perfect essay for sat

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Thinking about tackling the SAT Essay? Here's what you need to know: you'll be asked to read a text (typically a speech or editorial of some sort) and discuss how the author effectively builds an argument. This might be a familiar task if you’ve done it in school, but if not, don’t worry. The format is straightforward, and with some practice, you can learn how to write a great SAT essay.

What is the SAT essay?

The SAT essay is optional and costs an additional fee of $17.00. Currently, only 25 colleges and universities require the SAT essay. You can find a searchable list of school requirements for the essay here . If there is any chance that you might apply to one of those schools, you should sign up for the essay. If you are not sure where you will apply, you should strongly consider signing up for the essay. Your essay score will appear on every score report you send to colleges, regardless of whether or not the school requires an essay.

Here are 5 tips for writing a killer SAT essay, should you decide to add on that section:

1. Stay Objective

The thing to remember here is that ETS (the company that writes the test) is not asking you for your opinion on a topic or a text. So be sure to maintain formal style and an objective tone. Tip: Avoid “I” and “you.

2. Keep It Tidy

Handwriting is becoming a lost art. Unfortunately, this is one occasion where your skill with a pencil matters. Graders read tons of essays each day. If they cannot decipher your script, they will lower your score. Do yourself a favor and write legibly.

3. (Indented) Paragraphs Are Your Friend

Remember the basic essay structure you learned in school: introductory paragraph, body paragraphs and a conclusion? The SAT essay graders love it! Your introduction should describe the text and paraphrase the argument being made, as well as introduce the specific elements of the passage and argument that you will discuss in the essay. Your conclusion should restate the goal of the passage/argument and sum up the points you made.

4. For Example…

Use your body paragraphs to back up your thesis statement by citing specific examples. Use short, relevant quotes from the text to support your points.

5. Don't Worry About the Exact Terms for Things

Blanking on terminology? When describing how the author builds his or her argument, “appeal to the emotions” is fine instead of specifically referencing “pathos.” And “comparison of two things” can be used instead of referring to a metaphor. If you do know the official terms, though, feel free to use them!

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SAT® Writing

How to get a perfect score on the sat® writing and language test.

The Albert Team
Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

Imagine waking up at midnight to the blaring sound of your fire alarm beeping loudly. The siren is blasting through the house warning you to leave. You leap from your bed and start towards the door, but before you get there your foot slips on a stack of books sitting across from the bed, and you fall. It takes you a few seconds to regain your footing and get out of the room.

Lucky for you, in this hypothetical scenario, there was no fire. It was just a false alarm. If this happened, though, you would work towards a better knowledge of the layout of your room, in case there was actually a fire next time.

This hypothetical situation is a lot like studying for the SAT® Writing and Language test. The better you know the layout, the better you will do on the test. If you have a good grasp of the rules of grammar, punctuation, and rhetoric, you will be more successful than if you don’t understand the rules that govern written English.

This guide exists to prepare you for the treacherous terrain of the SAT® Writing and Language test and help answer the question of “How to get a perfect score on SAT® Writing and Language”? Keep reading to get an in-depth overview of the test and key components that you will need to master to score a perfect 800.

What do they Test?

The SAT® Language section is designed to test two areas of English Language skills. The first area is Usage and Mechanics , which tests grammar, syntax, punctuation, and proper use. The second area focuses on Writing Strategy , which tests expression, command of evidence, and editing.

If you can’t already tell – one section of the test is going to be easier to study for than the other. Usage and Mechanics is a set of rules that you can learn. Those rules are laid out in a later section, but they will take some amount of memorization and practice to familiarize yourself with how they work.

Writing Strategy will be a more difficult section to practice. It requires you to understand more abstract ideas like how the topic of a passage is best expressed through organization or structure. Understanding the distinctive features that make the organization effective, or the reasoning behind those features, is much more complicated than just memorizing a set of rules.

Even though Writing Strategy might push you further, there are still strategies that you can practice to ensure you maximize your point totals. Sometimes it doesn’t matter so much that you know the right answer on the test, as long as you can determine the wrong answers. We will keep that in mind as we talk about the structure of the test.

Test Structure

Knowing what is on the test is important, but you must also keep in mind the overall structure of the test. It, like the rest of the SAT®, is set with a specific time limit. That limit will determine how you answer questions and will color your approach to the questions.

The test has 44 multiple choice questions to be answered over the course of 35 minutes. There will be four passages with 11 questions each. The math works out to mean that you have about 47 seconds for each question, and that isn’t even budgeting for reading the passages! If you want a perfect score on the new SAT® Verbal, you will need to get the most out of your time.

There are four passages with 11 sections each. The passages come from four different topics:

Careers passages: The passage will present information and a debate within a career field like business, education, or medicine.
Social Science passages: These passages will focus on a topic or phenomena from a field within social sciences like sociology, history, or psychology.
Science passages: These passages will focus on topics and research within scientific fields like biology, chemistry, or physics.
Humanities passages: These passages will explore the works or a particular era, author/artist, or genre of work. It could cover prose, poetry, dance, music, or art.

The writing and language section will break down to be roughly 24 questions on the writing strategies, with the other 20 focused on the grammar and usage. The breakdown between the two means that the test is almost evenly distributed between the two.

You might find, during your studying, that you are struggling to understand how to answer a particular type of question. Understanding the differences between the writing strategy and usage and mechanics sections is key to identifying weaknesses for correction.

The test is relatively straightforward in its structure. If you get all of the points, your raw score will then be scaled down to a 10-40 scale. Let’s talk about why getting an 800 on the new verbal section is important.

The Value of 800

Earning an 800 may seem impossible, but don’t be fooled. You can earn an 800. Thousands of students have done it before, and thousands of students will score 800 on their verbal sections in the future. The goal is to help you become one of those students.

For many students getting an 800 seems “extra”, and you might be thinking, “I don’t know if I will need an 800”. Most students don’t have what it takes to get an 800 on the verbal section, and an 800 isn’t necessary to achieve their goals. The average SAT® score is 500, and most schools do not look for students who score 800 because those students don’t apply. As a result, many students don’t worry about scoring 800.

You are different. You aren’t looking to get into any school. You are here, reading this article, which means that you are seeking to become excellent . The reality is that an 800 isn’t just useful, but necessary.

Depending on your goals, there is a very real possibility that an 800 on the verbal portion of the SAT® is what you need to gain admission to the college of your choice.

For many of the top universities, a perfect SAT® score is competitive. Yale University, one of the top three in the world, is an excellent example of the competition that the SAT® creates.

At Yale the average SAT® Verbal score of admitted students is 760, the 25th percentile is 710, and the 75th percentile is 800.

What does this mean?

Most students at Yale score around 760 on the SAT®, but you don’t want to be an average applicant. An 800 will set you apart. It will place you in the top 25 percent of students that are applying to the school.

Scoring an 800 is not only possible, but for many students intending to attend a top ten school, it is necessary. The breakdown of scores at Yale is similar to other top ten schools. When you apply to these schools, an 800 on the SAT® can show that you are a cut above, and help make up for weaknesses in your application.

The Challenge of Perfection

To earn an 800, you must score a 44 raw score on the Writing and Language section. A 44 raw score means that you must get every single question right . Take a look at the chart for how the raw scores on the test translate to scaled scores:


38	32	34
39	32	35
40	33	36
41	33	37
42	34	38
43	35	39
44	35	40
45	36
46	37
47	37
48	38
49	38
50	39
51	40
52	40

Notice that if you miss a single question, you will drop to a 39 scaled score. The scoring system leaves no room for error.

Note: Let’s talk briefly about how the scaled to final score conversion works. You’ll notice that we included the reading raw -> scale conversion on the chart. That is because the SAT® Verbal score is made up of a combination of the Reading and Writing and Language sections. This is new to the SAT® system and just came into effect in March of 2016.

The two tests now combine to form an overall verbal score which is half of the overall 1600 you can earn on the SAT®. The two raw scores will convert to a 10-40 and then the scaled numbers are added for a possible 20-80 total. The 20-80 is then multiplied by 10 to give you the 200-800 you can receive on the Verbal Section.

Getting a perfect score on the writing and language section becomes more important now because unlike the old SAT® a lower score on Writing and Language can hurt your entire SAT® Verbal score.

The test is unforgiving. There is no place for a mistake. So, how can people get an 800 when there is no forgiveness on the test? An 800 is possible because each question has only one right answer.

The Right Answer

Every question has only one correct answer. Every question has three incorrect answers.

Any question that seems like it has two possible answers doesn’t, so don’t be tricked. Realizing that there is only one right answer to every question allows you to overcome that trap.

We’ve been taught, in our English classes, that most questions have many valid answers. The texts that we read in English classes are often complicated, dealing with topics like inequality or coming of age. When writing an essay or participating in discussions in English, class teachers don’t dismiss ideas as wrong.

In those classes, we often look for the question that is the most right, because no single answer can apply in all situations. That is not how the SAT® works.

The design of the SAT® acts as an equalizer so that any student can do well. Therefore, the answers are not subjective, and the questions all have a single correct response.

The key to scoring an 800 on the SAT® Writing and Language section is to find the right answer for every question. Let’s go over a few strategies that can help when finding the right answer.

“How to Get a Perfect Score on SAT® Writing and Language” in Five Strategies

Strategy 1: memorize the usage and mechanics rules.

The rules for usage and mechanics make up half of the SAT® Writing and Language section. The best way to study for Usage and Mechanics is to examine all parts of grammar.

Grasping the concepts contained within the subject of usage and mechanics can be difficult for many students. It’s hard for the same reason that students struggle with math. Despite being a part of English, grammar rules , and functions actually, share many similar concepts to math.

The rules are often complex. Depending on the particular mechanic or usage, there could be anywhere from 3 to 10+ rules associated with the specific part of grammar.

Consider commas. Commas are probably the most used punctuation after periods. However, if you asked around, you would find that most people are hazy on the rules of commas. Commas come with a myriad of uses and standards – below is a short list of the possible uses and standards associated with commas:

Use commas between independent clauses when used with coordinating conjunctions.
Use commas after introductory phrases or words.
Use two commas in the middle of a sentence to indicate that there is extra information inside.
Commas shouldn’t surround essential information.
Use commas between words in a list or series.
Use commas between two or more adjectives assigned to a noun
Use commas to separate a phrase at the end of the sentence that references other information in the sentence.
Use commas between places, dates, addresses, and titles.
Use a comma in a dialogue between the prose and the speech.
Use commas to prevent confusion.

That is ten rules. Ten . That is crazy. There are so many grammar rules that exist, most likely you don’t know them all, but you need to know them for the SAT® Writing and Language. That means you will need to memorize the rules for each part of usage and mechanics. Before we get into ways you can remember the rules, let’s review the concepts covered for usage and mechanics on the SAT® Writing and Language.

The parts of usage and mechanics break down like this:

Apostrophes
Pronoun Number Agreement
Subject/Verb Agreement
(Examples: affect/effect, either… or, to/two/too)
Parallel Construction
Comparison/Description
Sentence Fragments and Run-on Sentences
Pronoun Choice
Pronoun Case
Conjugation

It seems like a lot, but don’t let it overwhelm you. You already know some of the rules and concepts, and you have time to learn the others. Even if you only have two weeks before your test, you can drill and practice to memorize in many ways that will help you max out your scores.

The first step, before you begin memorizing, is to ascertain your weakness in usage and mechanics. You can find a test to identify your weaknesses here .

Once you know your weaknesses there are a few ways you can study for the usage and mechanics questions:

Write Down the Grammar Rules on Flashcards: You can find the grammar rules here . On one side of a flashcard you will write down the particular usage or mechanic (like a comma) and a sentence that shows the rule used. On the other side of the flashcard, you write the rule. You will need to go through the flashcards by looking at the examples and reciting the rule to yourself.
Work on Correction Worksheets: Download some copies of correction worksheets here or drill on Khan academy . Memorizing the rules is useful, but learning through correcting errors will also provide the opportunity to grow. Correcting improper usage and mechanics may be difficult, but it will give you practice that mirrors the test.
Identify the Grammar Rules You See in Life: One simple solution to learning the rules of grammar is to look for them in the texts you are already reading. This type of practice is the most accessible. Despite the ease of access, it can be difficult to train yourself to notice grammar in the things you read every day. It will require careful observation and consistent reminders to yourself.

Those three strategies should help you keep on top of the grammar section of the SAT® Writing and Language test.

For more on “how to get a perfect score on SAT® Writing and Language” check out our next strategy that focuses on writing strategies.

Strategy 2: Begin to Notice Writing Strategies

Writing Strategies are the second set of skills tested on the SAT® Writing and Language section. The key to maxing out your score on the strategy section is to notice it in your everyday life. First, you need to understand the exam:

Writing Strategies tests a broad range of reading and writing skills. The section is officials testing the “expression of ideas” which covers the style, organization, and the effective use of language within texts.

When broken down into discreet skills, the Strategy section on the exam covers six broad categories:

Tone: The attitude of the author on the subject of the piece.
Cohesion: The coherence of paragraphs, sentences, and phrases
Purpose: Understand why a text exists
Formality: Determine the style of the text
Congruence: Determine if a sentence fits
Support: Examining evidence for inferences and claims.

Writing Strategy is going to be harder to beat than grammar. Grammar has a set of clear rules to memorize. Strategy, while it does have some objective and distinctive traits, usually relies more on inferences and experience to understand.

Some parts, like tone, are typically easy for students to identify. If you know words to describe the attitude, you match a word to the feeling portrayed by the author.

Others, like cohesion or congruence, require that you understand more of the nuance of writing. That only comes with focused reading and practice. To prepare for the SAT® Writing and Language, you will need to read texts (assigned or for pleasure) and focus on identifying where each of the tested parts of Strategy come into play.

Some readings that will show the distinct parts of Strategy are speeches and essays. If you have the chance, read some of those texts, and identify how the author uses each of the different parts of rhetoric.

