S19 and I have started a college list for him. It’s a LONG list with 20 possible options. We’ve done our homework, know how much we want to spend, and have started visiting schools.
S19 is taking the SAT in August. None of the schools on his list require or consider the SAT essay. He won’t apply to all of the schools on this list. We will narrow it down. I know that all of the schools where he will eventually apply are on this list though. Is there any downside at all to him taking the SAT without essay?
Hi @homerdog I assess this issue as I would any other issue that crosses my desk. I ask myself what is the worse thing that can happen and how can I take action to minimize the risk of that situation happening, or absent that, how can I take action now to address that situation should it arise. Your son won’t be applying to college until 2018, two cycles from now. There is no guarantee that the schools currently on his list won’t change their policy from no essay to essay recommended or required, and there is no guarantee that the list will be altered to include a school that requires the essay. To not close doors on any opportunity, the risk/benefit analysis would dictate that he sit for the essay test. He could get a general understanding of the requirements of the essay and stay for an additional 50 minutes on the day of the SAT exam.
If none of the schools he ends up applying to requires the essay, no harm no foul. If one does, then he won’t be in panic and won’t be locked out of an opportunity to wants to pursue. Okay, that’s the attorney in me speaking. The mom in me would look to see if he’s willing to spend the extra time prepping for the essay and willing to take it seriously as if it’s like a requirement. Gosh, hope this is helpful!
@ThinkOn It’s just unclear how to even prep for the essay. And there’s no way to write practice ones and get them graded. And, if he scores really well on the multiple choice sections, we’d still have to send the essay because you have to send complete scores according to the College Board even if the schools don’t use them.
S19 just took a College Board practice test today and got a 700R/730M. He’s pretty sure he can study and gain 50 points per section. I’d just hate to have a good score and then have him end up with a poor essay score since we can’t figure out how he should study for the essay…and again what’s the point? It’s only one cycle away, not two, since the websites are updated for this coming admissions cycle (2017). Maybe I should call the schools and ask if they have any inkling of changing their view on the essay.
The essay shouldn’t cause this much stress. He has to simply analyze the way the writer of the subject essay put their argument together. He should review rhetorical devices and be able to identify maybe 10-20 to be able to analyze the essay. The essay score is not incorporated into your main SAT score.
@homerdog What a great starting score! Thank goodness the kids now have 8 official CB tests from which to practice. If you call the schools, see if they can answer the question of how they will treat an essay score that comes with the SAT score. Will they totally just ignore or take into consideration since it’s part of the folder now.
No one knows for sure, but based on the chatter on these boards, even for those schools that do require the essay, the score itself doesn’t appear to be as important as the ability for the AO to get a sample of the student’s writing under pressure (and not something fully polished like the Common App essay and supplements). Are there among the “required essay” schools that do take the score into consideration, and if so, to what extent…big question marks. Thus, I suspect that because of this uncertainly, some students are just going all out and treating the essay score as an important factor. I’m not qualified at all to read and grade these essays, but I do my best to provide feedback to my kids and hope that they can at least get used to writing them under strict time constraints.
If your list is solid and they don’t require the essay, and S doesn’t want to prep for or sit for the essay…you’re 100% right, not sure there’s a point, esp. if he has better use of his valuable time this summer. Best of luck!!
Thanks to all. He won’t be thrilled but, with @suzy100 's magoosh tips, I guess he should just write the essay. I didn’t sign him up for the essay section for the August test. I imagine it won’t be a one and done situation so he can just do the essay part the next time.
Even if we are happy with his August score, the juniors are required to take the SAT at school in the spring and maybe they are required to do the essay part then. A friend just told me, too, that AP Lang gets them ready for this essay because the SAT essay is pretty similar to essays on the AP Lang exam…so maybe he would score better on the essay in the spring anyway. That begs a question- what if both math and reading scores are better in the fall but essay is better in the spring…and the colleges don’t consider the essay scores. Would we have to send that spring test?
I don’t understand the point to the essay exactly. Writing is supposed to take time and revisions. Grading kids on writing an essay under a time constraint seems odd, but maybe SAT takes that into consideration when determining the scores. Perhaps they don’t expect the essay to look like one that would be done for a homework assignment.
@homerdog you may want to look the link suzy100 provided over with your son. You may find he has already done this stuff in 10th grade English. I know it’s exactly what my d19 was doing in her honors 10 English.
@mom2twogirls Excellent point! My daughter too indicated that her English class covered this extensively her Freshman year. The practice really comes down to timing the essay so that he gets a good understanding of how to hammer it out in 50 minutes.
I suggest he does the essay because if he changes his mind about a school that requires the essay, he shoots himself in the foot without it. If the school doesn’t consider it and he doesn’t do well on it, it won’t matter.
He can prep for it, simply by reviewing the key elements of an essay. Most students lose points in the analysis component. There is a quite simple formula: “The author uses elements of _____ and _____ to emphasize his argument that ______…” That’s just an example. The goal is to analyze how the author builds an argument. Then support it by citing examples from the document. He needs to ensure that anything he writes supports a clear thesis statement. Following a classic five-paragrpah essay template should do the job. There are a million templates online. I suggest that students just keep one they like in the back of their mind and use it on test day.
You absolutely need to prep for the essay if you’re taking it. At a minimum, review the vocabulary of rhetoric and write a couple practice essays to get a feel for a large number of words in the allowed time.
That being said, only some schools require this, so it’s actually OK to skip in many cases.
We ended up in a position where my DS had a strong score on the ACT and an embarrassing essay score that did NOT reflect his writing ability (and yes, he didn’t prepare for the essay, which likely was a big part of the problem). Even though the schools he applied to didn’t require the essay score, we were worried that they would still see it and start to question his application and it was small comfort for us that "no one cares about the essay score."Fortunately, he also took the SAT without the essay and did equally well on it so we just submitted the SAT scores.
So I am not as convinced that your son should complete an essay that isn’t required “just in case” a school changes its requirements. Why not get a solid score on the required test without an essay and then he can take it again with the essay if needed?
@WildLupine Yes. I hear you. Still considering what to do. Leaning towards keeping August SAT without essay and then he can take SAT with essay in the spring when the whole junior class takes the test. And, if he’s not happy with his August score, he can retake in October and do the essay then as well. I just feel like he’s on a roll with studying for the multiple choice sections and it might be best for him to really focus on those for the first test…especially since it seems like he could score pretty high and each question will matter.