SAT essay is one of the major qualifying parameters in the SAT exam. Writing an essay within a time limit of 50 minutes takes work. Therefore, you must acquire a significant skill set, which you will learn in this essay writing guide. Reading, analyzing and writing the essay within such a short time will challenge your reading and writing skills. However, with our sat reading and writing tips, you will not run out of time before writing your essay.
4 Major Stages of SAT Writing
In the above passage, we mentioned acquiring a specific skill set. The skill is none other than reading and writing. This, you will obtain if you practised sat writing as shown below.
Reading: 8 minutes
Analyzing and Planning: 12 minutes
Writing: 27 minutes
Revising: 3 minutes
Step-by-Step Essay Writing Guide
Read the Passage Properly
You must follow a specific reading strategy. First, you must attempt a few practice tests to know your speed. You need to have an answer to the question, “are you a fast reader or a slow reader?”.
Underline the important words and phrases while reading them, and keep forming objective arguments. Students can follow this strategy if they are fast readers – Avoid getting into too much detail and read the passage quickly. However, if you are a slow reader, you can observe the important points in the passage.
Plan Out the SAT Essay Format
Once you have read the passage, you need to devise a plan before you rush towards writing the essay.
Introduction
The first section of your SAT essay format is the introduction. Maintain a brief introduction without going into many details. The first paragraph of your essay will decide the rest of the flow of your essay.
Body Paragraphs
Many students often focus on writing their body paragraphs and then craft the introduction paragraph accordingly. This strategy has proven to be a way to write faster; however, if you are comfortable with it, then go for it! You can go into detail and elaborate on the main points in the body paragraphs.
Conclusion
You have completely done it wrong if you submitted your SAT essay without a proper conclusion. It will result in a major fall in SAT essay scoring. The closing paragraph is an important aspect of the SAT essay format. Therefore, make sure to maintain the same tone as you have done in the essay. Include a brief explanation of the author’s arguments with examples. Avoid putting in any new examples; instead, use the one you already mentioned in the body.
Revise
Use 2-3 minutes of your remaining time to revise your SAT essay. Save a few minutes for revising to fix minor errors; otherwise, it may result in score deductions. Be sure to complete this step.
SAT Essay Scoring
The SAT essay scoring is done within 1 out of 4 based on reading, analysis, and writing.