You can work on some of the SAT® Writing and Language practice questions we have on the Albert.io website.

The key to strategy two is consistently analyzing texts to find those strategies that authors use.

Strategy 3: Practice for Perfection

Part of any winning strategy is practice. We practice for almost every activity. We spend endless hours shooting free throws or playing a particular measure from a piano concerto attempting to make it perfect. The old saying is “practice makes perfect” for a reason. It’s true.

If you want to know “how to get a perfect score on SAT® Writing and Language”, the first part is to realize that it means you will need to practice until you are perfect. It means long hours of commitment to studying and reading to improve your skills.

As a culture, we don’t believe practice can help you with a test. We like to treat tests like an either, or situation: either you know the material, or you don’t. That isn’t true. You can practice for a test. You can improve your skills and knowledge through repetition and practice.

When you practice for the SAT® Writing and Language section, you should use the materials and tools provided in strategies 1 and 2. Using those strategies by themselves will not be enough. You must commit your time and energy to the practice.

When you commit your time, it means you are setting aside those precious hours every week. You are attempting to earn a perfect score on the SAT® Writing and Language section. You will need to study approximately 40 hours in total to raise your scores from a 650 to 800.

40 hours divided over five weeks works out to 8 hours a week. That is a massive commitment, but this test is a huge part of your college admissions package. You have to devote the time necessary to get a perfect score.

When you set time aside to study, you must study fruitfully. Study time is easily wasted. When you study and practice, make sure you unplug: turn off your cell phone, don’t listen to distracting music, shut down the T.V., and log out of your social media. If you spend just one hour a day fully focused on beating the SAT® Writing and Language, you will be one step closer to scoring 800.

Along with your time, you will need to commit energy to practice. That means full focus every time you sit down to work. Many students fail to practice because they don’t focus their energy on the test. It is easy to be distracted or to fail to try your hardest when you know that the exam won’t count. That isn’t useful. You can’t go into your practice situations half-heartedly.

When you take your practice tests, treat them as if they are the actual SAT®. Give yourself the right amount of time for the test, and put in the energy necessary to finish in that time-frame. If you don’t put the energy of a real testing situation into your practice, you will never reach your full potential.

Finding Real Study Materials

Practice is only useful if it mirrors the test. You will want your practice materials to be as close to the test as possible. SAT® just redesigned the Writing and Language Section, so they are difficult to find. So difficult that there are no released tests to use. So the next best thing can be found here:

SAT® Official Writing and Language Practice Questions
CRACKSAT® Practice Tests

Those tests will be your best shot at finding out accurate scores on the SAT®. They should be used as benchmarks to gauge your progress. You should examine the amount of time you have left until the test, and space the tests out evenly.

The SAT® official practice questions should be something you complete to gauge your skills. Then you can drill the CrackSAT® tests as benchmarks to chart your progress.

Those practice tests are not going to make up the bulk of your study materials. You will need to use other training materials to improve your skills in between the tests. Some excellent materials for the test are on the Albert.io website. You should also check out practice books or articles online for free.

Regardless of the materials you use to drill the skills you will want to pick materials that are similar to the test. Read reviews before you purchase any books, and find websites that are highly rated by online communities.

Just Keep Practicing

Above all, keep practicing. Whatever schedule you set for yourself, keep to it. Whatever way you decide to practice, use it. There is little gained by sitting idle and waiting for the test to arrive. If you want to score 800, you will need to practice the test to perfection.

Strategy 4: Plug the Leaks

A practice schedule is important, but all the practice in the world won’t make any difference without focus. It is important that you learn where you have weaknesses, and compensate.

If you imagine your testing ability as a boat, every weakness you possess has the potential to spring a leak. Too many leaks and your boat will capsize. That is why you need to work on filling the holes. You must practice to correct and compensate for your weaknesses to have any chance at scoring 800.

Diagnosing your weaknesses isn’t easy. It will require you to begin to think seriously about the way you process information. If you find that there is a particular skill you lack or fundamental knowledge you haven’t learned, you can push to change before the test.

Ask the Right Questions

As you go through the officially released tests, you should keep track of the items that you didn’t know for certain. Marking all of the items that were not a 100% certainty will allow you to go back and ascertain the reason why you were confused even if you get the question right by chance.

Knowing that you couldn’t narrow down the correct answer is important because it should lead to some deep thinking. You should ask questions like:

Why was this choice right?
Why were the other choices incorrect?
What about the choices I couldn’t rule out confused me?
Why did I think those wrong answers could be correct?
What rule or reasoning exists to prove the right answer?

Asking these deeper thinking questions will help you to go further in figuring out your weaknesses and making changes before you take your next test. As you test, always go deeper with the questions you ask, stopping at “what is the right answer” will never be fruitful.

Determine the Explanation Yourself

Beyond the questioning strategy, you will want to stop reading the answer explanations for the questions you drill. Instead, seek to figure out and explain the choices yourself. Nearly every test and program provide detailed explanations for why certain a choice is correct and why other choices are not, don’t read those until after you have already explained it yourself.

Part of the growth process is struggling with difficult concepts to come out stronger. Reading the explanations doesn’t challenge you to learn, and it means less focus on understanding the reasoning behind the choices. If you take the time to explain why one choice is correct and the others are not, you will learn much more about the test’s construction, and the specific skills tested.

So, don’t read the explanations until after you have already explained the choices yourself. Then read the explanations provided to ensure that they give similar responses to the ones you created. The logic should be similar in each, and as your explanations get closer to the ones provided, you can keep track to see if your scores improve.

Common Weaknesses

Some weaknesses are common among students. Here are the top three to avoid.

1 – Misreading the Question

One of the easiest mistakes to correct is misinterpreting the question. Testing situations often put students under pressure, leading to simple mistakes.

When you read the question, pay attention to the vital details mentioned. Questions on the SAT® give away major clues to finding the correct response in the wording of the question.

You must read the questions thoroughly so that you don’t miss any valuable information. Pay attention to those very specific words like not. Students overlook test items that use the word not, which can lead to mistakenly answering with the wrong choice. If it asks you to pick the option written incorrectly, you might accidentally select one of the three that is correct by mistake.

Always read the question closely to glean information.

2 – Over or Under Choice of “No Change.”

One of the choices on many of the grammar questions is “no change” which means that the chosen sentence has no grammatical issues. Students have trouble figuring out when that is the correct choice.

Some students choose to air on the side of caution, rarely choosing the “no change” option. While it is a good idea to look for grammatical errors on the test continually, it is not a good idea to see them where they don’t exist. “No change” will be the correct answer about 25% of the time, so that means you shouldn’t avoid it.

The flip side of this problem is students find no errors too often. If you are reading quickly and not thinking clearly – you might fall susceptible to this mistake. It is easy to skim a sentence and not see the error, so always make sure you re-read before picking “no change”.

3 – Too Many Commas

A comma splice is when you put a comma where it doesn’t belong. The comma splice is a common error on the SAT® Writing and Language because students read the sentences out loud to determine the errors. When they read, the students pause more often than is dictated by the grammar. This reading habit leads to placing commas where they don’t belong.

Take this sentence for example:

Lily walked up to the house and took a long, hard look into the darkness of the surrounding forest.

This sentence has far too many commas. If we remove the commas, the sentence still works:

Lily walked up to the house and took a long hard look in the darkness of the surrounding forest.

The best remedy is to learn the comma rules. Once you know them, you will be less tempted to insert unneeded commas.

On the test, if all else fails, you can use the next strategy to narrow down to the right answer.

Strategy 5: One Answer to Rule Them All

The key to strategy five is remembering that there is only one correct answer to each question. No matter the appeal of the other choices, there is an obvious or apparent error in those choices. If you can rule out the three wrong options, it will give you the ability to choose the right answer every time.

Here is a sample question from Albert.io . Let’s find the issues present in three of the four choices:

The question is asking the reader to find the most “economical” way to restate the point from the passage. This will require the reader to understand the passage and find the best way to express the ideas in the sentence. Let’s examine the answer choices and determine which is correct.

Answer A – Correct Answer

Answer A is correct. The choice provides the shortest and most straightforward way to rephrase the sentence. The shortness of the answer choice is what accounts for the “economical” in the question.

Answer B – Convoluted Phrasing

Choice B is incorrect. The phrasing of this answer choice is confusing – which is the opposite of economical. Therefore it would not fit the criteria put forth by the question.

Answer C – Additional Rhetoric

Choice C is incorrect. Although it also retranslates the original phrase correctly, it adds in unnecessary elements. The use of parallel structure at the beginning of the sentence makes the phrase much more complicated than it needs to be, and the length of the sentence rules it out from being “economical” as the question requires.

Answer D – Repetition and Confusing Phrasing

Choice D is incorrect. It is also the easiest choice to rule out. It repeats its words multiple times, and it is so confusing that it doesn’t say much at all.

Narrow it down

When you work through every question, you need to work on narrowing down the possible choices. Every question has one correct answer. You are looking for what is wrong with the other three choices as much as you are looking for what is right about the correct choice.

Bonus Strategy: Bubbling for Time

One last strategy for the test revolves around filling in the answer bubbles. The traditional way to bubble a test is very time-consuming. Students will move back and forth between the test booklet and answer sheet after every item.

The physical act of moving, first your eyes and then your hand, from the test booklet to the answer sheet takes a lot of available time. If it takes you 3 seconds to move from the test booklet to the answer sheet and bubble in the answer, and you do that for 44 questions, it will take you a total of two minutes and twelve seconds just for bubbling.

You will need all the time you can get on the exam. To save time on bubbling the best advice is to change your strategy. Instead of moving back and forth between the booklet and the test, only mark the correct answers on the test booklet. After about ten answers you should bubble in on the answer sheet. If you memorize a series of solutions like ABDCBBADCA you can save yourself time in the way that you bubble and cut down on making mistakes.

Find out what type of bubbling strategy works best for you and go with it. The time you save in bubbling the best way will be invaluable towards getting a perfect score on the SAT® Writing and Language.

Go and Get a Perfect Score

There are the five strategies to help you get a perfect score on the SAT® Writing and Language. If you work hard on each of these strategies, implementing them in your daily study and practice, you will have an excellent shot at getting the 800.

Review the tools often, come back to this guide any time you need a refresher. Make the adjustments necessary, and keep focused on your goals.

Remember to check out the Albert.io website for more blog posts and study help. As promised, there is a short guide to scoring an eight on the SAT® Essay below.

The SAT® Essay section is an optional section of the test. The top colleges, the same ones that care about your 800 in Writing and Language, will look for a score on the SAT® Essay. Opting for the writing exam adds 50 minutes onto your testing time, so be prepared for a longer test.

Two readers give a raw score of 1-4 for three separate categories. The two raw scores add together for each category to give you a scaled score. If one reader scores the essay at 3 and another at 4, you end up with a 7 for the section. You have 50 minutes to plan, write, and revise your essay. If you do it right, you can score an 8 for each section and make yourself that much more marketable to a top tier university.

Each section is graded on its rubric. The three sections that will be assessed are Reading, Writing, and Analysis.

The essay must show that you understood the passage provided in the prompt. That means you understood the important details, main idea, and argument presented. The essay must also show you read the text and can use it as evidence.

Here is the holistic rubric for reading from the SAT® website:

Analysis

The essay needs to show that you understand how arguments are constructed by:

Examining the use of evidence, reasoning, and persuasion
Creating a claim and supporting it with evidence of the text

The rubric from the SAT® Website:

The essay needs to be well written. The essay must be focused, organized, and utilize the writing strategies that are common to standard written English.

The rubric for the writing portion of the essay from the SAT® website:

The essay presents a prompt and some relevant background information. The SAT® will require you to read an excerpt from a larger work. The excerpt will display an opinion, and the prompt will ask you to analyze the opinion finding the structure of the argument and explaining the most relevant or important parts.

An example of an SAT® Essay prompt shows the required parts:

As you read the passage below, consider how Paul Bogard uses

evidence, such as facts or examples, to support claims.
reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims and evidence.
stylistic or persuasive elements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion, to add power to the ideas expressed.

Instructions:

Write an essay in which you explain how Paul Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience that natural darkness should be preserved. In your essay, analyze how Bogard uses one or more of the features in the directions that precede the passage (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.

Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Bogard’s claims, but rather explain how Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience.

As you can see, the prompt is complicated. The essay asks you not to create your argument, but instead to analyze the argument put forth by the author. This and other essay prompts, as well as sample essays, can be found here .

This essay will be time-consuming, and it will be useful to practice your writing skills. Let’s talk about a few strategies that can help you get the best score possible on the test.

Strategy 1: Make a Plan

You won’t be able to anticipate the subject of the essay on the SAT® Essay section, but you can still work on the plan ahead for the exam. Along with the official practice prompts found on the SAT® website, the internet is full of prompts to analyze the argument of an article. The best way to prepare for the exam is to use those prompts to plan out essays.

You don’t have to write the essays. Instead, work on your planning abilities. Many students fail to do their best on the exam because they are not ready for the rigors of writing a long and complicated essay. The best tool you have, regardless of the topic or requirement, is the ability to outline a high-quality essay quickly.

The time spent drafting shouldn’t be more than 2 minutes, but the power of having a well thought out essay cannot be overstated. You should practice outlining on at least one essay a day for the three weeks leading up to your test. The act of planning will become second nature with practice, and that can make up for ignorance of the passage or subject matter.

A good outline should look like this:

Thesis Statement: How is the author building their argument? Are they using facts, persuasion, or narrative techniques?
Evidence from the text of this technique
Wrapping up the argumentative strength of the essay

You’ll notice that the outline follows the standard five paragraph format. If you find that you have extra time, you can expand each of the reasons into a series of paragraphs using multiple pieces of evidence, but the time pressure may make that too difficult to complete.

