Juniors Nicholas Cheng and Samuel Park founded the SAT/ACT prep club last year in order to help students improve their performance on the college entrance exams.

“My main goal with this club is to foster an environment where people can learn and share methods they use to improve on [the SAT and ACT] tests,” Cheng said. “I hope to help students get an idea of what they should expect on these tests.”

The club, which meets on Wednesdays after school in the front office conference room, has over 50 people registered in its Google Classroom, and over 20 show up to each meeting, where they go over exam topics and learn strategies to approach problems.

“[We] were eager to help other people and give back to the community, while we could also learn more about the exams ourselves,” Park said. 

Leading up to the PSAT that sophomores and juniors took on Oct. 23rd, the club spent several weeks focusing on the English and reading skills needed for the test. 

The founders are intent on helping members prepare for the exams without having to pay for expensive resources outside of school.  

“We hope that everybody achieves their goal scores as we support them in their test-taking journey,” Park said. 

“I recommend purchasing practice books online,” Cheng said. “Aside from that I believe simply finding practice tests from the same people who make the actual tests is a great way to prepare and be ready for the tests.” 

In the future, Cheng and Park hope to provide one-on-one tutoring, and may also seek guest speakers who have achieved high scores on the tests. 

“I am considering the possibility of bringing in students who have already scored very highly on these tests to come in and talk about their strategies for improving scores,” Cheng said.

The club leaders already have resources and advice to help their peers succeed on the test. They are also working on developing their own approaches to teaching others to succeed.

“I want to see members of the club gain confidence in their test taking abilities,” Cheng said. “If I can help build a lasting structure or culture that continues to support students even after I graduate, that would be a huge success.”

Park and Cheng have already taken both college entrance exams, and there are other club members who have also taken both tests and are readily available to give advice or even to help plan meetings

“[I have] taken over 30 practice exams, and I know that [Cheng] has done similar, leading both of us to having deep knowledge on the inner workings of the exam,” Park said.

Both bring their knowledge of SAT and ACT questions to help the club and provide accurate resources for studying, including practice exams and prep books.

The club leaders are eager to help as many new members as possible to achieve their goals on these exams.