Hey,
I am an international Grade 11 student planning to give the SAT in January so that I have enough time to prepare for 2 subject tests and possibly the ACT. I was originally planning to give it earlier (Oct.), but delayed it due to insufficient prep time.
Now that I have been preparing for several weeks for reading and math- and feel more comfortable in both areas- I am starting to panic a little bit over the optional essay I plan to take. I haven’t prepped for it at all, and I’m starting to feel that I’m leaving it too late with the test only 2 months away. Do I still have enough time, or should I delay my test date even further? It is hard for me to dedicate alot of time with schoolwork also to do.
How can I prep for the essay? Do I need to spend money on more books just for the essay, or is it possible to study only from the examples CB has provided? How can I prep using those.
The essay is my main source of worry right now.
@pizzatom999 - I never prepped for my SAT or ACT essays nor is writing my strength. But I scored 11 on my SAT essay and 10 on my ACT essay. I wrote with quotes from books I read. Started with a intro para with my hypothesis. Ended with showing whether my hypothesis was valid or not.
Check some online previous SAT tests to see what kind of prompts.
The SAT essay is a specific kind of essay. It is a rhetorical analysis of a reading passage. There is a sort of checklist of the information to look for as you read and to include in your essay as you write. I believe the McGraw-Hill test prep book for 2017 does as good a job as any other book (and better than most) of explaining what is called for in the essay. I suggest you read the essay chapter in that book and the sample essays as well as the information about the essay on the College Board website and then decide whether or not you are ready to take the test in January.
@Wood5440 I have borrowed the MGH book. Thanks for your advice.
The SAT essay is ridiculously easy. I’m not even joking. I only realized I had signed up for the SAT Essay the night before, and I said “screw this, I’m not gonna prep for the essay”. I ended up writing a 4-paragraph essay and got a perfect score. They grade you really easy. Trust me.
*edit: I omitted “essay” in the first sentence
@Starforward Haha, thanks for the motivation. I’ll give the SAT with essay in Jan. and then again if I need to. 
@MedSciBud @Wood5440 @Starforward @academiccoach
I have a few questions now that I’ve started my essay prep:
What is the recommended word length of the essay (ie: approximately how many words should I include in my 5 paragraphs)?
Also, is there any place I could find a list of literary devices for my body paragraphs (facts, statistics, diction, appeals to emotion, etc)?
I advise my students to aim above 450. 75 for intro and conclusion and 100 per body paragraph as a starting place. In general aim to be well over 2 single spaced pages.
@academiccoach In the first SAT essay I wrote last night, I likely exceeded 750 words. However, this was largely because I defaulted to using too many quotations when discussing how the author used statistics. I have to learn different ways of phrasing how the author advances his ideas without using too many quotes.
Using evidence is important but explaining why the use of statistics is an effective mode of persuasion is also very important. Often my students will present evidence without explaining how/why it is effective persuasion.
How are you at paraphrasing the author’s ideas? Often students will quote an entire sentence when all they really need is a short paraphrase that quotes only a key term or phrase.
@Wood5440 In that case, I can’t use quotations, which makes me feel as if it is not as authentic as a full sentence with quotation marks.
Certainly you can. In fact, you must. An example from President Kennedy’s Inaugural Address:
"Now the trumpet summons us again-not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need–not as a call to battle, though embattled we are–but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation”–a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? "
My precis:
Kennedy concluded his address by calling Americans to join “a grand and global alliance” to battle “the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.”
Note in the original quote that Kennedy himself used a fragmentary quotation “… but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation”–a struggle against…” Note that “rejoicing in hope…” is in quotes.
Are there any sample essay responses other than the ones College Board has given Khan Academy (3 each for two essays)?