Should My Son Take the March SAT Test with No Essay Preparation?

Test Preparation
1

Hi,

My son who is a junior is scheduled to take his first real SAT test this March in two weeks. For a variety of reasons, he has done zero preparation for the essay portion on the test. His strengths lie more in the sciences and math. He was never a big reader and my wife and I fear with no preparation he is going to very likely bomb the essay. Even if he does not bomb it, I am sure with some preparation (which he promised to do) he will score much better in future test(s).

Should my son take the test as a real world practice or should he reschedule? We do not want any colleges to see his scores (unless he pulls off some form of miracle). How does it work if he takes the test and does not send the scores to any college? Will colleges see these scores when he takes the test again, or can they be forever hidden?

Thanks for your advice.

2

If he applies to schools that want to see all the testing history he HAS to send the score.
If he applies to schools that don’t care then obviously the score can be hidden for ever. Why doesn’t just take the test without the essay for now?

Edit to add that a lot of colleges, including competitive ones, don’t care about the essay so it does not matter if he does not do well in it. If you have a list of colleges check to see their SAT policies.

3

there is a link online about how to get a perfect score on the essay…literally read that and he should be fine. The hardest part is time…if he is a decent writer, he should be fine

4

Honestly I think that if he is good at math his score should be fairly well off as it is. With a decent score on the reading/writing things should also be okay. As for the essay I may be wrong but I thought it was optional now? Of course some colleges require it so that would limit your options. Probably the best thing to do would be to give him a few random prompts and see if he can come up with a decent argument based off it. So I guess my answer would be yes, do some quick essay prep but I doubt it’ll be that drastic a grade to ruin his score. Especially if his interests lie in science and math. Hope this helps somewhat!

5

If he applies to a college that requires all tests, he will have to send all tests. He can’t hide it. If he really isnt prepared, reschedule.