. Students can download a bank of questions and mini-drills or have the phone call them at set intervals with practice test questions. The program can also be set up to call or e-mail parents with the results.” Not all cell phone plans are equipped with the service. It’s only offered through Verizon Wireless, but may be coming soon through other plans. It can be downloaded for $5.75 a month. A high selling point is that parents can keep informed on their child’s progress through the program. “This program allows parents to become involved in their child’s studying habits and gives them the opportunity to push their child to reach their potential,” said Ana Padilla a senior currently studying for the SAT. Odalys Borges a junior here at Varela was asked if she would have a problem with the progress reports and she said, “No, because I don’t feel I have anything to hide from my parents, and if I did bad I did bad, and if I did good then they would be proud of me, but maybe if they see my reports and see that I did bad they would be motivated to pay for some SAT classes for me.” The old theory that people learn best when the material is presented to them in an entertaining manner, has been put into action with the rapid advance of technology. Many companies like the Princeton Review are focusing on developing new ideas like making studying for the SAT simpler and appealing to teenagers.