How does this choice matter?Additional Considerations/Bottom Line
It’s important to have this decision right, because then later decide to apply to colleges that require it, you cannot take the SAT/ACT essay section by itself—you would need to retake the entire test if you don’t take the SAT/ACT essay now but. Additionally, some universities will elect not to ever consist of non-essay SAT/ACT administrations inside their score that is“super of one’s tests.
Making your decision, in summary
Use the essay if some of the following are real:
1. There clearly was a possibility that is reasonable you are going to opt to connect with universities that need the SAT/ACT essay, OR
2. There was a possibility that is reasonable you can expect to connect with “reach” or “match” colleges that recommend the essay, OR
Just like many choices within the testing/college admissions procedure, choosing whether or not to make the essay that is SAT/ACT on your own university list.
-Check out this post for fundamental help with beginning your university list.
-When you are willing to talk more about your university list, subscribe to North to My Future, your free college admissions session that is strategy.
-Finally, before you go for expert assistance with finalizing your college list, check always away our premium university admissions consulting programs.
3. You’ve got currently done fairly well (scores of 14+ out of 24 in the SAT or 7+ out of 12 from the ACT) 1 on a training SAT/ACT essay. How come we state this? It will be relatively straightforward to improve your score during the SAT/ACT prep you’re already planning to do if you’re already reasonably proficient (or better) on the SAT/ACT essay. Our SAT/ACT Prep Class include essay prep at no extra fee (for SAT/ACT Individual Prep programs, you’ve got the choice to include 60 minutes of essay instruction), and essay prep needs a time investment that is minimal. For instance, inside our ACT Prep Class, we invest about 1.5 hours of course time since the essay, and throughout the last year, pupils whom took the essay enhanced their essay score the average of 1.8 points (from the 2-12 scale).
Because enhancing your essay rating is fairly simple then take the essay to showcase your skills for colleges that fall in the “essay recommend” camp if you are already proficient in writing, you may as well briefly prepare for and.
Have to look at your essay abilities? Our practice that is free SAT ACT tests include an essay rating and rubric.
Think about skipping the essay if most of the after are real:
1. You understand with reasonable certainty you will never be deciding on a universities that need the SAT/ACT essay, AND
2. You scored substandard (under 14 away from 24 regarding the SAT or under 7 away from 12 in the ACT) on a training SAT/ACT essay, showing maybe it’s harder to enhance your rating as a range that is competitive. (Note: we recommend completing essay prep anyway to see where your score falls by Practice Test if you are taking the SAT/ACT Prep Class, where essay prep is included in the class 2.)
Extra Factors
Great things about Taking the Essay
-The essay is a chance to show proficiency on paper. It is a simple way to provide your admissions profile a lift (albeit a little one), particularly if you want to showcase your skills in writing to help compensate for lower grades in English classes if you’re already good at writing, or.
-Compared into the other countries in the SAT/ACT, get yourself ready for the essay usually calls for merely a time that is small to produce significant enhancement (see just what we composed above).
-If you are taking the essay and attain a score that is reasonable you will not need to worry about the essay requirement/recommendation as you finalize your college list.
Downsides of Taking the Essay
-Taking the essay will demand an extra 40-50 mins of energy on test day, plus, in the event that you prep with Frontier Tutoring, a few hours of specific preparation time. Registering for the SAT/ACT that is official essay costs an additional $14 – $17.
-It’s theoretically possible that you may perform extremely badly in the essay on test time. Nevertheless, presuming you prepare in advance, this result is unlikely—generally, you really need to expect to rating in the exact same range as your newest training test shows. Also, it was recognized that the essay has questionable validity that is predictive so scoring slightly below your target rating regarding the essay is not likely to be materially harmful for admissions purposes. Fundamentally, you have got more to get than you must lose by get yourself ready for and using the essay.
Important Thing
If there’s a chance that is reasonable be applying to universities that want or recommend the SAT/ACT essay, go right ahead and go on it. Similar to items that need to do with university admissions, this means the kick off point for this decision is developing an initial college list—it’s as easy and also as complicated as that. The good thing is that individuals have lots of resources to assist you on your own journey. Below is a directory of the resources we’ve talked about on this page to truly get you started. As constantly, please please feel free to e mail us with questions regarding your own personal situation.
Additional Resources
North to My Future (free university admissions method session)
The Frontier 49 (GPA and SAT/ACT norms for admitted candidates at 49 popular universities)
Colleges That Need the SAT/ACT Essay
Record present at the time of 6, 2018; verify all colleges on your list before making your decision september
Soka University of America
U.S. Military Academy (West Point)
University of California (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, north park, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz)
University of Delaware
University of Miami
Colleges That Suggest the SAT/ACT Essay
Record present at the time of September 6, 2018; verify all universities on your own list before you make your final decision
Abilene Christian University
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
SUNY Stony Brook
1 they are the approximate nationwide average ratings for the SAT/ACT essay parts. Supply: CollegeBoard and ACT, Inc. 2017 National Reports. Although it is will writing services us not simple to ascertain median essay scores for admitted pupils (in comparison to determining median overall SAT/ACT scores for admitted students), particular schools (for instance the University of Ca system) do get this to information public. We do not suggest spending significant amount of time in calculating a defined target rating for the essay it self; the greater amount of significant choice is whether or perhaps not or otherwise not to go on it, and then preparing sufficiently to achieve a respectable score if you are taking it.
