sat essay tips

sat essay tips

Effective Strategies for Writing a Stellar SAT Essay

1. Introduction to the SAT Essay Section

Everyone can benefit from this guide. Whether you take the SAT Essay section seriously and want to get the best score possible, or you are a little scared of the essay and very worried that your grade will be too low, our techniques will help. Our writing guide is based on hundreds of practice essays. It is designed to help you make the best of your writing and thinking skills. This is one case where practice actually does make perfect. So run, don’t walk!. Get hold of a stopwatch, read some sample topics and try our techniques on one or two of them. The more you try, the better you will do. Set a timer whenever you are writing, analyzing the topics, brainstorming and writing your practice essay.

The best thing about the SAT Essay section is that it is the easiest to prepare for. The multiple-choice sections test what you know; the essay shows what you can do. You can learn all of the skills and techniques that you need to score well. That’s why we wrote this guide. The techniques that we are going to show you will help you to: plan your essay; start your essay; develop explanations, arguments, or counterexamples; keep your examples updated; indicate an understanding of the issue; write clearly and pronouncably; and use correct grammar.

The SAT Essay is a very important to the exam because of what it measures. The SAT is designed to see what you have learned and we test the ones you taught you the best. The essay is different — it is actually the best measure we have of what kind of a writer you will be when you come to college. Colleges will have to make their decisions more on this section than on the others because it is the only representative sample of your work that they will be getting.

2. Understanding the SAT Essay Prompt

The first component to understanding the SAT essay prompt is to know what is required of the author. The phrase “always provide evidence and connect it to the thesis” should be on the tip of any test-takers’ brain – without straying off focus! Every single aspect of a test-taker’s analysis for the SAT is to be heavily invested in the idea that all sentences must be closely connected. Not only does this approach save space and time, but it also makes the argument easier to follow and remember. Monotony is even more annoying and the reader needs some type of break. Writers are so lucky because variety could be achieved through differing syntax, length, and substance. True, most sentences in the SAT essay should be a bit longer than these, but with experience and acuity, you will know when the odd sentence should ambitiously expose its greatest potential and be even greater than Leonardo DaVinci’s Mona Lisa or Mrs. Shor’s morning coffee – both of which are fascinating masterpieces.

3. Crafting a Strong Thesis Statement

In addition to thinking critically about the issue presented in the prompt, not only is the essay you must write, well, an essay, but you also have to be mindful of issues like organization and the ease with which one can follow your thoughts. A decisive thesis can go a long way in sharpening the license of your essay. Try and get it in somewhere within your first paragraph, though it should generally not be your opening sentence. Nonetheless, generally the first few sentences should introduce the reader to the general issue and give a tasteful guide to the rest of the essay. Nonetheless, the sooner the thesis is set in stone, the better. This helps the rest of the essay be organized into clear and readable points.

The next component of your essay to focus on is the thesis. This is the central claim you are trying to make in your essay – your contention. This is essential for a few reasons. For starters, it is crucial that you take a clear stand and that you are decisive about it. You want to concretely decide your position on the prompt. There are two reasons for this. Not only does coming down on one side help focus all the different points you will bring to bear in supporting your position, but scorers are also looking for critical thinking. And it may not seem like it at first, but there is plenty of critical thinking to be had in trying to justify your position on the essay.

4. Developing and Organizing Your Ideas

2. Use an introduction to signal the introduction of the student’s main points. The reader should not require a map to find a student’s topics, but the reader should not have to hunt and peck to determine the significant junctures in the essay. Be sure that your structure is clear. Use stanzas, or skip lines, to visually indicate major transitions. Use emphatic sentences, such as obviously, now, however, because, have had consequences for, or although, to introduce major points. The opening sentence (or two) of each paragraph could indicate what that paragraph will be about, as can your use of vocabulary designating cause/effect, audience/purpose, or tone shift.

1. Consider the main idea stated in the essay task. Your introduction should establish the student’s main idea. Although you may not be discussing as many or as diverse subjects as the child in the text you are being asked to analyze, the passage will contain several or more parts of that issue, and these parts will form the central parts you need to consider. Your introduction should be a response to the main question being asked.

The organization of the essay is crucial in clearly developing your thoughts logically. Use these following strategies, apart from marking your passage, to develop and organize your essay. Be sure you select one type of organization and stick with it. Regardless of the design chosen, an effective essay is consistent throughout in terms of purpose and intent. Both chronological and spatial organization are useful in many essays. Try these strategies when you write your essay.

5. Writing a Coherent and Persuasive Essay

Is it better to lie and be polite than to be completely honest and deal with potentially unnecessary confrontation? Are people overly concerned with how others perceive them? These are two of the questions presented for the SAT. A typical style of essay is the persuasive essay. In an essay written by a student in response to the first question above, the student might consider a thesis statement such as the following as a basis for his essay: “Two of the most important obligations we have are to be honest and to be kind to others. However, I believe it is better to be dishonest than to be polite and avoid confrontation, especially when the truth might be painful to the listener, rather than to be completely honest and stir up hurtful confrontations.” This thesis statement clearly establishes the student’s position, that lying may actually be helpful by promoting polite interaction, preventing unnecessary harm or grief, and encouraging good and kind relations within the community.

Some students can craft excellent essays, but need additional time to do so. Completing the essay portion of the SAT may be helpful as it can be used for placement testing. If a student has already taken the SAT, it makes sense to attempt the essay because some colleges will require it or may offer course credit for those who perform well. This article is intended to provide strategies to be helpful for students who have less experience in writing essays. For additional information about the SAT, or to register for the test, visit College Board. If students have questions about the essay portion of the test, or would like help gaining skill through coaching, Sylvan SAT Prep can provide a supportive environment and offer students training for the problems ahead. As students familiarize themselves with the issues chosen for the essay, they should practice outlining the response they will give and look at ways to effectively present their unique viewpoints in a clear, cogent, and structured approach.