Random House's Princeton Review Books Launches New Facebook App -- 'Cracking the SAT(R) Championship'

NEW YORK, March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- For the more than two million teens annually applying to colleges, the SAT is no laughing matter.  SAT scores can impact whether students get accepted by the college of their dreams as well as scholarship, grant and financial aid award decisions.  

But a new Facebook application from Random House's Princeton Review Books offers teens a fun-spirited way to sharpen their SAT test-taking skills and challenge their friends to SAT study competitions.   Titled "Cracking the SAT Championship," the free application can be accessed at http://apps.facebook.com/princetonreviewhome/ and also www.PrincetonReviewBooks.com  (a Facebook profile is required).

Students using the "Cracking the SAT Championship" application can:

• Take SAT prep quizzes.  

Based on content from The Princeton Review SAT prep books, the application's six quizzes include three in Math (Geometry, Algebra, and Arithmetic) and three to build skills for the SAT Critical Reading and Writing sections (Error ID: Grammar, Error ID: Effectiveness, and Sentence Completion).  Each quiz has five multiple-choice questions.

• Get SAT study tips.

After taking each quiz, users get complete answer explanations and advice for scoring their best on each question type.  

• Earn SAT prep "bragging rights" medals.

Depending on how well they score on quizzes, users can earn gold, silver, or bronze medals to post on their Facebook walls.    

• Challenge friends to SAT study competitions and reward them with "gifts."

Users can send messages to their Facebook friends, invite them to take the quizzes, and send them free study aid gifts. Among the 20 gift icon choices: a thinking cap, calculator, and cluster of #2 pencils.    

"While students can be highly competitive about their SAT scores, we developed this app to give teens a way to have fun preparing for the test, reduce some stress about it, and pick up skills that may improve their scores," said Tom Russell, Publisher at Random House of the Princeton Review books.  Russell added, "This app is just one of many ways we are creatively re-purposing content from our Princeton Review books to support and expand our customer base, as well as to broaden awareness of The Princeton Review brand."  

About Random House / Princeton Review Books

Random House, Inc. has published Princeton Review Books since 1986 when the line debuted with The Princeton Review's Cracking the SAT (the only test-prep guide ever to be a New York Times bestseller).  Now more than 150 titles strong, the line includes nearly 100 test-prep guides, 30 study aid books, and guides to colleges and graduate schools.  Other SAT resources in the line include 11 Practice Tests for the SAT & PSAT, eight SAT subject test guides, and Essential SAT Vocabulary, a flashcard set.  The Princeton Review also has an iPhone®/iPod® app titled "SAT Vocab Challenge."

The Princeton Review (www.PrincetonReview.com), a leading provider of test preparation and online career education services, is known also for its courses, tutoring programs, and college and graduate school admission services.  Based in Framingham MA, it is not affiliated with Princeton University and not a magazine. 

SAT® is a registered trademark of the College Board.

iTunes® and iPod® are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.

Facebook is considered the world's biggest social media network with more than 400 million users, including 100 million in the U.S., of which 5.6 million were in the 0-17 age range in 2009.  

www.randomhouse.com/princetonreview

SOURCE Random House / Princeton Review Books