With college right before their eyes, juniors must eventually face the two obstacles standing between them and their dream school: the ACT and the SAT.
Last year, Foothill juniors and sophomores in AVID began using an online program called ePrep to help them prepare for the ACT test.
ePrep is an online study tool for any student preparing for the ACT, SAT, PLAN or PSAT. Students can purchase the program to aid them in studying for one or all of the tests.
The AVID program has chosen to use ePrep again this year because of the positive student reaction it received last year. However, its availability has now been extended to all Ventura Unified students to help them improve their ACT and SAT scores.
Eleventh grade English teacher Wendy Dowler believes that depending on how good of a test taker a student is, a program like ePrep could be very beneficial.
“Lots of programs that are geared toward ACT and SAT prep are very effective for some students,” Dowler said. “I’ve seen lots of students raise their scores quite a bit after going through a program on how to take those tests.”
Senior Lauren Sahli used ePrep last year when preparing for the ACT.
“Without [ePrep], I wouldn’t have known what to expect on the day of the test or studied what was going to be on the test. I believe that because I used the program, I did much better on the test than I could have without it.” Sahli said.
The goal of a program like ePrep is to cover the breadth of material in the ACT and SAT.
“They ask for things you learned way back. It is really important to review,” senior Isabelle Muschamp said.
The first step of ePrep is to take a practice version of the test offline in conditions nearly identical to those of the real test. The student then logs on to their ePrep account and transfers their answers onto an online score sheet.
After the answers are submitted, the program reveals to the student the problems they answered incorrectly. For each one missed, the student is given a video tutorial explaining how to solve that exact problem.
“ePrep pinpoints specific skills that the student is struggling with and works with them on each problem,” AVID teacher Jason Dinkler said.
Anyone interested in trying this program can come to a mock SAT test hosted by Mr. Dinkler to have a free preview of ePrep. The session will take place on October 22 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. in room F-104. Those who plan on attending need to contact Mr. Dinkler by October 14 at the latest.
People who buy an ePrep license through this fundraiser will receive a 25% off discount and help the AVID program gain ePrep scholarships.
