8/12/2019 5 Ways to Write a Great Essay on the New SAT

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5 Ways to Write a Great Essay on the New SATby Justin DoleckiThe Princeton Review

The SAT is undergoing some major changes this month. Among the many changes to the test, the

addition of a new writing section has made many students particularly anxious. !en though the

prospect of writing an essay on the new SAT may seem a little bit scary, it"s actually #uite painless

to prepare for and is probably one of the easiest sections in which to shine. $hy% &ecause a strong

SAT essay is surprisingly formulaic. TS 'ducational Testing Ser!ice, the people who write the SAT,

among many other tests( says the essay is graded holistically. Simply put, they judge your essay by

the o!erall impression it makes.

So how do you go about making a good impression? Here are 5 no-nonsense tips on how

to score big on the New SAT essay

!" Neatness counts

The idea of ha!ing to handwrite an essay may seem #uite old fashioned, somewhere along the lines

of sending a letter through the mail. &ut like it or not, you won"t be using )icrosoft $ord on the

SAT. Therefore, one of the simplest ways to earn a good score is to write legibly. *ou see, graders

are responsible for getting through tons of essays each day, and so they usually only spend around

+ minutes reading each one. $hen they come upon an essay that is messy and makes life more

difficult for them, right away they are left with a bad impression. Translation a lower score for you.

$ho can blame them though% -f you had to read a bunch of messy essays that make you s#uint and

s#uirm, wouldn"t you be annoyed% So print neatly, because the graders will appreciate it. '*es,

printno script/(

#" $ore is more

*ou"!e probably heard the maxim, it"s not the #uantity, it"s the #uality that counts. 0ood ad!ice in

the real world, but here in 1ew SAT land, #uantity is just as important as #uality. 2emember, TS

graders will read your essay holistically, meaning they look at the o!erall package and won"t reallyget down to the nittygritty. So when grading an essay as a whole, longer always looks better. There

are 34 lines to fillget as close to that as possible. 5illing 36 lines is good. 7nly twenty ... not so

good. 7h, by the way, for those of you who usually ha!e a lot to say, it"s important to know that you

can only use the space that is gi!en. So don"t ramble on fore!er, because you won"t be getting any

extra sheets of paper.

%" &aragraphs are your 'riend

2emember that basic writing structure you learned in grammar school nglish intro, body,

conclusion% $ell, follow that same format on the 1ew SAT essay. 5irst, your introduction should

include a thesis statement 'the SAT asks you if you agree or disagree with a gi!en statement(. Then

you need three supporting paragraphs that back up your thesis. And finally, you"ll need a conclusion

to sum it all up. &y following this standard format you will gi!e the impression that you are

organi8ed 'they don"t need to know that your locker is a disaster( and you know how to structure an

essay. 7ne other minitip9learly indent all of your paragraphs, about a full halfinch. The clearer

you make things for them, the happier the graders will be.

(" When Shakespeare comes in handy

*ou created your thesis statement in the introduction, but now you need to back up your argument.

The best way to do this is by citing examples. Some may be tempted to write about stuff they"!e

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8/12/2019 5 Ways to Write a Great Essay on the New SAT

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seen on T: or read in US Weeklyto explain ;the tragedy of war; 'the great feud between rinceton 2e!iew"s

New SAT Word of the Day.

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