It is no secret that getting into college is stressful; there are the SATs, GPAs, applications and more. As parents do their best to prepare students and help them get through the process, it can be frustrating, confusing and costly.

Coworkers Jasmin Brown and Tracey Pearson were both disappointed when they started looking for ways to get their respective children ready for higher education. When it came to preparing for the SAT, the programs they found were both costly and inadequate. So they decided to do something about it. That’s how College Professional SAT Prep was born.

It took some research and a lot of hard work, but on March 7, the team is set to debut its first session.

“The SAT is based on what colleges and educators expect high school students to be exposed to,” said Pearson. “So, we recruited college professors to help develop the curriculum and teach in the program.”

With more than 20 years of higher education experience between them, Brown and Pearson knew that getting students off to a good start as they head to college makes a big difference. So they added another facet to the program. Having qualified instructors is key, but they wanted to give high school kids insight that they could appreciate and understand.

“We also have peer tutors who are college students who assist the professors during the sessions,” said Brown. “They are also available to students during the sessions and afterwards, too. They can answer questions about college life in general. We have found that teens relate better to teens and will feel more at ease asking questions this way.”

Each session runs four weeks and is designed to give students everything they need to prepare for the SAT. Sure, it is still a lot of hard work for the student, but as entrepreneurs, Brown and Pearson have come up with a system that they are confident will make sense to both students and parents.

“We structured the classes to mirror college courses. It is intensive learning but it is broken out so there is a natural progression from the learning materials to testing on those materials. It’s important to learn the pace of the SAT,” said Pearson. “The concept of these sessions is to break it down into manageable pieces, provide guidance and feedback for the essay and offer the opportunity to take a full- length practice SAT.”

The March session meets each Saturday from March 7 through March 28. The classes run from 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. and cover the three major areas of the SAT: reading, math and writing. It also includes tips and techniques that focus on study skills. Each session costs $600 and includes testing materials.

“We will also offer boot camps over the summer. The boot camps will run four consecutive days and will offer the same content as the regular sessions. There are two sessions offered over the summer,” said Pearson.

Find out more about College Professional SAT Prep or enroll for one of the sessions or boot camps at www.collegeprosatprep.com or by calling 910.420.5679 or emailing collegeprofessionalsatprep@gmail.

Photo: Jasmin Brown and Tracey Pearson were disappointed when they started looking for ways to get their respective children ready for higher education, so they started College Professional SAT Prep.