LANSDALE- What if there was a way to lessen the heavy stress of SAT prep? At North Penn High School, there is…it’s just five simple words. Academic Discussion And Peer Tutoring (ADAPT).

North Penn’s ADAPT has recently started their free, after school SAT prep program, led by many of the club’s tutors, who have scored at least a 1550 on their SAT. Every Monday after school, students who have signed up receive valuable tips and tricks from their very own peers to increase their chances of scoring higher on the exam.

President of ADAPT, Shinwoo Kim, and Chief of Tutoring, Vinny Gohimukkula, came up with the idea early in 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, had to put it on hold until this year.

“We’ve all been through the process of learning about the SAT and then preparing for it,” ADAPT tutor, Naman Parikh said about himself and his fellow tutors. “We’ve gone and taken the test so we have all that experience, and we did well on it. That’s the best part of having it.”

According to Parikh, the hardest part of the SAT is not its content, but its structure. In ADAPT’s SAT prep, all of the tutors make sure to focus on the structure of the questions and how to best attempt them to make the most of their time on the exam.

“The biggest thing that you can learn when you’re preparing for the SAT is that you need to practice a lot,” Parikh advised from his own experience. “So the big thing I learned was how to just sit down every other day, every week, and do practice problems.”

Fitting SAT practice into his weekly schedule was one of the ways Parikh scored so well on the exam, and believes it’s one of the most important thing to do when preparing. All of ADAPT’s tutors are aware of that, and make sure to hold meetings every week in order to maintain a steady routine.

“We have classes every Monday and they start at 2:55. They usually last for about an hour so the meeting ranges from 2:55 to 3:50. If anyone has any questions we can stay on longer to answer them,” Parikh explained.

In every meeting, each of the tutors focus on a different part of the exam and then discuss their section with the tutees as a whole. If any students wish to have a more one on one session, instructors can take personal appointments for a different time.

Due to the Coronavirus, ADAPT has shifted entirely online. Along with their SAT prep on Monday’s, ADAPT provides a regular tutoring session after school every Tuesday, both of which are on Google Meets.

“It’s been a little rough, we’ve had to shift how we get the program going,” Parikh reflected. “Sign ups were usually online but now we have to get everyone on the google meet, we have to be able to coordinate between the tutees and the tutors.”

Having a free SAT prep option for kids who may not have the money to pay for an expensive class is something that ADAPT wanted to provide to all students at North Penn.

“When it comes to education, everybody should have access to the same resources,” Parikh expressed. “I have all this knowledge on the SAT and I think the best use for it is to give it to others so that they can also do well. When it helps people it certainly feels worth it, even though it can be a lot of effort at times.”

Check out ADAPT’s Instagram @npadapt for more information!