DOHA: For the first time in Qatar more than 300 students from around 20 high schools participated recently in ‘The RSAT Olympiad’ for the newly redesigned SAT (RSAT) exams.

The Olympiad was organized by ScorePlus - The Princeton Review in association with Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) and the US embassy in Qatar. Tests were held at the Lebanese School Al Khor International School Doha College DeBakey High School and at the ScorePlus centre in Al Waab. Each student who participated made a donation to ROTA a charity that strives to make education available to children across Asia. As a result a total of QR10000 was donated to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Maryam Al Beshri Director Marketing Events and Fundraising ROTA said: “We are grateful for the contribution made by RSAT Olympiad to Reach Out To Asia. Contributions such as these are crucial to successfully accomplishing ROTA’s initiatives which include striving to provide quality basic education to children and youth in underdeveloped countries.”

Top-scoring students in the Olympiad were given the opportunity to attend ROTA’s recent Empower Youth Conference.

Twenty-five top scoring students were also awarded scholarships to enroll in any Score Plus course. The scholarships were worth up to QR5700 per student and in total more than QR86000 was awarded.

The RSAT Olympiad was organized in conjunction with the U.S. Embassy’s ‘Discover America Week Qatar 2016’.

Each year Qatar sends hundreds of students to the United States or to American universities around the world. The SAT is an important prerequisite for most US colleges in addition to a student’s high school record extracurricular involvement personal statements and letters of recommendation.

“The U.S. Embassy is pleased to be a part of this initiative designed to expose more students to the RSAT” noted U.S. Ambassador to the State of Qatar Dana Shell Smith. “The SAT is a key factor when considering an American university education and it was rewarding to help students get a step ahead by trying out the exam during Discover America Week Qatar 2016.”

The top-scoring student of the Olympiad was Khalifa Bshesh of DeBakey High School who earned a score of 1410 out of a possible 1600. Other high scorers included Aishwariya Balaji and Nikil Selvam of DPS-MIS.

“We are extremely impressed with the results” said ScorePlus High School Territory Manager Christina Norris. “The students have reported that they feel more informed about the RSAT and they have a sense of how to prepare.”

ScorePlus Regional Manager Pradeep Singhal agreed. “We are very happy to receive such a positive response from high schools and students in Qatar” he said. “The ScorePlus team is proud to conduct the first simulated new SAT test in Doha and to provide real-time feedback in order to help reduce the anxiety of 300-plus students.

The event reaffirms our quality growth in education in Qatar along with making a positive contribution towards society with a contribution to ROTA.”The Peninsula