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SAT Discontinues Subject Tests And Optional Essay

Elissa Nadworny

Eda Uzunlar

Updated at 5:03 p.m. ET

The College Board announced on Tuesday that it will discontinue the optional essay component of the SAT and that it will no longer offer subject tests in U.S. history, languages and math, among other topics. The organization, which administers the college entrance exam in addition to several other tests, including Advanced Placement exams, will instead focus efforts on a new digital version of the SAT.

In the announcement, the organization cited the coronavirus pandemic for these changes: "The pandemic accelerated a process already underway at the College Board to reduce and simplify demands on students."

College entrance exams have had a hard go of it during the pandemic. Many in-person testing dates for the SAT were canceled because of social distancing needs and closed high school buildings; a previous digital version of the SAT was scrapped in June after technical difficulties; and hundreds of colleges have removed the exam from admissions requirements , in some cases permanently.

Few colleges require the optional writing portion of the SAT or the subject tests, though students can still submit them to supplement their college applications. The AP exams have become far more important in demonstrating mastery of subjects and, in some cases, providing college credit.

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Colleges are backing off sat, act scores — but the exams will be hard to shake.

"Removing the subject tests can remove a barrier for students," says Ashley L. Bennett, director of college counseling at KIPP Sunnyside High School in Houston. But, she adds, "I believe that standardized testing in general needs to be less emphasized in the college search process."

Elizabeth Heaton advises families about college admissions at College Coach in Watertown, Mass. She thinks the changes could help put some students on a more level playing field. "For students who aren't getting great advising, it is nice to see that they haven't been eliminated from competition just by virtue of not having a test that they may not have known about."

But Catalina Cifuentes, who works to promote college access in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, has reservations. She worries that removing the SAT subject tests will create more barriers for her students, rather than less.

"Hundreds of my students take the subject tests in Spanish and other languages because it provides them an opportunity to show their understanding of a second language," explains Cifuentes.

Many of her students speak a second language at home and would be the first in their family to go to college.

She says her college-bound students often enroll in the University of California and California State University systems, which both require two years of coursework in another language for admission. The SAT foreign-language tests sometimes filled that requirement, but the removal of these exams means Cifuentes will have to shift gears.

"We will need to work closely with our world language teachers to expand on ideas ... for students who already read, write and speak another language," she says.

Her job is all about helping school districts adapt to decisions from colleges and organizations like the College Board, Cifuentes explains.

"Every decision they discuss — there's real repercussions. There's no right or wrong decision, but with everything they do, it should be students first."

Eda Uzunlar is an intern on NPR's Education Desk.

Correction Jan. 20, 2021

A previous version of this story misspelled Ashley L. Bennett's name.

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SAT Subject Tests + Essay Discontinued: How This Impacts College Admissions

What’s covered:.

• Major Changes to the SAT
• Reasons for These Changes
• How This Will Impact the 2020-2021 Admissions Cycle
• Which Students Will This Negatively Impact?
• How Can Students Compensate?

On January 19, 2021, the College Board announced some major changes to the SAT. Here’s a summary of these changes and a deep dive into how they’ll impact college admissions. 

Major Changes to the SAT 

Sat subject tests are discontinued.

SAT Subject Tests will no longer be offered to domestic students, effective immediately. There will still be two more administrations in May and June 2021 for international students. 

Domestic students will have their registration canceled automatically, and they will be refunded.

The College Board states that Subject Tests no longer offer the same value as they once did, as AP exams are now more widely available and cover a greater range of subjects. Eliminating the Subject Tests will also open up seats to students who need to take the SAT (and haven’t had the chance to do so during the pandemic).

Colleges that used to require SAT Subject Tests will decide how to adjust their policy going forward.

The SAT Essay is Discontinued

For similar reasons, the SAT Essay is also no longer offered after June 2021. Only students in select states will have access, if they’re taking the SAT through the SAT School Day program.

Students registered for the Essay in Spring 2021 will have the option to cancel the essay at no extra cost.

The College Board recognizes that there are many other opportunities for students to demonstrate their writing abilities, such as the college essays. The SAT will continue to evaluate writing and editing skills through the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing sections, which are “among the most effective and predictive parts” of the test.

There Will Eventually Be a Fully-Digital SAT

The College Board is making “substantial investments” in developing a digital test, likely encouraged by the pandemic and the difficulty it posed to testing in-person. They state that they will release further details this spring.

Reasons Behind These Changes

Finances and accessibility.

For the College Board, this move is all about finances. Replacing the SAT Subject Tests with AP exams reduces costs. More importantly, it increases revenue because the College Board charges around $30 per SAT Subject Test versus $95 per AP exam. 

