2018年9月25日 星期二

To SAT Essay or not to SAT Essay?

To SAT Essay or not to SAT Essay?
That is the question.
(I couldn't resist copying Shakespeare 😂😂)

As an SAT and ACT teacher, I am always asked by students if they should take the essay part of the SAT or ACT. It used to be quite a difficult question to answer, but this year it has become increasingly easy.

In a nutshell, unless one of your schools demands it, you don't need to take it. In fact, there are presently only 15 schools that absolutely want to see it. (This number could change any time, btw)
That's the good news. Now for the bad news.

Most Taiwanese students dream of attending one of the UC universities, and for some strange reason, all of those universities insist that you submit your SAT/ACT essay.

If you fall into this category, then you MUST practice the essay and aim for at least a 16/24. You won't need a very high score on it, because the SAT/ACT essay holds very little weight in the applications process.

Now, if you don't care about the UCs, like some of my students, then simply Google "SAT essay requirement" followed by the name of the university. You will quickly see if the university requires one.

If an SAT/ACT essay is "preferred" or "recommended," apparently (read the article for more details) they don't care about it at all.

This article has more to say on the subject: 
https://princetonreview.blog/2018/03/18/it-is-time-to-eliminate-the-sat-and-act-optional-essays/

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