Chinese Students to Experience New Approach to SAT and ACT Preparation

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/05/2013 - 06:00

Santa Monica, CA (PRWEB) September 05, 2013

Josh Stephens, ArborBridge’s Director of International Development, will be making presentations and meeting with college counselors at some of the top international schools in the capital city of Beijing. Students, counselors, and parents will have the opportunity to discuss the role of standardized testing the U.S. college admissions process and to get acquainted with ArborBridge’s cutting-edge approach to test preparation.

This is Stephens’ second trip to the People’s Republic of China this year. With record numbers of Chinese students applying to university in the United States, the demand for ArborBridge’s services – which are designed to help students achieve significant point gains with relatively little tutoring time – is greater than ever before.

In the 2011-12 school year, 194,000 Chinese students were studying at United States colleges, universities and graduate schools. Since 2007, when those numbers were at 67,000, the influx of Chinese students has increased by more than 20% each year.

"These university entrance exams pose a unique challenge to even the brightest, most accomplished students," said Stephens. "Because they have not been exposed to the SAT and the ACT in the same way that US students are, high school students studying in China often have many questions about the exams and about how to prepare for them. I look forward to answering those questions and explaining how ArborBridge can help."

Students applying to U.S. universities are generally required to submit SAT or ACT scores. Highly selective universities, such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, expect applicants to be at or near the maximum SAT score of 2400 or ACT score of 36.

Stephens will be meeting with both Chinese students and with American expatriates and multinational students. For many expatriate families, the convenience of ArborBridge’s online tutoring – which can take place at any time of day with students located anywhere in the world – is crucial. For Chinese students, ArborBridge offers a dramatically different approach than many local test preparation providers.

Many of these providers follow a model set by China’s infamous gao kao – a three-day exam that constitutes the entirety of students’ applications to local Chinese universities. ArborBridge’s goal is to help Chinese students approach the SAT efficiently and without the stress associated with the gao kao.

"Many Chinese students are accustomed to the notion that more studying equals better studying," said Stephens. "That’s not necessarily the case. On the SAT, smart, efficient studying can be far more effective than, say, memorization. Students who study efficiently can make incredible gains and then have far more time left over for extracurricular activities and cultivation of personal interest – both of which are prized by American universities."

About ArborBridge

ArborBridge has helped hundreds of students from 18 different countries maximize their potential score on the SAT and ACT. Their students have seen SAT point increases exceeding 600 points and gained admission to top colleges like Stanford, Cal Tech, NYU, Columbia, Penn, and Georgetown. ArborBridge tutoring is live, one-on-one, and delivered online by elite American tutors using ArborBridge's proprietary SAT/ACT curriculum, specifically designed for online tutoring. ArborBridge was founded in 2011 by Tim Urban and Andrew Finn, who previously founded Launch Education Group, a premier in-person tutoring firm with offices in Los Angeles and Manhattan.