You should find two analytical prompts per day, and work out an outline for each prompt. The prompt will not be complete without a short sentence that explains the focus of each paragraph. Instead of only writing “introductory paragraph” you would write a short sentence that explains what that section would cover.

Let’s look at an example outline for the prompt above:

Thesis: He uses anecdotal evidence, rhetorical questions, and evidence of wasted money to make his argument.
Evidence: The author explains how the beauty of darkness allowed him to experience the joys of the natural world at night, and how that provided a formative experience in his younger years.
Evidence: You could point out some rhetorical questions he uses, but in particular he talks about the painting of starry night and asks if it would be possible that it could be painted without darkness. Which shows the value of darkness to beauty and humanity.
Evidence: There is evidence in the text given by the author about the wasted use of electricity. This should be used in the essay to the point that out.
Conclusion: Reassert the main point of the essay and describe what the author is doing to craft their argument.

That is a very detailed outline for the essay. Your outline shouldn’t be as detailed as this one, but it should still include all of the parts. You should have a short sentence in each part so that you know what you’re planning to write when you sit down to do the essay.

Work to make your essay as detailed as possible, and practice your planning. That way you can be clear in your writing, and won’t get stuck trying to figure out what should be in the next paragraph.

Strategy 2: Be Nice to Your Reader

This strategy is essential to doing well. You must make your writing easy to read. There are three essential things that you can do to make it easy for your readers to understand your writing, and therefore grade your essay faster.

Think about it; your readers will have about three minutes to read your writing, and they are reading about 500 essays in the entire session. The easier you make it on them, the more they are going to like you. As objective as we want to believe the test is, essay grading is still subjective. If they like you because you make their job easy, they might be more likely to give you a four over a three if your essay falls somewhere in between.

You need to make your writing legible. The better your hand writing, the less you cross out, and the better your grammar and spelling, the easier it will be to understand what you are saying. If your writing is messy, and the reader has been reading essays all day, you might end up getting a much lower score than you deserve.

It is very easy to write off an essay that is difficult to read than to give it more time and effort. You need to put in the effort to make it easy to read. So work on your legibility.

Five Paragraphs

You should follow the five-paragraph format for an argumentative essay. One of the reasons for following the format is that it is standard. Being standard means that it will make reading faster, and it can help a reader understand your points much more succinctly. Utilize the format and help your reader process.

Clear Thesis and Reasons

The last point is that you need to have a clearly established main point, all of your evidence should support that main point. If your main point and evidence work together, it will make your essay much easier to read. Work on establishing a clear connection between your thesis, reasoning, and evidence to gain some extra favor in the eyes of your reader.

Work Hard and Score High

So that is the guide for how to get a perfect score on SAT® Essay and How to get an eight on the SAT® Essay. Use these strategies to ensure that you do well on the test and get the perfect score that you deserve.

If you have any questions or any other study strategies, let us know in a comment below.

Looking for even more SAT® Writing tips? You may find this list of 125 SAT® tips helpful .

Looking SAT® practice?

You can find thousands of practice questions on Albert.io. Albert.io lets you customize your learning experience to target practice where you need the most help. We’ll give you challenging practice questions to help you achieve mastery of the SAT®.

Start practicing here .

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What Is the SAT Essay?

College Board

February 28, 2024

The SAT Essay section is a lot like a typical writing assignment in which you’re asked to read and analyze a passage and then produce an essay in response to a single prompt about that passage. It gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your reading, analysis, and writing skills—which are critical to readiness for success in college and career—and the scores you’ll get back will give you insight into your strengths in these areas as well as indications of any areas that you may still need to work on.

The Essay section is only available in certain states where it’s required as part of SAT School Day administrations. If you’re going to be taking the SAT during school , ask your counselor if it will include the Essay section. If it’s included, the Essay section will come after the Reading and Writing and Math sections and will add an additional 50 minutes .

What You’ll Do

Read a passage between 650 and 750 words in length.
Explain how the author builds an argument to persuade an audience.
Support your explanation with evidence from the passage.

You won’t be asked to agree or disagree with a position on a topic or to write about your personal experience.

The Essay section shows how well you understand the passage and are able to use it as the basis for a well-written, thought-out discussion. Your score will be based on three categories.

Reading: A successful essay shows that you understood the passage, including the interplay of central ideas and important details. It also shows an effective use of textual evidence.

Analysis: A successful essay shows your understanding of how the author builds an argument by:

Examining the author’s use of evidence, reasoning, and other stylistic and persuasive techniques
Supporting and developing claims with well-chosen evidence from the passage

Writing: A successful essay is focused, organized, and precise, with an appropriate style and tone that varies sentence structure and follows the conventions of standard written English.

Learn more about how the SAT Essay is scored.

Want to practice? Log in to the Bluebook™ testing application , go to the Practice and Prepare section, and choose full-length practice test . There are 3 practice Essay tests. Once you submit your response, go to MyPractice.Collegeboard.org , where you’ll see your essay, a scoring guide and rubric so that you can score yourself, and student samples for various scores to compare your self-score with a student at the same level.

After the Test

You’ll get your Essay score the same way you’ll get your scores for the Reading and Writing and Math sections. If you choose to send your SAT scores to colleges, your Essay score will be reported along with your other section scores from that test day. Even though Score Choice™ allows you to choose which day’s scores you send to colleges, you can never send only some scores from a certain test day. For instance, you can’t choose to send Math scores but not SAT Essay scores.

Until 2021, the SAT Essay was also an optional section when taking the SAT on a weekend. That section was discontinued in 2021.

If you don’t have the opportunity to take the SAT Essay section as part of the SAT, don’t worry. There are other ways to show your writing skills as part of the work you’re already doing on your path to college. The SAT can help you stand out on college applications , as it continues to measure the writing and analytical skills that are essential to college and career readiness. And, if you want to demonstrate your writing skills even more, you can also consider taking an AP English course .

How to get ready for the digital sat on a school day.

Advanced Placement

What is AP English?

Taking the sat during school, how long does the sat take.

SAT Essay Scores: How To Get A Perfect Score

Many students ask me about SAT essay scores and request an example of an SAT essay with a perfect score.

I will share my response below and explain why this SAT essay example fulfills all the scoring requirements. There are four simple tips you can apply when completing the essay portion of the SAT that will allow you to replicate a perfect score on the SAT essay, which we will cover below!

How Are SAT Essays Scored?

According to the College Board , SAT essays are scored using a specific process. Additionally, the College Board states that every official scorer is trained to ensure all students are held to the same exacting standards listed below.

Every essay will be read and scored by two different scorers.
The scores for each dimension from both scorers are added together
You will receive three separate scores—one for each of the dimensions listed above—that range from 2 to 8 points
The SAT Essay score will not be a composite score in which all of the scores are added together, nor are there percentiles

What Is A Perfect SAT Essay Score

Based on the criteria from above, a perfect score on the SAT essay would be three scores of 8 .

In other words, you will need to score a 4 from each scorer in each dimension.

Here’s what a perfect score on the SAT essay will look like:


4	4	4
4	4	4

SAT Essay Example Assignment & Answer

Now that we know how SAT essays are scored, let’s take a look at the example I promised to share with you earlier. Then we’ll discuss how you can earn a perfect score on your SAT essay.

Example SAT Essay Assignment:

“Is it wise to be suspicious of the motives or honesty of other people, even those who appear to be trustworthy? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.”

Example of a Perfect Scoring SAT Essay Answer:

The quagmire of whether to trust categorically or to bring skepticism into all interactions is one that has plagued mankind since inception. From one perspective, to trust is to engage in humanity; however, from another angle, humans are a self-promoting species who will advance themselves while thwarting the less shrewd, if allowed. In the end, the answer is clear and evident: as proven through examples in history, literature, and current events, it is obvious that it is always better to enter interactions with a sense of cynicism toward all others.

Historically, Abraham Lincoln was an exemplar proving that it is always best to be skeptical of the motives of others. When he called upon the know how of General William Tecumseh Sherman, he was not without his doubts as to the motives of the once-radical general.

( Filler…………..Filler……………Filler……………Doesn’t matter what you write here because the introduction and the first two sentences the second paragraph were so strong……..Filler…………Filler……….Filler )*

Hence, Lincoln was a superlative leader not only because of his political acumen, but because of his persistent doubt of the morals and morays of other people.

Even in current times, the collapse of the housing market is a supreme example outlining the necessity of doubting the motives of others. Loan officers in the late ’90s encouraged homeowners to purchase with 100% loan-to-value ration, and because homeowners were not skeptical of this proposition, they found themselves upside down owing more than their house was worth

( ………..Filler……………………… )*

The literature of Dostoevsky confirms what history and current events have suggested: it is always better to be skeptical of others as demonstrated by the character Ivan Fyodorovich in The Brothers Karamazov. Vanka never lets down his guard in dealing with others, and resultantly is the only truly successful and fulfilled character in the novel

The debate of whether to trust everyone until he or she errs, or to be guarded against the motives of others is not lost in history, literature, or current events. Each tells us that it is far better and even necessary to doubt the motives of our cohort

(*Note: when you read “Filler…” in the SAT essay example, I just mean to write pretty much anything that is on topic—it doesn’t matter.)

And… done. ..

4 Things You Need To Do For A Perfect SAT Essay Score

Were you able to identify any of the four characteristics that make the example assignment answer earn a perfect SAT essay score?

They might be more obvious than you think!

What Earns A Perfect SAT Essay Score?

In a nutshell…

A lot of writing
Very high-level examples
Clean, easy to follow logic

That’s all it takes.

That wasn’t so difficult, right?

SAT Essay Scoring FAQ

What is the most important thing to do when writing an ACT and SAT essay? Is it development, mechanics, originality or something else?

In this order:

You have to write legibly. If they can’t read it, you’re going to do very poorly.
You have to abide by the standard conventions of English. If you do not use complete sentences, if you avoid punctuation, or if you abuse capitalization or paragraph rules, you will do very poorly.
You must address the question. Immaculate writing that is off-topic will receive a very low score.
Clearly identify your points.
Develop your points
Use strong varied language
Use unique arguments
Be original

How Can I Cheat on the SAT?

I am assuming your intentions are to explore the question as an intellectual experiment, and not to actually cheat on the SAT . With that in mind, the way most people are able to cheat on the SAT is mostly through one of the following methods:

identity fraud
access to the material early (either by accident or intentionally)
communication during the test

I suggest reading my article, How Can I Cheat on the SAT? , for more insight on this controversial topic.

When should my student take the SAT?

Unfortunately, there is no one single answer to this question. It depends on many factors including where your student is starting out from, which school they hope to get into, and how much prep time they will need. I wrote a comprehensive guide on when to take the SAT which includes many helpful and actionable tips to help you formulate the perfect plan for SAT test prep and when the best time for your student is to take the SAT. Read When To Take The SAT: Ideal Timeline .

Can you get a good score on the SAT if you’re taking it for the first time and studied for only a month?

That depends on what your starting score is and on what you consider “good.” There are too many factors to be able to answer this with any sense of certainty.

What I can tell you is how to make sure you have the highest likelihood of the largest improvement in the time you have. The tips and test prep techniques I outline in this article will show you how to do just that.

Does “Test Optional” mean optional for me?

We are all familiar with the difference between “optional” (it makes no difference whether you do or don’t) and “ optional ” (technically you can choose this, but you probably shouldn’t).

Just because a school touts a “testing optional” policy does not mean that they want all their applicants to forgo tests. However, the answer to this question depends on some specifics that will vary among students.

Read this article to help you understand what “testing optional” really means for students like you .

Everything You Need To Know About The SAT and ACT Tests:

Boost Your SAT Score 100 Points Or More

Remember, the SAT essay score is only one portion of the SAT test.

(Not to mention the SAT essay is technically optional .)

Many of the Ivy League schools don’t require the essay portion of the test , although I do recommend that students still complete the essay .

While the tips we’ve just covered will help you earn higher marks on the essay, it’s even more important to study and prep for the main sections of the SAT.

Here’s why:

Getting accepted to a top-tier college or university is more competitive than ever—and along with GPA and extracurricular activities, your child’s SAT score is one of the most important factors for gaining acceptance to the Ivy Leagues or other elite schools.

It’s also the only factor that can be substantially improved in a short period of time.

At Powerful Prep, we have a proven test prep method that does just that.

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Give us a call at 805-876-4687 or schedule a consultation by simply choosing a date and time that works best for you below.

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SAT Essay Prompts (10 Sample Questions)

What does it take to get a high SAT Essay score, if not perfect it? Practice, practice and more practice! Know the tricks and techniques of writing the perfect SAT Essay, so that you can score perfect as well. That’s not a far off idea, because there actually is a particular “formula” for perfecting the SAT Essay test. Consider that every prompt has a format, and what test-takers are required to do remain the same- even if the passage varies from test to test.

The SAT Essay test will ask you to read an argument that is intended to persuade a general audience. You’ll need to discuss how proficient the author is in arguing their point. Analyze the argument of the author and create an integrated and structured essay that explains your analysis.

On this page, we will feature 10 real SAT Essay prompts that have been recently released online by the College Board. You can utilize these Essay SAT prompts as 10 sample SAT Essay questions for easy practice. This set of SAT Essay prompts is the most comprehensive that you will find online today.

The predictability of the SAT Essay test necessitates students to perform an organized analytical method of writing instead of thinking up random ideas on their own. Consider that what you will see before and after the passage remains consistent. It is recommended that you initially read and apply the techniques suggested in writing the perfect SAT Essay (🡨link to SAT Essay —- SAT Essay Overview: How to Get a Perfect Score) before proceeding on using the following essay prompts for practice.

Check our SAT Reading Practice Tests

10 Official SAT Essay Prompts For Practice

Practice Test 1

“Write an essay in which you explain how Jimmy Carter builds an argument to persuade his audience that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should not be developed for industry.”

Practice Test 2

“Write an essay in which you explain how Martin Luther King Jr. builds an argument to persuade his audience that American involvement in the Vietnam War is unjust.”

