"SINCE 2016, THE ESSAY portion of the SAT has been optional. Still, many students choose to write it each year to demonstrate strong or improved writing skills to their short list of colleges.
Whether or not to write the SAT essay is not the biggest decision you will have to make in high school, but it is certainly one that requires thought on your part. Here are three things you should know about the 50-minute SAT essay as you decide whether to complete it:
- To excel on the SAT essay, you must be a trained reader.
- The SAT essay begs background knowledge of rhetoric and persuasive writing.
- A growing number of colleges are dropping standardized test requirements. To Excel on the SAT Essay, You Must Be a Trained Reader
The SAT essay prompt never comes unaccompanied. On the contrary, it follows a text that is about 700 words long, or approximately one page. Before test-takers can even plan their response, they must carefully read and – ideally – annotate the passage." …