by Liz Dwyer, originally published on 2/23 on the Good website
Only wealthy kids are lucky enough to get primed for their SATs with a formal prep course, right? Not anymore. The online social enterprise I Need A Pencil (INAP) is leveling the playing field for students from all economic backgrounds. Founded by Harvard junior Jason Shah, INAP targets low-income students who wouldn’t otherwise have access to college advice, online lessons, mentors, or 24/7 email support– and unlike Kaplan and Princeton Review, it’s all free. “Families shouldn’t have to spend the equivalent of a college classes’ tuition just to get ready to take the SAT,” says Shah…
Since launching in 2007, over 30,000 high school students from families with an average income of $40-80,000 have prepared for the SAT using INAP’s program. Like Princeton Review and Kaplan, INAP users begin by taking an SAT practice test. The site then creates an estimated SAT score as a baseline starting point and provides users with areas of content strength and weakness.
INAP users get 60 custom lessons tailored to academic weaknesses, and an unlimited number of custom SAT questions and practice tests. In comparison, Shah says Kaplan’s SAT Online program offers 30 lessons for $399 with only four practice tests. The Princeton Review’s SAT Live Online costs $699 for 20-30 hours of tutoring with four practice tests. Shah is critical of the prices. “Charging so much puts SAT prep out of most families’ reach. What are we saying?” he asks, “That only rich kids deserve to be prepared for the SAT?”
The site’s beginnings stem from Shah’s 2005 visit to his sister’s sixth-grade Teach For America classroom in West Philadelphia. “One student asked me three times in a half hour how to spell the word ball,” he says. When the kids talked about going to college, Shah, who was only a high school sophomore at the time, couldn’t imagine how they’d be able to score high enough on the SAT to be accepted anywhere.
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