Practice Test 3

“Write an essay in which you explain how Eliana Dockterman builds an argument to persuade her audience that there are benefits to early exposure to technology.”

Practice Test 4

“Write an essay in which you explain how Paul Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience that natural darkness should be preserved.”

Practice Test 5

“Write an essay in which you explain how Eric Klinenberg builds an argument to persuade his audience that Americans need to greatly reduce their reliance on air-conditioning.”

Practice Test 6

“Write an essay in which you explain how Christopher Hitchens builds an argument to persuade his audience that the original Parthenon sculptures should be returned to Greece.”

Practice Test 7

“Write an essay in which you explain how Zadie Smith builds an argument to persuade her audience that public libraries are important and should remain open”

Practice Test 8

“Write an essay in which you explain how Bobby Braun builds an argument to persuade his audience that the US government must continue to invest in NASA.”

Practice Test 9

“Write an essay in which you explain how Richard Schiffman builds an argument to persuade his audience that Americans need to work fewer hours.”

Practice Test 10

“Write an essay in which you explain how Todd Davidson builds an argument to persuade his audience that the US government must continue to fund national parks.”

Visit our SAT Writing Practice Tests

What Is An Example Of A SAT Essay That Obtained A Perfect Score?

Here is an example of Practice Test 4 above and how a perfect SAT Essay in response to it looks like. This has been published in the College Board website.

Answer Essay with Perfect Score:

In response to our world’s growing reliance on artificial light, writer Paul Bogard argues that natural darkness should be preserved in his article “Let There be dark”. He effectively builds his argument by using a personal anecdote, allusions to art and history, and rhetorical questions.

Bogard starts his article off by recounting a personal story – a summer spent on a Minnesota lake where there was “woods so dark that [his] hands disappeared before [his] eyes.” In telling this brief anecdote, Bogard challenges the audience to remember a time where they could fully amass themselves in natural darkness void of artificial light. By drawing in his readers with a personal encounter about night darkness, the author means to establish the potential for beauty, glamour, and awe-inspiring mystery that genuine darkness can possess. He builds his argument for the preservation of natural darkness by reminiscing for his readers a first-hand encounter that proves the “irreplaceable value of darkness.” This anecdote provides a baseline of sorts for readers to find credence with the author’s claims.

Bogard’s argument is also furthered by his use of allusion to art – Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” – and modern history – Paris’ reputation as “The City of Light”. By first referencing “Starry Night”, a painting generally considered to be undoubtedly beautiful, Bogard establishes that the natural magnificence of stars in a dark sky is definite. A world absent of excess artificial light could potentially hold the key to a grand, glorious night sky like Van Gogh’s according to the writer. This urges the readers to weigh the disadvantages of our world consumed by unnatural, vapid lighting. Furthermore, Bogard’s alludes to Paris as “the famed ‘city of light’”. He then goes on to state how Paris has taken steps to exercise more sustainable lighting practices. By doing this, Bogard creates a dichotomy between Paris’ traditionally alluded-to name and the reality of what Paris is becoming – no longer “the city of light”, but moreso “the city of light…before 2 AM”. This furthers his line of argumentation because it shows how steps can be and are being taken to preserve natural darkness. It shows that even a city that is literally famous for being constantly lit can practically address light pollution in a manner that preserves the beauty of both the city itself and the universe as a whole

Finally, Bogard makes subtle yet efficient use of rhetorical questioning to persuade his audience that natural darkness preservation is essential. He asks the readers to consider “what the vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?” in a way that brutally plays to each of our emotions. By asking this question, Bogard draws out heartfelt ponderance from his readers about the affecting power of an untainted night sky. This rhetorical question tugs at the readers’ heartstrings; while the reader may have seen an unobscured night skyline before, the possibility that their child or grandchild will never get the chance sways them to see as Bogard sees. This strategy is definitively an appeal to pathos, forcing the audience to directly face an emotionally-charged inquiry that will surely spur some kind of response. By doing this, Bogard develops his argument, adding gutthral power to the idea that the issue of maintaining natural darkness is relevant and multifaceted.

Writing as a reaction to his disappointment that artificial light has largely permeated the prescence of natural darkness, Paul Bogard argues that we must preserve true, unaffected darkness. He builds this claim by making use of a personal anecdote, allusions, and rhetorical questioning.

This response scored a 4/4/4.

Reading—4: This response demonstrates thorough comprehension of the source text through skillful use of paraphrases and direct quotations. The writer briefly summarizes the central idea of Bogard’s piece ( natural darkness should be preserved ; we must preserve true, unaffected darkness ), and presents many details from the text, such as referring to the personal anecdote that opens the passage and citing Bogard’s use of Paris’ reputation as “The City of Light.” There are few long direct quotations from the source text; instead, the response succinctly and accurately captures the entirety of Bogard’s argument in the writer’s own words, and the writer is able to articulate how details in the source text interrelate with Bogard’s central claim. The response is also free of errors of fact or interpretation. Overall, the response demonstrates advanced reading comprehension.

Analysis—4: This response offers an insightful analysis of the source text and demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the analytical task. In analyzing Bogard’s use of personal anecdote, allusions to art and history, and rhetorical questions , the writer is able to explain carefully and thoroughly how Bogard builds his argument over the course of the passage. For example, the writer offers a possible reason for why Bogard chose to open his argument with a personal anecdote, and is also able to describe the overall effect of that choice on his audience ( In telling this brief anecdote, Bogard challenges the audience to remember a time where they could fully amass themselves in natural darkness void of artificial light. By drawing in his readers with a personal encounter…the author means to establish the potential for beauty, glamour, and awe-inspiring mystery that genuine darkness can possess…. This anecdote provides a baseline of sorts for readers to find credence with the author’s claims ). The cogent chain of reasoning indicates an understanding of the overall effect of Bogard’s personal narrative both in terms of its function in the passage and how it affects his audience. This type of insightful analysis is evident throughout the response and indicates advanced analytical skill.

Writing—4: The response is cohesive and demonstrates highly effective use and command of language. The response contains a precise central claim ( He effectively builds his argument by using personal anecdote, allusions to art and history, and rhetorical questions ), and the body paragraphs are tightly focused on those three elements of Bogard’s text. There is a clear, deliberate progression of ideas within paragraphs and throughout the response. The writer’s brief introduction and conclusion are skillfully written and encapsulate the main ideas of Bogard’s piece as well as the overall structure of the writer’s analysis. There is a consistent use of both precise word choice and well-chosen turns of phrase ( the natural magnificence of stars in a dark sky is definite , our world consumed by unnatural, vapid lighting , the affecting power of an untainted night sky ). Moreover, the response features a wide variety in sentence structure and many examples of sophisticated sentences ( By doing this, Bogard creates a dichotomy between Paris’ traditionally alluded-to name and the reality of what Paris is becoming – no longer “the city of light”, but moreso “the city of light…before 2AM” ). The response demonstrates a strong command of the conventions of written English. Overall, the response exemplifies advanced writing proficiency.

10 Easy SAT Writing Tips to Get a Perfect Score in 2024

Bonus Material: Download free grammar practice developed by Ivy-League educators

Scoring well on the SAT is an important part of the college admissions process. Even with the new test-optional policies , a strong SAT score will still help students get into college .

What’s more, strong test scores can be used to win scholarships or be admitted to honors programs and other special opportunities.

On the new Digital SAT, the Reading and Writing section combines questions on reading comprehension with questions that test your knowledge of key grammar concepts. The two Reading and Writing modules make up half of your potential score.

Fortunately, effective study and exercises can help students to improve their SAT Reading and Writing scores. Grammar is a set of rules that can be learned and practiced. I should know, because back when I took the SAT I earned a perfect 800 on the Writing section on my first try!

Through following these tips, we’ve helped students to improve their SAT scores by as much as 380 points!

Although the SAT itself is changing in 2024, we’ve got good news: English grammar is staying the same. That means that all of the rules covered in this post apply equally to the new and old versions of the SAT!

For our breakdown of the new, Digital SAT, check out our comprehensive post here.

For more tips and exercises, download our Essential Grammar Workbook!

Download the free SAT Essential Grammar Workbook

Jump to section:

Tip #1: Don’t avoid the “no change” answers Tip #2: Pace yourself Tip #3: The semicolon trick Tip #4: Understand dependent vs independent clauses Tip #5: Shorter is (almost always) better Tip #6: Read it out loud Tip #7: Don’t change verb tenses Tip #8: Know your transition words Tip #9: Eliminate duplicate answers Tip #10: Practice! What is the SAT? What is the SAT Reading and Writing section? How is the Reading and Writing section on the SAT scored? How can students improve on the SAT Reading and Writing section?

Tip #1: Don’t avoid the “No change” answer

One of the easiest ways to improve your performance on the SAT Writing section is to treat the “No change” multiple-choice answer just like any other option.

That’s because there is no difference between “no change” and the other answers . They are all equal contenders. For example, in this example, “no change” is definitely the correct choice!

Students often avoid picking “no change” because they feel like they have to do something to fix the sentence. But the “no change” option is just one of four possible ways of fixing it, all equal. It’s purely a formatting decision that the SAT has made — and it’s changing on the new digital SAT , perhaps because the College Board has realized that it tends to confuse students.

Tip #2: Pace yourself

Pacing is a challenging aspect of every part of the SAT. On the Reading and Writing section, students have two take two “modules,” each of which gives you 32 minutes to answer 27 multiple-choice questions . The questions are not ordered by difficulty on the Reading and Writing section, but the difficulty of the questions in the second module depend on your performance on the first module.

If you spend too much time on a hard question, you’ll potentially run out of time and miss out on the chance to answer several easier questions.

If you find yourself spending more than a minute on a given question, make your best guess and move on. You can mark the question to come back to at the end of the section if you have enough time.

(This is why it’s a great idea to bring a watch with a second hand on test day.)

Tip #3: The semicolon trick

My favorite grammar hack is super short and sweet.

There are a lot of grammar questions about semicolons on the SAT. The semicolon is the punctuation mark that looks like this:

In your own writing, you may rarely use semicolons. However, our theory is that the SAT likes to focus on the semicolon because they’re a great way to check if students understand independent clauses (more on that in the next tip). On the SAT, you’ll see lots of questions like this one:

There’s a great hack to tell if a semicolon is being used appropriately or not. Just replace the semicolon with a period.

Does it work? Do you have two complete sentences, each one with a subject and a main verb? Then great, that semicolon is being used correctly.

Does it leave you with a sentence fragment? Is one of the sentences lacking a subject or a main verb? Then nope, you can’t use a semicolon there.

Check it out in action:

Last summer, my family adopted a dog from the shelter; a black lab mix. → Last summer, my family adopted a dog from the shelter. A black lab mix. (This doesn’t work — the second sentence is a fragment!) The shelter said the dog was about four years old; however, we’ll never know for sure. → The shelter said the dog was about four years old. However, we’ll never know for sure. (This works — both sentences are complete!) We named the dog Apollo; after the ancient Greek god. → We named the dog Apollo. After the ancient Greek god. I had underestimated how much work it was going to be making sure that Apollo got enough exercise every day; but it was worth it knowing that he was happy. → I had underestimated how much work it was going to be making sure that Apollo got enough exercise every day. But it was worth it knowing that he was happy. My parents were also happy that Apollo was too tired from running and playing with me to make a mess at the house; that had been the one concern that my dad expressed before we got our dog. → My parents were also happy that Apollo was too tired from running and playing with me to make a mess at the house. The one concern that my dad expressed before we got our dog. I’m looking forward to introducing Apollo to my friends; everyone has been asking to meet him, but we’re taking it slowly so he’s not too overwhelmed. → I’m looking forward to introducing Apollo to my friends. Everyone has been asking to meet him, but we’re taking it slowly so he’s not too overwhelmed.

Using this one trick will help you answer several questions on the SAT correctly!

Tip #4: Understand dependent vs independent clauses

Half of the questions on the SAT Writing section are about grammar, and if we had to pick one single grammar concept to know, it would be understanding how to identify dependent clauses versus independent clauses .

Why? Because so many of the grammar questions are fundamentally about this concept. Once you know how to identify if a clause is independent or dependent , you can memorize a few short rules about how to connect two independent clauses .

In a nutshell, a clause is independent if it can stand on its own as a sentence. With some rare exceptions, it will always have a subject + a main verb.

Here’s some examples, with independent clauses highlighted in green and dependent clauses highlighted in yellow :

Last spring, I took the SAT for the first time . Some of my friends thought it was easy , but most of my friends thought it was hard . I’m not sure how I did on the test ; I’ll have to wait a few weeks to get my scores back . Fortunately, when we finished the test we all went out for ice cream together at the little shop that’s near the school . After I had spent three hours concentrating hard on the test , I felt like I deserved to get an extra scoop of ice cream .

If you have two independent clauses in one sentence , they can be connected with:

A semicolon (or sometimes a colon)
A period (just make them two sentences)
A FANBOYS conjunction: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so

On the other hand, if you’re connecting a dependent phrase or clause to the rest of the sentence , you don’t want to use any of the things on this list! Depending on the sentence, you’ll either want no punctuation or just a comma. (We often work on the tougher nuances of this with our tutoring students .)

For more exercises and examples of independent clauses vs dependent clauses, check out our free Essential Grammar Workbook . Thousands of SAT students have used it to improve their Writing scores on the SAT!

Tip #5: Shorter is (almost always) better

Half of the questions on the Reading and Writing section are about grammar and punctuation, but the other half of the questions are about what the SAT calls “Effective Use of Language.”

In other words, the SAT will ask you to judge which version of a sentence or a paragraph is the best one, even if all of them are grammatically correct.

These questions often feel challenging to students because all of the sentences sound okay, and it feels subjective.

However, it’s less subjective than you might think! The trick is to think like a test creator , and know what the SAT considers to be “good writing.”

