SAT Students Hit the Books & Web

While many high school students are still gathering at their local libraries to cram for the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it’s a sure bet that just as many of them are staying home and logging onto the Internet to prep for the test. In a new report from Milpitas, Calif.-based Nielsen NetRatings, collegeboard.org showed a whopping 77 percent spike in at-home traffic for the week ending April 29. The reason, analysts said, is that many students are registering online to take the SAT, which begins nationwide in May. The site offers a free mini-SAT exam as well as a $10 SAT prep pack and “comprehensive” SAT software priced at $29.95. A bit pricey, but at least with the Web test, students don’t have to spend half their time filling in oval holes with number 2 pencils.

DATA POINTS
–For the week ending April 29, visitors in the 12-17 age group comprised 44 percent of the unique audience to collegeboard.org, as well as 72 percent of the total traffic to the SAT registration page.

–Young women proved more Net-studious than young men: Young women comprised 61 percent of the total unique audience to collegeboard.org.

–252,000 unique visitors went to collegeboard.org for the week ending April 29.

Source: Nielsen NetRatings, For the Week Ending April 29.