Do I Have To Register Ahead Of Time To Take The Sat Essay Or Can I Decide When I'm There

The Saturday underwent some major revisions in 2016, and i of the biggest changes is that its previously required essay is now optional. This can exist disruptive for some students and parents. Should you accept the essay? Volition colleges require the essay or not? Will taking the essay make your application stronger?

Read on for answers to all these questions. This guide will explain what the SAT essay is, what the pros and cons of taking information technology are, and how yous tin can brand the best choice for yous.

UPDATE: Sat Essay No Longer Offered

In January 2021, the Higher Board announced that later June 2021, it would no longer offer the Essay portion of the SAT (except at schools who opt in during Schoolhouse Twenty-four hours Testing). It is at present no longer possible to accept the SAT Essay, unless your school is one of the small-scale number who cull to offer it during Sat School Day Testing.

While nigh colleges had already made Saturday Essay scores optional, this motion by the College Board means no colleges now crave the Sat Essay. It volition also likely lead to additional higher application changes such non looking at essay scores at all for the SAT or Act, as well every bit potentially requiring boosted writing samples for placement.

What does the end of the SAT Essay mean for your college applications? Check out our article on the College Board's Saturday Essay decision for everything you need to know.

What Is the SAT Essay?

The Sabbatum essay is 1 of the sections of the SAT. After being required since its inception, the College Board has now decided to make the essay optional. This is similar to the ACT, whose essay has always been optional.

During this section, students will be given 50 minutes to write an essay. The essay for the new SAT is very unlike than it was for the previous version of the SAT. You tin read all about the changes to the Sabbatum here, but, as a brief overview, the essay will give y'all a passage by an author who is taking a opinion on an outcome. Your chore will be to analyze how the author built that argument.

If you choose to take the essay, it will exist its own section of the Sat, and the score yous get on the essay will be separate from your score on the rest of the exam. Your master SAT score volition exist out of 1600 while your essay will be graded beyond three dissimilar categories: Reading, Analysis, and Writing. For each area, your essay will exist given a score from 2-8.

Beneath is a sample prompt from i of the official practice tests released by the Higher Board. Here you lot tin can read the entire prompt, including the passages you would demand to analyze.

Exercise Colleges Require the SAT Essay At present That It'south Optional?

So, the Higher Board has now fabricated the essay an optional part of the SAT, only does that change how colleges view the essay (or if they even view it at all)? Kind of. Some schools that used the essays before no longer require them now that both the ACT and Sat take made the essays optional, simply other schools go on to crave the Sat essay.

Each school makes this determination individually, and then in that location are no patterns to follow to attempt and guess who will require the essay and who won't. Even top schools like the Ivy League are divided on whether to crave the essay or not.

This tin can make things confusing if you're applying to higher presently and don't know if y'all should take the Sabbatum essay or non. The post-obit sections of this guide will explain the benefits and drawbacks of taking the essay and walk you through dissimilar scenarios so you tin make an informed decision.

The #1 Consideration: Do Any of the Schools Y'all're Interested in Require the Essay?

The absolute virtually of import factor, the factor that matters more than anything else in the rest of this guide, is if any of the schools you lot're applying to or thinking of applying to require the Sabbatum essay.

The best way to become this information is to Google "[schoolhouse name] SAT essay requirement," look directly on each schoolhouse's admission webpage, orcheck out our list of the schools that require the SAT essay.

Discover this information for every school you plan on applying to, even schools you're not certain y'all want to employ to, merely are because. If even one school you lot're interested in requires the SAT essay, then you should take it, regardless of whatsoever other factors. There is no mode to have merely the SAT essay by itself, so if you take the SAT without the essay and and then, afterward on, realize you demand an essay score for a school you're applying to, yous will have to retake the unabridged test.

Then, if a school you're interested in requires the SAT essay, your choice is clear: have the essay when you take the SAT. However, what if the schools you're interested in don't require the essay? If that's the case, you have some other factors to consider. Read on!

Benefits of Taking the Saturday Essay

If none of the schools yous're thinking of applying to require the SAT essay, why would yous want to have information technology? The 2 principal reasons are explained below.

#1: Yous're Covered for All Schools

Taking the SAT essay ways that, no matter which schools you lot end up applying to, you will admittedly take all their SAT requirements met. If you make up one's mind to utilize to a new school that requires the SAT essay, that won't exist a trouble because you'll already have taken it.

If you already are absolutely sure about which schools you're applying to and none of them require the essay, then this may not exist a big bargain to you. Nevertheless, if you accept a tentative listing of schools, and yous've been calculation a schoolhouse or removing a school from that list occasionally, you may want to be better safety than sorry and take the SAT essay, just in case.