One of the biggest hacks on the Reading and Writing section is to choose the shortest answer , if all of the answers seem correct grammatically.

That’s because the SAT values concision , which is saying something in the shortest amount of time necessary and not using extra words.

Eliminate words or phrases that are repetitive, and avoid sentences that seem more convoluted than they need to be.

The shortcut here is to simply choose the shortest answer.

Check out this example:

Now, once in a while there will be something wrong with the shortest answer, and the correct answer will be the second-shortest answer. So ideally you should double-check your answer after using this shortcut.

But the vast majority of the time, yes, the shortest answer will be the right one.

Using this hack will make sure that you answer up to 18% of the questions on the Reading and Writing section correctly!

Get more examples in our free SAT Essential Grammar Workbook

Tip #6: Read it out loud

One great way to tell if a sentence has correct grammar is to read it out loud .

When we read silently, our brains tend to “fix” the sentence for us. When we read it out loud, we can more easily “hear” any grammatical mistakes.

Of course, in the real test room on testing day you can’t make sound while you’re taking the SAT. However, it’s still a powerful tool to physically move your mouth as if you’re silently whispering to yourself !

Don’t worry about feeling silly doing this. It’s part of how I scored a perfect 800 on the first try!

This hack is especially useful for determining whether you should have a comma or no comma. If reading the sentence without a pause sounds fine, then you don’t need a comma there!

(Use this to decide if you need punctuation or no punctuation — not what type of punctuation to use. It’s probably impossible to “hear” the difference between a comma and a semicolon, since they’re both a pause, but hearing the difference between a pause and no pause is definitely possible.)

Tip #7: Don’t change verb tenses (without a good reason)

On the Reading and Writing section of the SAT you’ll see lots of questions about verbs.

One easy tip is that you shouldn’t change the tense of the verb unless you have a specific good reason to do so.

Most of the time, just take a look at the other verbs nearby and match their tense.

Here’s an example of how this will look on the real SAT:

We explain grammar questions involving verbs in a lot more detail in our free Grammar Guide , developed by Princeton graduates.

Tip #8: Know your transition words

Too often, SAT students spend hours trying to memorize vocabulary words with flashcards.

We don’t recommend this, because it’s not a very effective way of studying and improving your score! It’s hard to memorize words out of context, and the chances that you’ll encounter the exact word you learned on the test is very, very small.

The one exception to this is transition words . These are words that signal how sentences relate logically to one another. Transition words are really important in clear writing!

Usually about 18% of the questions on the SAT Writing section are about transition words. That’s a lot!

Because of that, we do recommend making sure that you know the meaning of all of these transition words:

The SAT will ask you to choose the type of transition that makes sense, like this:

For more practice, check out our free guide to SAT Reading and Writing:

Tip #9: Eliminate duplicate answers

This is a sneaky hack that can be applied to many types of questions on the Reading and Writing section.

If you see two answers in the multiple choice that are essentially the same, you can eliminate both of them.

That’s because the SAT is never going to make you choose between two answers that are equally correct.

As much as the Writing section might feel subjective at times, it’s really not. There’s always only one right answer , and if you know the rules, the right answer is usually very clear .

That’s how I got a perfect 800 score on the Writing section — I knew the grammar rules and how to pick the most concise or clear version, so it was always clear which answer to choose. I’ve also used the same grammar and writing rules to help professors at Harvard and Yale edit their books for publication!

For example, if you see two choices on a transition-word question that mean the same thing, you can eliminate them both.

In this example, “in addition” and “also” mean the same thing, so neither of them is correct, because the SAT will never make us choose between them!

Same thing with many grammar questions. If you see both a period and a semicolon in the multiple-choice, neither is correct, because they are grammatically pretty much the same! (see tip #3 )

This is an example of how thinking like test creators can help us to answer questions more accurately.

Tip #10: Practice!

In the end, the best way to improve on the Reading and Writing section is to practice.

Drill specific concepts with targeted practice that focuses on that one grammar or writing skill. A great SAT tutor can help you find good exercises for this kind of drill, or even create custom practice sentences to help you truly understand.

Then put everything together by taking full timed practice sections from real SAT tests. Track your progress over time!

With hard work, our test prep students have improved their SAT scores by as much as 200–400 points. The trick is to make sure that you’re practicing effectively and not wasting your time with the wrong practice.

What is the SAT?

The SAT is one of two main tests (along with the ACT) used by colleges and universities in the US and sometimes internationally for admissions purposes.

The SAT covers basic high school material and is used to measure college readiness.

Since the spring of 2020 and challenges to testing caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, many schools have adopted temporary test-optional policies.

However, test scores are still an important way to show colleges your abilities. (These days, if you can take the test and don’t submit your scores, colleges are likely to assume that your scores were low.)

If you are able to take the SAT or ACT, you should still take the test. To the best of your abilities, you should still prepare for the test and take it seriously.

What is the SAT Reading and Writing section?

The Reading and Writing section on the SAT tests students’ abilities in reading comprehension, grammar, and “effective writing,” which is writing in a way that is concise, clear, and logical.

Students have to take two modules, each of which gives them 32 minutes to answer 27 multiple-choice questions . Why have two sections with the same exact format? Because the new adaptive SAT will tailor the second “module” based on your performance on the first.

Roughly half of the questions in this section are about grammar and punctuation. Unfortunately, we’ve found in our work helping students that many schools no longer teach students grammar rules !

That’s where our free Essential Grammar Guide can step in and help.

The other half of the questions in the Reading and Writing section present different versions of a sentence or a paragraph and ask students to choose the one that makes the most sense.

Students working with our one-on-one tutors receive a free companion guide that covers these questions about Effective Use of Language .

There is no longer an Essay component for the SAT. All of the Reading and Writing questions are multiple-choice , and students will not have to write their own answers.

How is the Reading and Writing section on the SAT Scored?

Students are scored based on the number of questions they answer correctly. Every question is worth the same amount of points, and there are no penalties for wrong answers.

The Reading and Writing part of the SAT makes up exactly half of your total Digital SAT score. The Reading & Writing section is scored out of 800. The average score for this section in the US is 533.

Students also earn a score out of 800 for the Math section, and their total SAT score is out of 1600. Anything above 1060 is above-average, and students should aim for a score in the 1500s to be competitive applicants at the most selective colleges and universities.

For a decade (between 2005 and 2016), Writing was a separate score out of 800 on the SAT. Students earned up to 800 points for Reading, Writing, and Math, with total SAT scores out of 2400. In spring 2016, the SAT went back to a 1600-point scale with combined Reading & Writing scores.

Schedule a free short test-prep consultation

How can students improve on the SAT Reading and Writing section?

If you’re planning years in advance, there are some general activities that students can do that will lead to higher scores on the SAT Reading & Writing section.

Reading extensively, with whatever books or other media students enjoy the most, is incredibly powerful.

Studying another language besides English is also helpful for understanding grammar better. Languages that share a significant etymological history with English like Spanish, French, Latin, and Ancient Greek are especially useful.

However, there are lots of things that students can do to improve their scores on the SAT Reading and Writing section with only a few months or even weeks of effort! In fact, grammar questions on the Writing section are some of the most common question types where students tend to see the most improvement.

It’s important for students to familiarize themselves with the general structure of the test.

Students should also learn the main grammar rules tested on the SAT. These rules are absolutely predictable — because I knew the rules of English grammar, I earned a perfect score on the SAT Writing on my first try.

Unfortunately, most schools these days don’t teach the rules of grammar. Many of the students we work with don’t know grammar rules, and that’s not their fault — they never learned grammar at school .

A great SAT tutor can help students to learn the rules and feel confident on the SAT. Our tutors are from the Ivy League and many have impressive backgrounds in professional writing, publishing, and teaching.

Finally, the best way for students to improve on the SAT Writing section is to practice effectively, using the right materials. There is some limited SAT writing practice available for free via Khan Academy . Our experienced tutors can also guide students through the best practice exercises tailored to their specific needs .

Request a short test-prep consultation today!

Bonus Material: Download our free Essential Grammar Guide, developed by Ivy-League educators

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SAT Essay Samples | Low vs High-Scoring Examples

The SAT Essay is often used as an extra way to impress admissions officers with your overall academic preparedness. But what does a good essay look like vs a bad one? To make life easier, the College Board has provided some helpful SAT essay samples that you can study over.

Besides helping you get into college, here are a number of other SAT Essay benefits to consider .

SAT Essay Samples Prompt

Expect to see prompt directions like the ones below:

“As you read the passage below, consider how Paul Bogard uses:

evidence, such as facts or examples, to support claims.
reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims and evidence.
stylistic or persuasive elements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion, to add power to the ideas expressed.”

SAT Essay Samples Passage

At my family’s cabin on a Minnesota lake, I knew woods so dark that my hands disappeared before my eyes. I knew night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars. But now, when 8 of 10 children born in the United States will never know a sky dark enough for the Milky Way, I worry we are rapidly losing night’s natural darkness before realizing its worth. This winter solstice, as we cheer the days’ gradual movement back toward light, let us also remember the irreplaceable value of darkness.

All life evolved to the steady rhythm of bright days and dark nights. Today, though, when we feel the closeness of nightfall, we reach quickly for a light switch. And too little darkness, meaning too much artificial light at night, spells trouble for all.

Already the World Health Organization classifies working the night shift as a probable human carcinogen, and the American Medical Association has voiced its unanimous support for “light pollution reduction efforts and glare reduction efforts at both the national and state levels.” Our bodies need darkness to produce the hormone melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodies need darkness for sleep. Sleep disorders have been linked to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression, and recent research suggests one main cause of “short sleep” is “long light.” Whether we work at night or simply take our tablets, notebooks and smartphones to bed, there isn’t a place for this much artificial light in our lives.

The rest of the world depends on darkness as well, including nocturnal and crepuscular species of birds, insects, mammals, fish and reptiles. Some examples are well known—the 400 species of birds that migrate at night in North America, the sea turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs—and some are not, such as the bats that save American farmers billions in pest control and the moths that pollinate 80% of the world’s flora. Ecological light pollution is like the bulldozer of the night, wrecking habitat and disrupting ecosystems several billion years in the making. Simply put, without darkness, Earth’s ecology would collapse…

In today’s crowded, louder, more fast-paced world, night’s darkness can provide solitude, quiet and stillness, qualities increasingly in short supply. Every religious tradition has considered darkness invaluable for a soulful life, and the chance to witness the universe has inspired artists, philosophers and everyday stargazers since time began. In a world awash with electric light…how would Van Gogh have given the world his “Starry Night”? Who knows what this vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?

Yet all over the world, our nights are growing brighter. In the United States and Western Europe, the amount of light in the sky increases an average of about 6% every year. Computer images of the United States at night, based on NASA photographs, show that what was a very dark country as recently as the 1950s is now nearly covered with a blanket of light. Much of this light is wasted energy, which means wasted dollars. Those of us over 35 are perhaps among the last generation to have known truly dark nights. Even the northern lake where I was lucky to spend my summers has seen its darkness diminish.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Light pollution is readily within our ability to solve, using new lighting technologies and shielding existing lights. Already, many cities and towns across North America and Europe are changing to LED streetlights, which offer dramatic possibilities for controlling wasted light. Other communities are finding success with simply turning off portions of their public lighting after midnight. Even Paris, the famed “city of light,” which already turns off its monument lighting after 1 a.m., will this summer start to require its shops, offices and public buildings to turn off lights after 2 a.m. Though primarily designed to save energy, such reductions in light will also go far in addressing light pollution. But we will never truly address the problem of light pollution until we become aware of the irreplaceable value and beauty of the darkness we are losing.”

SAT Essay Samples Directions

Here is how the essay directions will be worded format-wise on test day.

“Write an essay in which you explain how Paul Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience that natural darkness should be preserved. In your essay, analyze how Bogard uses one or more of the features in the directions that precede the passage (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.

Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Bogard’s claims, but rather explain how Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience.”

Essay Sample Response (Low Scoring)

“In “Let there be dark,” Paul Bogard talks about the importance of darkness.

Darkness is essential to humans. Bogard states, “Our bodies need darkness to produce the hormone melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodies need darkness for sleep, sleep. Sleep disorders have been linked to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression and recent research suggests are main cause of “short sleep” is “long light.” Whether we work at night or simply take our tablets, notebooks and smartphones to bed, there isn’t a place for this much artificial light in our lives.” (Bogard 2). Here, Bogard talks about the importance of darkness to humans. Humans need darkness to sleep in order to be healthy.

Animals also need darkness. Bogard states, “The rest of the world depends on darkness as well, including nocturnal and crepuscular species of birds, insects, mammals, fish and reptiles. Some examples are well known—the 400 species of birds that migrate at night in North America, the sea turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs—and some are not, such as the bats that save American farmers billions in pest control and the moths that pollinate 80% of the world’s flora. Ecological light pollution is like the bulldozer of the night, wrecking habitat and disrupting ecosystems several billion years in the making. Simply put, without darkness, Earth’s ecology would collapse…” (Bogard 2). Here Bogard explains that animals, too, need darkness to survive.”

Essay Sample Response (High Scoring)

“In response to our world’s growing reliance on artificial light, writer Paul Bogard argues that natural darkness should be preserved in his article “Let There be dark”. He effectively builds his argument by using a personal anecdote, allusions to art and history, and rhetorical questions.

Bogard’s argument is also furthered by his use of allusion to art – Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” – and modern history – Paris’ reputation as “The City of Light”. By first referencing “Starry Night”, a painting generally considered to be undoubtedly beautiful, Bogard establishes that the natural magnificence of stars in a dark sky is definite. A world absent of excess artificial light could potentially hold the key to a grand, glorious night sky like Van Gogh’s according to the writer. This urges the readers to weigh the disadvantages of our world consumed by unnatural, vapid lighting. Furthermore, Bogard’s alludes to Paris as “the famed ‘city of light’”. He then goes on to state how Paris has taken steps to exercise more sustainable lighting practices. By doing this, Bogard creates a dichotomy between Paris’ traditionally alluded-to name and the reality of what Paris is becoming – no longer “the city of light”, but more so “the city of light…before 2 AM”. This furthers his line of argumentation because it shows how steps can be and are being taken to preserve natural darkness. It shows that even a city that is literally famous for being constantly lit can practically address light pollution in a manner that preserves the beauty of both the city itself and the universe as a whole.

