By Annie
Nesbitt ’13, Contributor
This summer Mr. Howard Brownstein, Math teacher, and Mrs. Pat Dunn, English Department Chair, will be offering a PSAT/SAT prep course for rising CCDS juniors and seniors. The course, “Beat the SAT with Mrs. Dunn and Mr. Brownstein,” will take place over four Sundays – August 14, 21, 28 and September 4— from 1 to 3 pm. Two Sundays will be dedicated to the English sections and the remaining two to the math sections. Students may attend any number of classes based on what preparation they need, and all four sessions cost only $100, with need-based tuition assistance available.
This class was founded to provide an affordable and convenient way for students to prepare for the PSAT and SAT. Divided by test section and by student’s expertise, the classes will be particularly useful for juniors about to take the PSAT.
The origin of the class came from a committee comprised of Mrs. Stephanie Luebbers, US Division Head; Mrs. Sarah Beyreis, Director of College Counseling; Dunn; and Brownstein. Upon investigation of former students’ PSAT and SAT scores and the help that they had received to prep for the tests, the committee confirmed that students who had been tutored or had participated in reviews had historically received much better scores that the students who hadn’t.
According to Dunn, “The writing preparation will be particularly useful for rising juniors for whom the writing section of the PSAT makes up one-third of National Merit Qualification and is part of the index used for college acceptances.”
This course will be useful because “It is very finite and focused,” Dunn added. “Most SAT classes involve taking the test over and over, while this class will be dedicated to specific strategies and techniques.”
The course can be used as a refresher for students who have already learned about the PSAT or SAT. The organization of the classes themselves will depend on how many people sign up and the specific needs of the students.
Because of the low price, the class should be very helpful for students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford taking a more elaborate prep program.
“If you take eight hours of Princeton review, it can be quite expensive,” said Brownstein. “The goal of this program is to attract those students who wouldn’t be able to afford something like this through a big company.”
Holly Dayton ’13 is one of the many students taking the prep class. She is planning to attend the two math review sessions.
“Math is not my strong point,” says Dayton, “so I’m happy to be able to be in a situation where I can see problems that are very similar to those that will be on the test.
Photo courtesy of Ilana Habib