By removing Subject Tests, the College Board can save money in administering and scoring the exams, and reduce the operational complexity that goes into setting up testing spaces. Getting rid of the SAT’s essay component makes the test completely multiple-choice, meaning the grading can now be completely automated, and the company saves even more money by not having to pay essay scorers. 

Growing concerns about the SAT catering to more privileged and affluent students may also have factored into this decision. Getting rid of these additional testing requirements may increase perceived accessibility in standardized testing, though students also have unequal access to AP exams. 

The Decline of Subject Tests

Furthermore, SAT Subject Tests were already on the decline. The number of test-takers peaked at 300,000 in 2011, but in recent years, it’s dropped to around 200,000 students. Most universities have eliminated Subject Test requirements, either making the Subject Tests optional or not considering scores at all. Overall, Subject Tests have played less and less of a role in admissions every year, except at the 50-60 most selective colleges in the country. 

The purpose of Subject Tests was to provide another dimension along which colleges could compare applicants. However, top applicants to selective colleges almost always had a score of 750+, usually on multiple exams, so they became less of a competitive advantage and more of a requirement. In addition, the language Subject Tests were mainly being taken by native speakers, which didn’t give colleges helpful information in making admissions decisions, so colleges started to discount strong scores on those exams 

It had reached the point where not taking the Subject Tests could hurt students’ chances of admission, but there was essentially no advantage to having those high scores.

The Redundancy of the SAT Essay

The SAT Essay similarly decreased in importance in the admissions process. On the old version of the SAT (the 2400 point version), the essay used to factor into your overall Writing score. This meant you needed a good score on the essay in order to have a strong Writing score, and a strong SAT score overall. 

Now that the essay is no longer a part of the overall SAT score (on the 1600 point scale), colleges have been giving it less and less weight in the admissions process. The same is true for the ACT essay, and the ACT might end up cancelling its essay section for similar reasons. 

Furthermore, colleges have many other opportunities to evaluate your writing, namely through college essays. Some schools such as Princeton have also started asking for a graded paper as part of the application.

How will this affect the 2021-2022 admissions cycle?

This new policy is going to have a major effect on the 2021-2022 admissions cycle, impacting current juniors and younger students. Due to the pandemic, most universities went test optional or test-blind for the SAT Subject Tests in 2020-2021, meaning they would not require Subject Test scores in the application, and some wouldn’t even consider them if submitted. Given this announcement from the College Board, our projection is that most schools will probably extend these policies moving forward.

Unfortunately if you already have strong SAT Subject Test scores, this means you probably won’t receive much of a boost from them during this admissions cycle.

One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of special programs at colleges do require SAT Subject Tests. These include guaranteed admission medical programs (BS/MD programs) and Honors colleges. If you’re interested in these types of programs, you’ll need to keep close track of their specific policies. Consider reaching out to the program in a couple of months to see where they’re at in terms of accepting and considering Subject Test scores. Some programs might ask for AP score or minimum grades in specific courses in lieu of Subject Tests. 

Which students will this negatively impact?

This policy could potentially harm applicants who were banking on high Subject Test scores to give them a competitive advantage. 

If you are homeschooled or attend a school that doesn’t offer AP classes or has an unknown or uncommon course system, the lack of Subject Tests could affect your application negatively. Subject Tests traditionally provide a standardized metric that helps admissions officers compare students from these backgrounds to the larger applicant pool. However, this method of comparison is now gone, making it harder for applicants in these situations to easily be sized up in the admissions process. 

Similarly, this change may hurt you if your extracurricular profile doesn’t match up with your area of interest in academics, and you plan on relying on Subject Tests to demonstrate your ability in a specific field. Others have used Subject tests to make up for poor grades in a course or even to compensate for a weaker overall GPA. Now that the Subject Test advantage is gone, if you’re in these positions will have to compensate in other areas of their application.

How can students compensate?

With this new policy in mind, AP exams, SAT scores, and essays will now all play a slightly bigger role in the decisions process.

The main alternative to Subject Tests will be AP (or IB) tests, which can showcase expertise in a subject area on a national, standardized scale similar to Subject Tests. The Biology, Chemistry, Physics, U.S. History, and World History AP exams all test at about the same level as their Subject Test counterparts. That said, the tests have different formats, and APs have free response and other question styles while the Subject Tests were multiple choice. But, the material itself is essentially the same. 

However, not all Subject Tests have an AP test equivalent. For instance, the AP Literature exams test at a higher level than the Literature subject test, and has an essay component as well. Similarly, the Math I and II exams cover high school material, from Algebra 2 through Precalculus. The AP math tests, Calc AB, BC, and Statistics, don’t really include Precalculus, and have additional material, meaning they’re not directly comparable. 