Finally, Bogard makes subtle yet efficient use of rhetorical questioning to persuade his audience that natural darkness preservation is essential. He asks the readers to consider “what the vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?” in a way that brutally plays to each of our emotions. By asking this question, Bogard draws out heartfelt ponderance from his readers about the affecting power of an untainted night sky. This rhetorical question tugs at the readers’ heartstrings; while the reader may have seen an unobscured night skyline before, the possibility that their child or grandchild will never get the chance sways them to see as Bogard sees. This strategy is definitively an appeal to pathos, forcing the audience to directly face an emotionally-charged inquiry that will surely spur some kind of response. By doing this, Bogard develops his argument, adding guttural power to the idea that the issue of maintaining natural darkness is relevant and multifaceted.

Writing as a reaction to his disappointment that artificial light has largely permeated the presence of natural darkness, Paul Bogard argues that we must preserve true, unaffected darkness. He builds this claim by making use of a personal anecdote, allusions, and rhetorical questioning.”

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10 Tips for the SAT Essay

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M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
B.A., History, Armstrong State University

1. Follow the rules. Don’t score a zero for failing to follow instructions. Use the essay paper that is provided. Do not write in your booklet. Do not change the question. Do not use a pen.

2. Divide your time. You will have twenty-five minutes to write your essay . As soon as you begin, make a note of the time and give yourself benchmarks and limits. For example, give yourself five minutes to brainstorm for main points (which will become topic sentences), one minute to come up with a great introduction, two minutes to organize your examples into paragraphs, etc.

3. Take a stance. You will be writing about an issue. Readers judge essays on the depth and complexity of the argument you make (and you will be taking a side), so be sure to show that you understand both sides of the issue you’re writing about. However, you can’t be wishy washy!

You will pick one side and explain why it is right. Demonstrate that you understand both sides, but pick one and explain why it is correct.

4. Don’t get hung up if you don’t actually have strong feelings one way or the other on a subject. You don’t have to feel guilty about saying things you don’t really believe. Your task is to show that you can craft a complex argument essay. That means you will have to make specific statements about your position and expound upon your individual points. Just take a side and argue it !

5. Don’t try to change the subject. It may be tempting to change the question to something that is more to your liking. Don’t do that! Readers are instructed to assign a zero score to an essay that doesn’t answer the question provided. If you try to change your question, even slightly, you are taking a risk that the reader will not like your answer.

6. Work with an outline! Use the first few minutes to brainstorm as many thoughts as possible; organize those thoughts into a logical pattern or outline; then write as quickly and neatly as you can.

7. Talk to your reader. Remember that the person scoring your essay is a person and not a machine. As a matter of fact, the reader is a trained educator—and most likely a high school teacher. As you write your essay, imagine that you are talking to your favorite high school teacher.

We all have one special teacher who always talks with us and treats us like adults and actually listens to what we have to say. Imagine that you are talking to this teacher as you write your essay.

8. Start with a fabulous or surprising introductory sentence to make a great first impression. Examples: Issue: Should cell phones be banned from school property? First sentence: Ring, ring! Note: You would follow up on this with well-crafted, fact-filled statements. Don’t try too much cute stuff! Issue: Should the school day be extended? First sentence: No matter where you live, the longest period of any school day is the last one.

9. Vary your sentences to show that you have a command of sentence structure. Use complex sentences sometimes, mid-sized sentences sometimes, and two-word sentences a few times to make your writing more interesting. Also--don’t keep repeating the same point by rewording it several ways. Readers will see right through that.

10. Write neatly. Neatness counts to some degree, in that the reader must be able to read what you’ve written. If your writing is notoriously difficult to read, you should print your essay. Don’t get too hung up on neatness, though. You can still cross out mistakes that you catch as you proofread your work.

The essay represents a first draft. Readers will like to see that you did, in fact, proof your work and that you recognized your mistakes.

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Students taking the latest version of the SAT have a lot of questions about the Essay section in particular. When the College Board redesigned the SAT in 2016, the Essay section was the aspect of the test that changed most substantially.

As a result, it is the section that is least understood. Keep reading to learn how we approach setting a good target score for this often enigmatic section of the SAT.

What Is the SAT Essay?

Students taking the optional Essay section are provided with a written argument and asked to analyze it. Check out the College Board’s example prompt with sample graded responses to get a sense of what the exam looks like.

Is the SAT Essay Required?

This is the only optional section of the SAT. It does not impact your overall score out of 1600. Instead, your Essay grade stands alone on your score report.

While the College Board does not require the SAT Essay, certain schools do.

Schools that Require the SAT Essay

All of the University of California schools
Benedictine University
City University London
Delaware State University
DeSales University
Dominican University of California
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Howard University
John Wesley University
Kentucky State University
Martin Luther College
Molloy College
Schreiner University
Soka University of America
Southern California Institute of Architecture
Texas A&M University—Galveston
United States Military Academy (West Point)
University of North Texas
West Virginia University Institute of Technology
Western Carolina University

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As part of our free guidance platform, our Admissions Assessment tells you what schools you need to improve your SAT score for and by how much. Sign up to get started today.

Additionally, these schools do not require the SAT Essay but recommend it.

Schools that Recommend the SAT Essay

Abilene Christian University
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Allegheny College
Amherst College
Art Institute of Houston
Augsburg University
Austin College
Caldwell University
California State University, Northridge
Central Connecticut State University
Central Michigan University
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
Coastal Carolina University
Colby College
College of Wooster
Colorado School of Mines
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Corban University
Cornerstone University
Dallas Christian College
Duke University
Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Nazarene College
Easternn University
Endicott College
Five Towns College
Gallaudet University
George Washington University
Georgia Highlands College
Greenville University
Gwynedd Mercy University
High Point University
Hofstra University
Holy Family University
Husson University
Indiana University South Bend
Indiana University Southeast
Indiana Wesleyan University
Inter American University of Puerto Rico: Barranquitas Campus
Juilliard School
Keiser University (West Palm Beach)
Lehigh University
Madonna University
Manhattan College
Marymount California University
Massachusetts Maritime Academy
McMurry University
Mercy College
Modern College of Design
Montana Tech of the University of Montana
Morehouse College
Mount Saint Mary College
Mount St. Joseph University
National-Louis University
New Jersey City University
Nichols College
North Park University
Occidental College
Ohio University
Oregon State University
Purdue University Northwest
Randall University
Randolph-Macon College
Reading Area Community College
Rowan University
Rutgers University—Camden Campus
Rutgers University—Newark Campus
Saint Michael’s College
Seton Hill University
Shiloh University
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Silver Lake College of the Holy Family
Southern Illinois University of Carbondale
Southern Oregon University
Spring Hill College
Sul Ross State University
SUNY Farmingdale State College
SUNY University at Stony Brook
Tarleton State University
Texas A&M International University
Texas A&M University
Texas State University
The King’s College
United States Air Force Academy
University of Evansville
University of La Verne
University of Mary Hardin—Baylor
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Minnesota: Twin Cities
University of New England
University of Northwestern—St. Paul
University of the Virgin Islands
University of Toledo
University of Washington Bothell
VanderCook College of Music
Virginia Union University
Wabash College
Webb Institute
Webber International University
Wesleyan College
William Jewell College

Should You Take the SAT Essay Section?

We recommend taking the Essay section just in case you want to apply to one of the schools that requires or recommends it. If you’re absolutely sure you won’t apply to any of these schools, you can skip it. Just know that you can’t retake the SAT essay alone, so if you change your mind and want to apply to a school that requires the Essay section, you’ll have to retake the whole test.

How Is the SAT Essay Scored?

Your essay will be evaluated on three criteria—Reading, Analysis, and Writing.

The Reading grade is meant to gauge how well you understand the passage content. Did you absorb the information you just read? Especially when the details are not intuitive, your readers will be checking to see that you read closely and caught the nuance of the piece.

The Analysis score relates to how well you represented the argument that the writer made. Your goal in the Essay section should be to determine what the writer’s main argument is and describe how they present it.

Finally, your score in Writing reflects your own command over the English language. Your capacity to write clear, well-structured sentences that use a wide range of vocabulary will determine this grade.

Two readers each give the essay a score between 1 and 4, depending on how well each reader thinks you did in the three categories. Their grades are then summed to give you a three-part grade. The highest grade you can receive is 8, 8, 8, while the lowest possible score is 2, 2, 2. To give an example, one student may score a 5, 4, 4, which would mean that their readers submitted the following feedback:


Reading	3	2
Analysis	2	2
Writing	2	2

What’s a Good, Average, and Bad SAT Essay Score?

In 2019, the mean score on the Reading and Writing for the SAT Essay was a 5. For the Analysis section, the mean score was a little lower at 3, simply because Analysis is a skill that high school students spend less time honing than Reading or Writing.

For a detailed breakdown of how 2019’s test takers performed, here are a few score distributions:

sat essay reading score distribution chart

Here’s a rough breakdown of the percentile scores based on the most recent College Board data. Here’s how this chart works: say you scored a 6 on the Reading section. According to the data, that means that you performed better than 70% of other essay writers.

SAT Essay Score Percentile Rankings


8	99	99+	98
7	96	99	93
6	70	93	53
5	48	79	33
4	18	51	9
3	8	32	4
2	0	0	0

Source: College Board and CollegeVine data analysis

How Should You Understand and Improve Your SAT Essay Score?

Unless your SAT Essay score is rock-bottom, you should not feel the need to retest just to improve your Essay score. If you received a low score that you feel isn’t representative of your writing abilities, focus on crafting stellar college essays instead of retaking the SAT just for the Essay section.

If you were unhappy with your SAT Essay score AND your overall SAT score, however, then you should consider retaking the test with the Essay section.

Here are a few tips on how to improve your SAT Essay score:

1. Annotate the passage. Read carefully. Start by boxing the main argument of the passage, then put a star next to three or four places where the author employs a strategy to win the readers over. These may include:

Refuting a counter argument
Raising a question
Providing anecdotal evidence
Using statistics to support a claim
Citing historical examples
Employing rhetorical devices, such as metaphor

2. State the main point of the passage author. Make it clear that you understand what the author is trying to say by stating their thesis clearly in your essay response. No one reading your essay should have any doubt as to what you think the main point of the passage is.

Make the author’s thesis clear at the beginning of your response as well as in your concluding paragraph. Tie back to it often within your body paragraphs too.

3. Outline before you write. Spend 3-5 minutes organizing your thoughts. Build up 2-4 points about the argument’s structure. Think of yourself as a debate coach. Give feedback on the persuasion tactics the author used. Which ones were most effective? What could they have done to sway their audience even more?

Remembered the strategies you starred when you were annotating? These are the building blocks of the author’s argument, and your essay should provide analysis of how effectively these building blocks were used.

4. DO NOT include your personal opinion. The essay exists to assess whether you can analyze an argument. It has nothing to do with your personal views. If you find yourself defending or disagreeing with the passage, that is a good sign that you are missing a chance to analyze the argument’s structure.

5. Proofread your essay. Give yourself 2 minutes towards the end of the section to improve the language you used. Search for spelling and grammar mistakes, as well as weak word choice. Replace monosyllabic words like “good” and “is” with more dynamic vocabulary, such as “striking” or “constitutes.” This is a quick and easy way to boost your Writing score.

For more advice on how to study for the Essay section, check out our How to Get a Perfect Score on the SAT Essay and The Ultimate Guide to the New SAT Essay .

Want to know how your SAT score impacts your chances of acceptance to your dream schools? Our free Chancing Engine will not only help you predict your odds, but also let you know how you stack up against other applicants, and which aspects of your profile to improve. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account today to gain access to our Chancing Engine and get a jumpstart on your college strategy!

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Master the SAT Essay: Your Guide to Format, Tips, and Practice

Updated on
Jun 25, 2024

Ace-Your-SAT-Essay-Essential-Tips-Sample-Questions-and-a-Winning-Format

SAT Essay Example: The SAT essay is often viewed as a daunting hurdle on the path to college admissions. However, this crucial component of the test presents a valuable opportunity to showcase critical thinking and analytical writing skills. Beyond simply summarising a provided passage, the SAT essay demands a deeper engagement with the author’s arguments, requiring students to dissect persuasive techniques, identify underlying assumptions, and potentially even propose counterarguments.

We have compiled some SAT essay examples to help you better come to grips with such questions. That said, read the complete blog to learn more about these questions with the help of some SAT essay examples.

What Is the SAT Essay?

The SAT Essay section presents an opportunity for test-takers to showcase their preparedness for the analytical and written demands of college coursework and future careers. It closely resembles a typical college writing assignment, tasking students with a close reading and analysis of a provided passage followed by a structured essay response to a prompt directly connected to the passage.

This section serves a dual purpose: firstly, it grants students a platform to demonstrate their proficiency in reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and written communication; secondly, it offers valuable feedback on these very areas, allowing students to identify strengths and target aspects requiring further development.

The task itself reflects the types of writing assignments students will encounter throughout their academic careers, demanding a critical examination of source material, the formulation of a cogent argument, and the articulation of ideas clearly and concisely.

SAT Essay Example PDF: Sample Questions and Answers (Download for Free)

SAT Essay Example: Here are some sample questions that you can practice to ace your SAT essay questions. Download the free PDF from the link given below and practice the questions. Doing so will give you a solid understanding of the types of questions that can be asked, ensuring you are better equipped to tackle such questions on the day of the exam.

Click on the link below to download the PDF for SAT essay sample questions (with answers) for free!

