The SAT is a three-part (math, critical reading, and writing) test required by many colleges in their admissions processes. I plan to write a post with suggestions for each section of the SAT. This is the last post in the series, and I will be focusing on the writing portion of the test.
Preparation
Write a few timed practice essays. You can’t prepare for the prompt you’ll receive. What you can get used to is effectively budgeting your time. Use some old SAT essay prompts (available in preparation books and online) and write the essays, timing yourself. You can have someone score them for you and offer writing feedback as well.
Learn grammar. If you’re lucky, you’ve had a good middle-school or high-school English teacher who taught you all about subjects and objects, parallelism, dependent and independent clauses, proper punctuation, etc. If not, the multiple choice section will be tricky. (You don’t have to know the fancy terms for all of these things, but knowing the rules means you don’t have to rely on your instincts.) You can still teach yourself: Pick up an English grammar textbook and start following a grammar blog.
Read good writing. This can help you prepare for the critical reading section and the writing section all at once! However, for it to be useful for the writing section, it should be good but not too artsy. News articles are a great choice, as are relatively down-to-earth novels. Hold off on books like The Sound and the Fury or Orlando for now—the grammar is nontraditional.
Taking the Test
There are two pieces to the writing section of the SAT: the essay and the multiple choice questions. The essay counts for a smaller portion of your score than the multiple choice questions do, but both are important. Your essay is scored by two people on a 1–6 scale and their grades are added for a 2–12 score. The multiple choice section is scored 20–80. The two are combined (via a changing chart—there is no consistent formula) to produce your 200–800 overall writing score.
Essay tips:
- Spend the first five minutes outlining, the next fifteen writing, and the last five editing
- Make sure your handwriting is legible
- Avoid slang
- Stick to the standard five-paragraph model: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion
- Draw your three body paragraph examples from three different spheres. A typical choice would be a literary example, a historical or scientific example, and a personal anecdote
- Address the prompt! If it requires you to take sides on an issue (and most will), pick a clear stance and stick to it. You don’t have the time for a nuanced approach
- Size matters. Don’t ramble just to take up space, but do try to come as close to filling the provided sheet as possible.
Multiple choice tips:
- If it sounds right, it’s probably right
- Parallelism questions are a favorite of the test writers. Make sure all the items in a list are consistently phrased (i.e., act as the same part of speech)
- Dangling modifiers also appear frequently. Adjectival and adverbial phrases need to modify an explicit subject. “Recognizing the importance of great literature, I read every day for two hours” is an acceptable sentence. “Recognizing the importance of great literature, two books were read by me every day” is not. In the former, the adjectival phrase modifies the subject “I.” In the latter, it technically modifies “two books,” which is obviously wrong
- Remember that the first word after a semicolon is not capitalized.
Resources
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