Help with SAT Essay

Hi! I am an international student and I am planning taking the SAT in October. I haven’t had any counsellors or SAT tutors so far. I decided to self-study. I am managing every section on the exam very well except the essay. I just started practicing it but I believe I could use some more help because I want to score as high as possible.

Do you have any tricks or important suggestions for the essay section? If you believe there are some things I especially need to be very careful with or focus on, I would love to know. Thanks!