What is the Format of an SAT Essay?

The SAT Essay adheres to a well-defined structure, designed to assess a student’s ability to effectively analyze and respond to a written argument. Within this framework, students are presented with the opportunity to showcase their critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and writing skills.

Introduction

The essay begins with a concise and informative introduction. This opening paragraph should provide a brief overview of the passage’s main argument or thesis. Here, students should demonstrate their comprehension of the author’s central point and purpose. Following this introduction, the essay transitions into the body paragraphs, each one dedicated to a specific aspect of the author’s argumentative strategy.

Body Paragraphs

The core body paragraphs serve as the crux of the essay. Within each paragraph, students are tasked with dissecting a distinct element employed by the author to persuade the audience. This analysis should delve into specific techniques utilized by the author, such as the use of evidence, appeals to logic or emotion, or the incorporation of counterarguments. To bolster their analysis, students must provide concrete textual evidence from the passage to substantiate their claims. Effective use of transitions between paragraphs ensures a smooth flow of ideas and a logical progression of the analysis.

The concluding paragraph serves to bring the essay to a satisfying close. In this final section, students should reiterate the main argument of the passage and summarize the key points discussed in the body paragraphs regarding the author’s persuasive techniques. The conclusion may also offer a final thought or reflection on the author’s overall effectiveness in achieving their persuasive goals.

By adhering to this structured format, students taking the SAT Essay can present a well-organized and persuasive analysis of the provided passage. This structure allows them to effectively showcase their critical thinking and writing skills in a way that directly aligns with the expectations of college-level writing assignments.

How to Write an SAT Essay?

The SAT Essay presents a valuable opportunity for test-takers to demonstrate their preparedness for the rigours of college-level writing and critical analysis. While seemingly daunting at first glance, crafting a compelling SAT essay becomes a manageable task when approached strategically. Here, we will explore a series of steps designed to guide students through the process of constructing a well-developed and insightful essay response.

The foundation for a successful SAT essay lies in a thorough understanding of the passage and the prompt itself. Students should dedicate a significant portion of the allotted time to attentively reading the provided passage.
During this initial reading, it is crucial to grasp the author’s central argument, the evidence used to support it, and the overall tone and purpose of the writing. Taking notes or underlining key points can be helpful in solidifying comprehension.
Once comfortable with the passage, students should meticulously analyze the essay prompt. The prompt typically poses a specific question about the author’s argumentative strategies.
Identifying the key elements of the prompt is paramount, as it dictates the direction and focus of the essay response. Underlining keywords within the prompt can help ensure a clear understanding of what the essay graders are looking for.
The next step involves crafting a strong thesis statement. This concise sentence should encapsulate the central argument of the essay, outlining the key techniques employed by the author to persuade the audience.
An effective thesis statement serves as a roadmap for the entire essay, guiding the analysis and ensuring a focused response.
The concluding paragraph serves to bring the essay to a satisfying close. Students should reiterate the main argument of the passage and summarize the key points discussed regarding the author’s persuasive techniques.
The conclusion may also offer a final thought or reflection on the effectiveness of the author’s strategies, but it should avoid introducing any entirely new ideas.

What are the Most Common Types of SAT Essay Questions?

There are primarily four types of SAT essay questions that aspirants should keep in mind. These questions typically revolve around analysing the persuasive techniques used in a provided passage. These questions are of the following types:

Evidence: How does the author use evidence to support their claims? What types of evidence are employed (e.g., statistics, anecdotes, expert opinions)? How effectively does the evidence bolster the author’s argument?
Logical Reasoning: Does the author’s argument follow a sound logical structure? Are there any logical fallacies present? How does the author connect evidence to their central point?
Appeals: What persuasive appeals does the author utilize (e.g., appeals to logic, emotion, or ethics)? How effective are these appeals in convincing the audience?
Rhetorical Strategies: Does the author employ specific rhetorical strategies to enhance their argument (e.g., use of figurative language, parallelism, tone)? How do these strategies contribute to the overall persuasiveness of the passage?

Keeping abreast of such question types will help you develop a strong foundation for approaching any prompt with ease. Focusing on honing your critical thinking skills and the ability to identify and analyse persuasive techniques will equip you to tackle any passage effectively.

So that was all about SAT essay examples. Hope the blog has answered your queries regarding the topic.

Ans. As of June 2024, the College Board eliminated the mandatory essay section from the SAT. However, some individual schools may still require or recommend the SAT Essay as part of their application process. It’s crucial to check the specific requirements of each college or university you’re interested in attending.

Ans. The SAT Essay assesses your reading comprehension, analytical writing, and persuasive writing skills. You are presented with a passage that argues a particular point of view. Your task is to analyse the author’s argument and identify the key points and the methods used to support them.

Ans. You can practice analysing argumentative passages, honing your reading comprehension skills, and strengthening your writing abilities. Many resources are available online and in test prep materials, including sample prompts and scoring guidelines.

Visit the Leverage Live page of Leverage edu or contact our study abroad experts at 1800-57-2000 to strengthen your scores and application to secure your spot in your dream college.

Shubham Das

Shubham Das has been working as an educational content writer for the past two years and has a background in filmmaking & screenplay/ teleplay writing. He is fascinated by the human psyche, literature and cinema.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, sat essay tips: 15 ways to improve your score.

SAT Writing , SAT Essay

Whether you've never written an SAT Essay or didn't get the score you wanted on your last test, you can benefit from knowing more: both about the essay itself, and what really matters when the graders are reading your essay.

To introduce you to what you'll have to do, we've gathered up these 15 tips to master the SAT essay . If you can reliably follow all these points, you'll be able to get at least a 6/6/6 on the SAT essay—guaranteed.

UPDATE: SAT Essay No Longer Offered

In January 2021, the College Board announced that after June 2021, it would no longer offer the Essay portion of the SAT (except at schools who opt in during School Day Testing). It is now no longer possible to take the SAT Essay, unless your school is one of the small number who choose to offer it during SAT School Day Testing.

While most colleges had already made SAT Essay scores optional, this move by the College Board means no colleges now require the SAT Essay. It will also likely lead to additional college application changes such not looking at essay scores at all for the SAT or ACT, as well as potentially requiring additional writing samples for placement.

What does the end of the SAT Essay mean for your college applications? Check out our article on the College Board's SAT Essay decision for everything you need to know.

The Challenge

The SAT Essay is a very short assignment. You only get 50 minutes to read a 650-750 word passage, analyze the devices the author uses to structure her/his argument, and write a full-fledged essay —and it can pass in a flash if you don't have a method for attacking it.

Writing an SAT essay requires a very specific approach that's unlike the essays you've been writing for English class in school. The goal of this strategy is to cram in as many as possible of the desired components in the 50 minutes you've got. In this article, we give you 15 key tips for the SAT essay.

The first five tips in this article relate to what the College Board tells us about what's a good essay. The next five are truths that the College Board doesn't want you to know (or doesn’t make explicit). And the last five tips for SAT essay writing show you how to build an SAT essay, step by step.

What the College Board Does Tell You: 5 Tips

The College Board explains the main components of the successful SAT Essay in its scoring criteria. Here they are, condensed:

#1: Give a Clear Thesis

The SAT essay rubric states: "The response includes a precise central claim.”

What this means is that your essay needs to make a clear argument that the reader can easily identify. All you have to do to create your "precise central claim" is to identify the main idea of the passage and list the methods the author uses to support it.

Fortunately, the SAT provides you with the passage’s main idea, so you don’t have to go hunting for it yourself. I've bolded the claim in this (fake) sample prompt so you can see this for yourself:

Write an essay in which you explain how Sam Lindsay builds an argument to persuade her audience that more works of art should feature monsters . In your essay, analyze how Lindsay uses one or more of the features listed in the box above (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of her argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.

Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Lindsay’s claims, but rather explain how Lindsay builds an argument to persuade her audience.

Now, here's an example of a thesis statement for an essay responding to this prompt:

In the article “Monsters Monsters Everywhere,” Sam Lindsay uses personal anecdotes, vivid language, and appeals to emotion to persuade her audience that more works of art should feature monsters.

It's fine to copy the exact words describing the author’s central claim from the prompt into your thesis statement—in fact, this guarantees that the graders will see that your thesis is there and on-topic.

#2: Include Both an Introduction and a Conclusion

The SAT essay rubric states: "The response includes a skillful introduction and conclusion.”

Including an introduction paragraph in your essay is absolutely essential to getting a Writing score above a 4 (out of 8). The introduction paragraph introduces the reader to what you’ll be talking about and allows you to set up the structure for the rest of the essay. Plus, an introduction can be a pretty good indicator of the quality for the rest of the essay—a poorly constructed introduction is often a warning that the essay that follows will be equally discombobulated.

It's best to have both an introduction and a conclusion, but if you’re running short on time and can only have one, definitely pick the introduction. The main reason for this is that a good introduction includes your thesis statement. For the SAT essay, your thesis (or your "precise central claim") should be a statement about what devices the author uses to build her/his argument.

Introductions can be tricky to write, because whatever you write in that paragraph can then make you feel like you’re locked into writing just about that. If you’re struggling with the introduction paragraph, leave yourself 10 blank lines at the beginning of the essay and jump into writing your body paragraphs. Just make sure you remember to go back and write in your introduction before time’s up!

#3: Use Effective Language and Word Choice

There are a couple of parts of the Writing score section on the SAT essay rubric that pertain directly to style.

The SAT essay rubric states this about a perfect-Writing-score essay: "The response is cohesive and demonstrates a highly effective use and command of language."

For most of us, "command of language" is an area that takes a long time to develop, so unless your language skills are really rough or you're prepping at least a year ahead of time (or both), you'll probably get more out of focusing on the other components of the essay.

The SAT essay rubric also states: “The response has a wide variety in sentence structures. The response demonstrates a consistent use of precise word choice. The response maintains a formal style and objective tone.”

This basically boils down to: don't be repetitive and don't make grammar mistakes. In addition, you should avoid using first person statements like "I" or "My" in the essay, along with any other informality. You're writing the equivalent of a school paper, not an opinion piece.

Bad (Too informal):

“I think that Sam’s super persuasive in this article cause she’s just so passionate. It made me feel kinda bad that I don’t really monster it up in my everyday life.”

Good (Formal):

“Lindsay’s passionate defense of how drawing monsters 'allows us to laugh at our personal foibles' causes her audience to put themselves in her shoes and empathize with her position.”

Finally, try to use different words to describe the same idea—don't use "shows" 15 times. Take the chance to show off your vocabulary ( if, and only if , the vocabulary is appropriate and makes sense) . This component is the biggest reason why revising your SAT Essay is essential—it's fast and easy to change repeated words to other ones after you're finished, but it can slow you down during writing to worry about your word choice. If you're aiming for a top score, using advanced vocabulary appropriately is vital.

#4: Only Use Information From the Passage

All the relevant information is in the passage, so avoid getting drawn into the topic and using your outside knowledge—you want to be sure to show that you’ve read the passage.

In real life, there are many ways to support a thesis, depending on the topic. But on the SAT, there's one kind of correct support: specific details drawn from the passage you’re asked to analyze . We'll show you more below.

#5: Focus Your Essay on Relevant Details

You don’t have to mention every single detail that makes the argument effective. In fact, your essay will be more coherent and more likely to score higher in Analysis if you focus your discussion on just a few points . It's more important to show that you're able to pick out the most important parts of the argument and explain their function that it is to be able to identify every single persuasive device the author used.

Think about it as if you were asked to write a 50-minute essay describing the human face and what each part does. A clear essay would just focus on major features—eyes, nose, and mouth. A less effective essay might also try to discuss cheekbones, eyebrows, eyelashes, skin pores, chin clefts, and dimples as well. While all of these things are part of the face, it would be hard to get into detail about each of the parts in just 50 minutes.

And this is the eye, and this is the other eye, and this is the...other eye...and the other eye...and the other...wait...what's going on here?

What the College Board Doesn’t Tell You: 5 Secrets

Even though the SAT essay has clearly stated, publicly-available guidelines, there are a few secrets to writing the essay that most students don't know and that can give you a major advantage on the test.

#1: Read the Prompt Before the Passage

Why? Because the prompt includes the description of the author’s claim. Knowing what the author’s claim is going into the article can help keep you focused on the argument, rather than getting caught up in reading the passage (especially if the topic is one you're interested in).

#2: Your Facts Must Be Accurate…But Your Interpretation Doesn’t Have to Be

A big part of the Analysis score for the SAT essay is not just identifying the devices the author uses to build her argument, but explaining the effect that the use of these devices has on the reader . You don’t have to be completely, 100% accurate about the effect the passage has on the reader, because there is no one right answer. As long as you are convincing in your explanation and cite specific examples, you’ll be good.

Here's an example of an interpretation about what effect a persuasive device has on the reader (backed by evidence from the passage):

Lindsay appeals to the emotions of her readers by describing the forlorn, many-eyed creatures that stare reproachfully at her from old school notebook margins. The sympathy the readers feel for these forgotten doodles is expertly transferred to Lindsay herself when she draws the connection between the drawn monsters and her own life: “Often, I feel like one of these monsters—hidden away in my studio, brushes yearning to create what no one else cares to see.”

Now, you don't necessarily know for sure if "sympathy for the doodles" is what the author was going for in her passage. The SAT essay graders probably don't know either (unless one of them wrote the passage). But as long as you can make a solid case for your interpretation, using facts and quotes from the passage to back it up , you'll be good.

#3: You Should Write More Than One Page

This has always been true for the SAT essay, but for the first time ever, the College Board actually came out in The Official SAT Study Guide and explicitly said that length really does matter . Here's the description of a one-paragraph, 120-word-long student response that received a Writing score of 2/8 (bolding mine).

