BELFAST — Preparation for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) will be the focus of eight weekly classes at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center beginning Sunday, Feb. 3.

The course, taught by Mary Smyth, will be held Sundays, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Prep Matters is designed for high school sophomores and juniors who plan to take the SAT.

The recently redesigned SAT now has two scores – verbal skills and math. According to the College Board, to be able to attain at least a C in a non-remedial college math class, a student must score 530 out of 800 on the math section of the SAT, but only about 40 percent of high school students can do so, said the Hutchinson Center, in a news release.

“It is important that students understand that they need to work for a semester, not just cram at the last minute for one test,” said Smyth, in the release.

Smyth has been teaching algebra through calculus at Watershed School in Camden for more than a decade and has coached SAT prep for 13 years. She is a retired pediatrician who became interested in the math curriculum when her sons were in elementary school.

Smyth also is a local expert on college admission testing, and has tutored students for the SAT, ACT, SAT subject tests and AP Calculus exams, many of whom went on to earn scores of 800.

The program cost is $375 per student for an eight-week course in preparation for the verbal, math and essay portions of the test and $275 for an eight-week course in preparation for either the math or verbal portions of the test. Scholarships are available through the Hutchinson Center.

For more information, to request a scholarship application or a reasonable accommodation contact Diana McSorley, 338.8093; diana.mcsorley@maine.edu.

The University of Maine, founded in Orono in 1865, is the state's land grant and sea grant university. As Maine's flagship public university, UMaine has a statewide mission of teaching, research and economic development, and community service.

UMaine is among the most comprehensive higher education institutions in the Northeast and attracts students from Maine and 49 other states, and 62 countries, according to the release. It currently enrolls 11,404 total undergraduate and graduate students who can directly participate in groundbreaking research working with world-class scholars.

UMaine offers more than 100 degree programs through which students can earn graduate certificates, master's, doctoral or professional science master's degrees.

The university promotes environmental stewardship, with substantial efforts campuswide aimed at conserving energy, recycling and adhering to green building standards in new construction.

For more information about UMaine, visit umaine.edu.