Perfect SAT Essay
Just like the ACT and SAT are two entirely different animals, the ACT and SAT essays differ as well. I hear students share rumors all the time like “you have to fill both pages to get a good score” or “if you make up examples you’ll get a zero.”
Rather than me pontificate about what I think is a super essay, let’s check out the specific guidelines the SAT folks set forth. Below are the qualifications for a top scoring, perfect 6 essay according to each test. (Keep in mind that on both tests your essay is read by two graders, creating a possible score of 12).
Top-Scoring SAT Essay (as described in “The Official SAT Study Guide”)
-effectively and insightfully develops a point of view on the issue and demonstrates outstanding critical thinking, using clearly
appropriate examples, reasons, and other evidence to support its position
-is well organized and clearly focused, demonstrating clear coherence and smooth progression of ideas
-exhibits skillful use of language, using a varied, accurate, and apt vocabulary
-demonstrates meaningful variety in sentence structure
-is free of most errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics
My old joke about this is that the SAT essay is looking for
-what you said
-how you said it
-how you said it
-how you said it
-how you said it
Let’s quickly hit the main points:
-This is not the time to go off topic at all. Don’t stray from answering the questions, supporting your response, and wrapping it up.
-Use examples that are very clearly related and appropriate to the topic. While an essay about hardship and character may lead you to write about ‘the time you broke your leg’, a more appropriate example may be chosen lifestyles of Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Theresa or the historical reactions of people groups faced with disaster.
-Make your structure overtly obvious. Your thesis should be the last sentence of your first paragraph, just like in a basic 5-paragraph essay (even though you’ll likely only have 4 paragraphs in this particular exercise). Then ensure that you button up your argument by making sure that the final sentence of each supporting paragraph clearly refers back to the point you make in your thesis.
-The best way to show coherence and smooth progression is to, well, be coherent (really organized, telling us exactly what you intend to say) and then progress. Don’t dwell (devote paragraph 2 to a single example and paragraph 3 to another single example).
-Apply all those grammar rules you’re learning for the writing section to your writing in the essay. You’re flat out told that they reward varied sentence structure and apt vocabulary, so be sure to include them. (Starting sentences with words like although and despite is a great way to start. Understanding the proper use of a semi-colon is also priceless.)
-Wrap it up neatly and cleanly at the end. Don’t bring in a last-minute example, as on the SAT you’re proving that you know how to organize a paper so that when you arrive on campus colleges can trust that you can keep a ten to twenty page paper organized, too.
For 20+ pages of thorough analysis of what makes an outstanding SAT essay and for examples of essays that scored 12s on real SAT administrations, please check out OUTSMARTING THE SAT.
