Mr. Stephen Heiner, tutor, co-founder of Get Smarter Prep company offers tips | by KATIE HYDE

With the SAT coming up Saturday, The Dart turned to Mr. Stephen Heiner, co-founder of Get Smarter Prep company, for SAT prep tips.
Get Smarter Prep is a locally owned and operating company that helps students increase their SAT and other standardized test scores.
The company offers an STA specific 20 hour SAT prep course with 20 after school at STA.  STA is one of two schools in the metro that has on-campus classes and the only school where Heiner teaches the course.
Heiner offers his advice for STA students  preparing for the SAT and shares about his program.
DART: What areas do you focus on most for students preparing for the SAT?
Heiner: While there may have been an ‘SAT preference’ for elite schools in the past, that is now gone, and anyone who doubts it can go, for example, to Harvard’s admissions page where they state that they take either and they express no preference. The SAT, unlike the ACT, has vocabulary, so we hit that pretty hard, and not in the rote memorization with flashcards way which is so ineffective. Also, we consistently point out to students that this is not a math test. If it were, all students who do well in math in school would necessarily do well in math here.  To that end we encourage our STA girls to take both a practice SAT and ACT to see what they do better in so that they can then prep for that test particularly, instead of spending time and money prepping for both.’
D: Why is the price reduced for STA students? When do you work with STA students?
H: ‘Because Nan has blackmail material on me, STA students have 50 percent reduced charges and the course is taught on campus. Normally the classes are after school: the recent lunch period classes were there because we wanted to offer one last refresher for any of our seniors taking the ACT. And because we love Nan.’
D: Do many students use Get Smarter Prep, and how effective do you think it is?
H: ‘1/3 of STA’s graduating class last year used us, and I think more of the class of 2010 than that, so yes, a lot do.  It’s very effective among my STA girls because I think generally speaking they are more serious students.  We offer no guaranteed score increase because we cannot guarantee what will happen on test day.  All we can guarantee is that you will receive 20 hours of high quality instruction, 3 different practice tests, and highly individualized attention.  The rest is up to you.  Also, keep in mind, different students have different starting scores and hence different expectations.’
D: What do you recommend students do the last 24 hours before the test?
H: ‘Most of the time, my students should do nothing SAT or ACT related. They should go out to dinner and or to a movie with friends. They should get home at a decent hour. Don’t eat anything boring. Keep it boring and predictable the night before. The next morning, same thing, do not forget to bring snacks for your breaks.’
D: Along with this program, what are other effective ways to study for the SAT?
H: Well, ironically, though I founded a test prep company, I never had test prep.  My mom sent me to the library with a book.  If you have the self-discipline to grab a free prep book from the Plaza library, work problems, assign yourself homework, and self-critique what you are doing wrong and why you are doing it, then you’re well on your way.  Problem is, most of us have lives so it is hard to say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m going to go nerd it up with some ACT prep.’