South Orange YMCA to offer SAT prep courses in September

MONROE — The South Orange Family YMCA in Monroe will host SAT strategy sessions on Tuesday and Thursdays in September. An SAT information seminar for parents and students will be held on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 6 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m. This meeting will teach participants what the SAT is about and provide strategies to help test takers do their best on the exam. Participants will find out what the SAT is all about, how test prep works, SAT strategies and advice about choosing books, software, courses and tutors. A college admissions seminar will be held Thursday, Sept. 22, at 6 p.m. Organizers said students and parents will learn about school selection and putting together a winning application as well as how to write a distinctive admissions essay and get recommendations that can make a difference in the application process. Three sessions will be offered for students only. An SAT math strategy seminar will be held Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 6 p.m. This meeting will offer information on how to get more correct answers in less time as well as arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data interpretation strategies. Participants will also learn how to spot and avoid SAT traps and handle tough questions. A critical reading strategy seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 15, at 6 p.m. Participants will learn what critical reading questions are really testing. They will also learn strategies to handle challenging sentence completion questions and how to pull needed information from SAT passages without taking too much time. A writing strategy seminar will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 6 p.m. Participants will learn the most important grammar concepts tested in SAT writing, pick up strategies for difficult questions, and learn how to write a winning SAT essay. These seminars will be taught by Ben Paris, a former Kaplan curriculum director, published test prep author, and a designer of award-winning online test prep courses. The cost to participate in these seminars is $30 per student for the student-only seminars; and $30 per family for the parent/student seminars. The classes are open to anyone, regardless of Y membership. To learn more, call 782- 9622. - Nancy Kriz