Taking the SAT essay means you have all your bases covered, no matter which schools you end up applying to.

#2: A Good Score May Heave Your Awarding Slightly

While it's highly unlikely that your SAT essay will exist the deciding factor of your college application, there are some cases where information technology can give you a modest leg upward on the competition. This is the example if a school recommends, but doesn't crave the essay, and that school is peculiarly competitive.

Having a strong Saturday essay score to submit may strengthen your awarding a scrap, especially if yous are trying to show stiff English/writing skills.

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Drawbacks to Taking the Saturday Essay

In that location are as well costs to taking the Sabbatum essay; here are iii of the most common:

#1: It's Another Section to Study For

If you cull to take the essay, that means yous have an unabridged extra Saturday section to study and set for. If you already experience like yous have a ton of Sabbatum prep to do or have doubts almost staying motivated, adding on more piece of work tin make you feel stressed and end upward hurting your scores in the other SAT sections.

#2: It Makes the Exam Longer

Taking the essay volition, plainly, increase the full fourth dimension you spend taking the SAT. You're given 50 minutes to write the essay, and, including fourth dimension needed for students not taking the essay to leave and things to go settled, that will add together about an hour to the test, increasing your full SAT test fourth dimension from well-nigh three hours to four hours.

If you struggle with keeping focused or staying on your A game during long exams (and, let's exist honest, it'south not hard to lose concentration after several hours of answering SAT questions), adding an additional 60 minutes of test time can reduce your examination-taking endurance and make you lot feel tired and distracted during the essay, likely making it difficult for you to get your best score.

#three: The Essay Costs Extra

Taking the Sabbatum with the essay will also toll y'all a bit more coin. Taking the SAT without the essay costs $46, but if you choose to take the essay, it costs $xiv extra, raising the total cost of the SAT to $sixty.

Nonetheless, if you're eligible for an Saturday fee waiver, the waiver too applies to this section of the exam, so you however won't have to pay anything if you cull to take the essay.

Taking the essay probable means the cost of taking the Sabbatum will be slightly higher for you.

Should You Accept the Sat Essay? Five Scenarios to Help You Decide

Now you know what the SAT essay is and the pros and cons of taking it. So, what should you decide? Five scenarios are listed below; observe the ane that applies to your state of affairs and follow the communication in social club to brand the best decision for you.

Scenario 1: You're planning on applying to at least one school that requires the essay

As mentioned above, if even ane school you're thinking about applying to requires the Sat essay, you should take information technology in gild to avoid retaking the entire Sat again at a later appointment because you need an essay score.

Scenario two: None of the schools y'all're applying to look at essay scores

If none of the schools you're thinking about applying to even look at Sat essay scores, and then you lot shouldn't take it. Even if yous get a perfect score, if the schools don't consider essay scores, so taking information technology volition have no benefits for you.

Scenario 3: The schools you're applying to don't crave the SAT essay and aren't highly competitive

In this instance, you don't need to have the SAT essay, unless you're trying to brand up for weak writing skills in other parts of your application.

Scenario 4: The schools you're applying to recommend the Sat essay and are more competitive

For this scenario, yous should have the SAT essay in order to give your application an actress boost, unless you lot really call back you'd perform poorly or preparing for and taking the essay would cause your scores in other sections to decline.

Scenario 5: You aren't sure where you're going to apply withal

If you lot're not sure which schools y'all want to apply to, and then you lot should have the SAT essay, merely to exist condom. This style you lot're covered no affair where you end upwardly applying to college.

If the thought of figuring out which colleges to utilize to has you every bit confused as this blue panda, your safest selection is to take the Sat essay.

Conclusion

Because of the College Board's contempo decision to make the Saturday essay optional, students are at present faced with the decision of whether they should take it or not.The best way to decide is to learn the essay policy for each of the colleges you're interested in applying to. Some schools will still require the essay, some won't even await at an bidder's essay scores, and other schools don't crave the essay but will wait at your score if you do take it.

Use these school policies to help decide whether y'all should take the essay. Recollect, if you lot terminate up needing to submit an essay score, you will have to retake the unabridged SAT, so brand certain you take accurate and up-to-appointment data for each school you lot are thinking of applying to.

What's Next?

Have you lot decided to take the essay and want to know how to offset studying? Nosotros have a step-by-step guide that explains how to write a neat SAT essay.

Want more than examples of sample prompts? Hither are all of the existent Sat essay prompts that have been released by the College Lath.

Are you aiming for a perfect SAT essay score?Check out our guide on how to get a perfect 8/8/8 on the SAT essay.

Desire to amend your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide well-nigh the meridian v strategies you must exist using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for gratuitous now:

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Virtually the Writer

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biological science in several countries.