ESSEX -- Lauren Starkey says preparing for the SATs is a "necessary evil."

"This is the game we're playing," she said. "You have to do certain things to get into college, and taking the SATs is one of those things."

Starkey, of Essex, and fellow instructor Karen Needler of Westford will lead the "SAT Boot Camp" on Saturday morning at Essex High School. Starkey says she and Needler will use the nearly four-hour prep course to share strategies for taking the test.

Other sessions will be offered in October and November.

Those strategies include knowing the directions for each section before taking the test to save about 12 minutes reading directions during the test. People can also save time by reading only parts of lengthy passages in the critical reading section.

"If it asks you to look at line 7, you only need to look at lines 6 to 8, and not necessarily the whole passage," Starkey said.

Starkey plans to coach the written and reading sections of the test. Needler, a math teacher at Champlain Valley Union High School, plans to coach the math section.

Starkey attended Trinity College, earned a master's degree from Rutgers University, worked on the Oxford English Dictionary and wrote 18 books including "Goof Proof College Admissions Essays and SAT Writing Essentials."

Since she was in high school, when "you just showed up and took" the SATs, standardized test scores have lost standing with some colleges and universities, Starkey said. She said she frequents the National Association for College Admission Counseling Web site to see what schools expect from prospective students.

Starkey said she started the camp because students improve their scores after knowing what's in store.

"The second time you take the SATs, you always do better," she said. "I started thinking, 'Why do they do better the second time?'"

The course can accommodate about 25 people, Starkey said. Mostly high school juniors enroll at $160 per student for Essex residents and $165 for others. Starkey said she is working to get the boot camp online, to accommodate more trainees.

For more information and to register for the boot camp, call the Essex Parks and Recreation Department at 878-1342.