“Due to the brief nature of the response , there is not enough evidence of writing ability to merit a score higher than 1. Overall, this response demonstrates inadequate writing .” (source: The Official SAT Study Guide , p. 176 )

You’ll have one page for (ungraded) scrap paper that you can use to plan out your essay, and four pages of writing paper for the essay—plan on writing at least two pages for your essay .

#4: Be Objective When Reading the Passage

Being able to stay detached while reading the passage you'll be writing the essay about can be tricky. This task might be especially difficult for students who were used to the old SAT essay (which pretty much made it mandatory for you to choose one side or the other). You’ll have to practice reading persuasive essays and gaining objectivity (so that you are able to write about how the argument is constructed, not whether it’s good or bad).

A good way to practice this is to read news articles on topics you care deeply about by people who hold the opposite view that you do . For instance, as a composer and violist/violinist, I might read articles about how children should not be encouraged to play musical instruments, since it holds no practical value later on in life (a view I disagree with vehemently). I would then work on my objectivity by jotting down the central ideas, most important details, and how these details relate to the central ideas of the article .

Being able to understand the central ideas in the passage and details without being sidetracked by rage (or other emotions) is key to writing an effective SAT essay.

Don't let the monster of rage distract you from your purpose.

#5: Memorize and Identify Specific Persuasive Techniques

Once you’re able to read articles objectively (as discussed in point #4 above), the next step is to be able to break down the essay passage's argument . To do this successfully, you'll need to be aware of some of the techniques that are frequently used to build arguments.

The SAT essay prompt does mention a few of these techniques (bolding mine):

As you read the passage below, consider how Lindsay uses

evidence, such as facts or examples , to support claims.
reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims and evidence.
stylistic or persuasive elements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion , to add power to the ideas expressed.

It’s certainly possible to wing it and go into the test without knowing specific names of particular persuasive devices and just organically build up your essay from features you notice in the article. However, it's way easier to go into the essay knowing certain techniques that you can then scan the passage for .

For instance, after noting the central ideas and important details in the article about how more works of art should feature monsters, I would then work on analyzing the way the author built her argument. Does she use statistics in the article? Personal anecdotes? Appeal to emotion?

I discuss the top persuasive devices you should know in more detail in the article " 6 SAT Essay Examples to Answer Every Prompt ".

How to Get All the Necessary Components in 50 Minutes: 5 Step-By-Step Strategies

When you write an SAT essay, you only have 50 minutes to read, analyze, and write an essay, which means that you need a game plan going in. Here's a short step-by-step guide on how to write an effective SAT essay.

#1: Answer the Prompt

Don’t just summarize the passage in your essay, or identify persuasive devices used by the author—instead, be sure to actually analyze the way the author of the passage builds her argument. As The Official SAT Study Guide states ,

"[Y]our discussion should focus on what the author does, why he or she does it, and what effect this is likely to have on readers."

College Board makes a point of specifying this very point in its grading rubric as well—an essay that scores a 2 (out of 4) or below in Analysis " merely asserts, rather than explains [the persuasive devices'] importance. " If you want to get at least a 3/4 (or a 6/8) in Analysis, you need to heed this warning and stay on task .

#2: Support Your Points With Concrete Evidence From the Passage

The best way to get a high Reading score for your essay is to quote from the passage appropriately to support your points . This shows not only that you’ve read the passage (without your having to summarize the passage at all), but also that you understand what the author is saying and the way the author constructed her argument.

As an alternative to using direct quotations from the passage, it’s also okay to paraphrase some of what you discuss. If you are explaining the author's argument in your own words, however, you need to be extra careful to make sure that the facts you're stating are accurate —in contrast to scoring on the old SAT essay, scoring on the new SAT essay takes into account factual inaccuracies and penalizes you for them.

#3: Keep Your Essay Organized

The SAT essay rubric states: “The response demonstrates a deliberate and highly effective progression of ideas both within paragraphs and throughout the essay.”

The main point to take away from this is that you should follow the standard structure for an SAT essay (introduction-body-body-conclusion) . Using a basic four- to five-paragraph essay structure will both keep you organized and make it easier for the essay graders to follow your reasoning—a win-win situation!

Furthermore, you should connect each paragraph to each other through effective transitions. We'll give you ways to improve your performance in this area in the articles linked at the end of this article.

#4: Make Time to Read, Analyze, Plan, Write, and Revise

Make sure you allocate appropriate amounts of time for each of the steps you’ll need to take to write the essay—50 minutes may seem like a long time, but it goes by awfully quick with all the things you need to do.

Reading the passage, analyzing the argument, planning your essay, writing your essay, and revising are all important components for writing an 8/8/8 essay. For a breakdown of how much time to spend on each of these steps, be sure to check out our article on how to write an SAT essay, step-by-step .

#5: Practice

The more you practice analysis and writing, the better you’ll get at the task of writing an SAT essay (as you work up to it a little at a time).

It's especially important to practice the analysis and writing components of the essay if you are a slow reader (since reading speed can be difficult to change). Being able to analyze and write quickly can help balance out the extra time you take to read and comprehend the material. Plus, the time you put into working on analysis and writing will yield greater rewards than time spent trying to increase your reading speed.

But don't forget : while it’s okay to break up the practice at first, you also really do need to get practice buckling down and doing the whole task in one sitting .

What’s Next?

This is just the beginning of improving your SAT essay score. Next, you actually need to put this into practice with a real SAT essay.

Looking to get even deeper into the essay prompt? Read our complete list of SAT essay prompts and our detailed explanation of the SAT essay prompt .

Hone your SAT essay writing skills with our articles about how to write a high-scoring essay, step by step and how to get a 8/8/8 on the SAT essay .

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Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.

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How to Get a Perfect 8|8|8 SAT Essay Score
The perfect SAT essay is like a puzzle that happens to be in written form—it can be mastered, but to do it well and completely every time requires practice with a lot of sample topics. You need to learn the format of an effective essay and how to fill out a complete essay within 50 minutes.
How to Write an SAT Essay, Step by Step
This is the argument you need to deconstruct in your essay. Writing an SAT essay consists of four major stages: Reading: 5-10 minutes. Analyzing & Planning: 7-12 minutes. Writing: 25-35 minutes. Revising: 2-3 minutes. There's a wide time range for a few of these stages, since people work at different rates.
Full-Length Paper Practice Tests
This full-length, official SAT practice essay was written by the same people who wrote the SAT. Download it to get started. PDF; 1.53 MB; Download. SAT Practice Essay 3 Score Explanations—Digital Download student sample essays—and the explanations that show why they received the score they did—for SAT Practice Essay 3. PDF;
The Most Reliable SAT Essay Template and Format
To summarize, your SAT essay should stick to the following format: Introduction (with your thesis) - 2-5 sentences. Start with a statement about what the author of the passage is arguing. Thesis with a clear statement about what argumentative techniques you'll be examining in the essay. Example 1 - 6-10 sentences.
SAT School Day with Essay
The SAT Essay is a lot like a typical college writing assignment that asks you to analyze a text. It shows colleges that you're able to read, analyze, and write at the college level. The SAT Essay asks you to use your reading, analysis, and writing skills. You'll be asked to: Read a passage. Explain how the author builds an argument to persuade ...
5 SAT Essay Tips for a Great Score
Here are 5 tips for writing a killer SAT essay, should you decide to add on that section: 1. Stay Objective. The thing to remember here is that ETS (the company that writes the test) is not asking you for your opinion on a topic or a text. So be sure to maintain formal style and an objective tone.
How to Get a Perfect Score on the SAT® Writing and Language Test
The Challenge of Perfection. To earn an 800, you must score a 44 raw score on the Writing and Language section. A 44 raw score means that you must get every single question right. Take a look at the chart for how the raw scores on the test translate to scaled scores: Raw Score (# of correct answers) Reading Test Score.
How to Get a Perfect Score on the SAT Essay
When you complete an SAT essay, two graders from CollegeBoard will score it, and they will give your essay a score from 1-4. Then, those two scores are added together to create your cumulative score, which can range anywhere from 2-8. If you receive a score of 8, that is a perfect score. When you are graded on your essay, you are graded on ...
What Is the SAT Essay?
College Board. February 28, 2024. The SAT Essay section is a lot like a typical writing assignment in which you're asked to read and analyze a passage and then produce an essay in response to a single prompt about that passage. It gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your reading, analysis, and writing skills—which are critical to ...
SAT Essay Scores: How To Get A Perfect Score
What Is A Perfect SAT Essay Score. Based on the criteria from above, a perfect score on the SAT essay would be three scores of 8. In other words, you will need to score a 4 from each scorer in each dimension. Here's what a perfect score on the SAT essay will look like: Reading Score. Analysis Score.
SAT Essay Prompts (10 Sample Questions)
10 Official SAT Essay Prompts For Practice. Practice Test 1. "Write an essay in which you explain how Jimmy Carter builds an argument to persuade his audience that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should not be developed for industry.". Practice Test 2.
10 Easy SAT Writing Tips to Get a Perfect Score in 2024
For more tips and exercises, download our Essential Grammar Workbook! Download the free SAT Essential Grammar Workbook. Jump to section: Tip #1: Don't avoid the "no change" answers. Tip #2: Pace yourself. Tip #3: The semicolon trick. Tip #4: Understand dependent vs independent clauses.
SAT Essay Samples
Essay Sample Response (Low Scoring) "In "Let there be dark," Paul Bogard talks about the importance of darkness. Darkness is essential to humans. Bogard states, "Our bodies need darkness to produce the hormone melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodies need darkness for sleep, sleep.
6 SAT Essay Examples to Answer Every Prompt
Here are a couple of examples of statistics from an official SAT essay prompt, "Let There Be Dark" by Paul Bogard: Example: 8 of 10 children born in the United States will never know a sky dark enough for the Milky Way. Example: In the United States and Western Europe, the amount of light in the sky increases an average of about 6% every year.
Essay Lab How to Write a Good Essay for the SAT
To the dismay of many students, the latest SAT exam includes an essay section. Fear not. By following these 8 easy steps, you can ace this portion of the test and make it an asset to your overall ...
Perfect SAT Essay in 4 Steps
To get a perfect score on the SAT essay you will need to practice, and practice is more productive with feedback. If you have any questions you can reach out to us at 650-273-7258 or by email at [email protected].
10 Tips for the SAT Essay
6. Work with an outline! Use the first few minutes to brainstorm as many thoughts as possible; organize those thoughts into a logical pattern or outline; then write as quickly and neatly as you can. 7. Talk to your reader. Remember that the person scoring your essay is a person and not a machine.
The Ultimate SAT Essay Study Guide: Tips and Review
How to Write an SAT Essay, Step by Step. Learn the ins and outs of writing a perfect-scoring SAT essay by following along as we go through the reading, analyzing and planning, writing, and revising stages of a sample essay. You'll get to see the whole process, from scribbled handwritten planning notes to the polished final product.
SAT Essay: What Is the Perfect Score?
The writing style of a comprehensive essay was supposed to be acceptable, and its tone was expected to be appropriate. Phrases and sentences had to comply with standard written English, and perfect grammar was a must. How Was the SAT Essay Scored? The College Board applied a thoroughly developed scoring approach to checking essays.
What Is a Good SAT Score?
The SAT essay is scored separately from Math and Reading and Writing. You'll get 50 minutes to write an essay that analyzes the author's claims and argument in a given passage. ... Analysis, and Writing. The total score range is 2-8 for each category. A perfect SAT essay score would be three 8's — that's a 4 from both graders in all three ...
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How to prepare for the SAT: 10 Steps to the Perfect SAT Score
Instead of stressful late-night studying before the test, meditate, read a book or spend time with your friends. Organize your bag. The night before the SAT is the right time to make sure you take everything you really need to bring on test day (see step 8). Have a good sleep.
What is a Good SAT Essay Score?
In 2019, the mean score on the Reading and Writing for the SAT Essay was a 5. For the Analysis section, the mean score was a little lower at 3, simply because Analysis is a skill that high school students spend less time honing than Reading or Writing. For a detailed breakdown of how 2019's test takers performed, here are a few score ...
Full-Length SAT Suite Practice Tests
Full-Length SAT Suite Practice Tests Find full-length practice tests on Bluebook™ as well as downloadable paper (nonadaptive) practice tests to help you prepare for the SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, and PSAT 8/9. Bluebook Practice Resources. Find a test preview and official full-length practice tests on the Bluebook app. ...
My Guide to Self Studying for the Sat: How I got an almost perfect
Thanks so much. The second time I took the SAT during the summer after my junior year, i got a 1510, good enough for a 10k scholarship instate. But I am going to take another with an essay and this time i want to target a 1600 with a minimum of 1550. I will be using your guide to prep myself, my friend, and my sister.
Master the SAT Essay: Your Guide to Format, Tips, and Practice
The SAT Essay section presents an opportunity for test-takers to showcase their preparedness for the analytical and written demands of college coursework and future careers. It closely resembles a typical college writing assignment, tasking students with a close reading and analysis of a provided passage followed by a structured essay response ...
SAT Essay Tips: 15 Ways to Improve Your Score
The SAT essay rubric states this about a perfect-Writing-score essay: "The response is cohesive and demonstrates a highly effective use and command of language." For most of us, "command of language" is an area that takes a long time to develop, so unless your language skills are really rough or you're prepping at least a year ahead of time (or ...
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What is the SAT essay?

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SAT Essay Prompts (10 Sample Questions)

10 Official SAT Essay Prompts For Practice

What Is An Example Of A SAT Essay That Obtained A Perfect Score?

This response scored a 4/4/4.

10 Easy SAT Writing Tips to Get a Perfect Score in 2024

Tip #1: Don’t avoid the “No change” answer

Tip #2: Pace yourself

Tip #3: The semicolon trick

Tip #4: Understand dependent vs independent clauses

Tip #5: Shorter is (almost always) better

Tip #6: Read it out loud

Tip #7: Don’t change verb tenses (without a good reason)

Tip #8: Know your transition words

Tip #9: Eliminate duplicate answers

Tip #10: Practice!

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