For languages, AP tests have a Japanese, German, French, Latin, Italian, Chinese, and two different Spanish exams. This more or less lines up with the Subject Tests, although there is no comparable AP exam for Modern Hebrew and Korean.

Outside of math and literature, you’re not missing out on too much as long as you take the AP exams. However, the stakes will ramp up for AP scores and you’ll want mostly 5’s with minimal 4’s to be competitive at top schools that have historically placed importance on Subject Tests. 

The SAT itself will also carry more weight, so you might want to consider doubling down on increasing your score. 

Furthermore, admissions profiles for super selective schools now have one less data point, so there’s going to be an increase in the importance of the subjective elements of your application. This is largely driven by your essays — so expending extra effort on this portion of your application could help alleviate the lost advantage from Subject Tests. 

If you’re a future college applicant, know that we are in unprecedented times and these policy changes are probably the first of many to come. As you craft your admissions profile, it is important to stay informed about any changes and consider how they might impact you. Stay tuned to CollegeVine on our blog and livestreams , where we’re constantly working to research and interpret the most up-to-date data in our admissions tips to help demystify the admissions process. 

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

clock This article was published more than  3 years ago

College Board is scrapping SAT’s optional essay and subject tests

Two major stress points in the grueling rituals of college admissions testing are vanishing this year: the optional essay-writing section of the SAT and the supplementary exams in various fields known as SAT subject tests.

The College Board announced Tuesday that it will discontinue those assessments. Citing the coronavirus crisis, officials said the pandemic has “accelerated a process already underway at the College Board to reduce and simplify demands on students.”

The testing organization, based in New York, also revealed the launch of a process to revise the main SAT, aiming to make the admission test “more flexible” and “streamlined” and enable students to take the exam digitally instead of with pencil and paper.

There were few details available on how the main SAT might be changed. David Coleman, chief executive of the College Board, said the organization is not pursuing an at-home version of the exam. He said more information would be coming in April.

The pandemic, which shuttered schools in March and continues to disrupt all levels of education, has created unprecedented turmoil for the SAT and the rival ACT admission test. Many college-bound students have struggled since spring to find testing centers available at the right time and place.

With some exceptions, colleges and universities have ended or temporarily suspended testing requirements. Some college admissions leaders have concluded that SAT or ACT scores are not needed to choose a class and that testing requirements might deter otherwise worthy applicants. Others are making temporary concessions to the reality of the pandemic upheaval and uneven access to testing.

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In 2020, the College Board said, students filed 2.2 million registrations to take the SAT on a weekend. But only about 900,000 tests were taken during those sessions as numerous exam centers closed for public health reasons, sometimes with little notice. Hundreds of thousands more SATs were administered last year through publicly funded programs during school days.

Even before the pandemic, the subject tests and the optional essay were losing influence. Fewer schools were requiring applicants to take them, and many experts questioned their value.

The subject tests, lasting an hour apiece, used multiple-choice questions to cover discrete topics such as math, literature, history, biology, chemistry, physics and various foreign languages. The maximum score for each was 800.

These tests long served a niche role in admissions as a way for students to amass extra credentials showing their prowess for ultracompetitive schools. For many years, Ivy League schools and others, including Georgetown University, recommended, encouraged or accepted subject test scores in addition to the scores they required from the main SAT or ACT. In the high school Class of 2017, about 220,000 students chose to take at least one subject test.

Fewer students are taking them. Few colleges require them. So why are SAT subject tests still needed?

But use of the subject tests has dwindled. The tests also have seemed in some ways to overlap with the College Board’s Advanced Placement testing program. AP tests, which are longer and include free-response questions, have proliferated in recent years. So a student who scored well on an AP calculus test, for example, might wonder why it would be necessary to also take an SAT subject test in math.

“AP provides a much richer and more flexible way for students to distinguish themselves,” Coleman said. The wide availability of AP programs, he said, make subject tests less necessary. More than 1.2 million students in the high school Class of 2019 took at least one AP test.

The College Board said it will no longer offer subject tests to U.S. students, effective immediately, and it will phase them out for international students by next summer.

The main SAT, which takes three hours, not including breaks, has one section on mathematics and another on evidence-based reading and writing. Each is worth up to 800 points. The reading and writing section covers editing and other language skills through multiple-choice questions.

The optional essay adds 50 minutes to the main test. Its score is reported separately and does not factor into the main score. About 1.2 million students in the Class of 2020 took the SAT with the essay — more than half of all who took the exam.

The modern SAT first included an essay prompt in 2005, at the urging of some in higher education, including leaders of the University of California, who thought that an independent measure of free-response writing was essential for admissions.

The most recent version of the essay assessment, which debuted in 2016 , is an analytic writing exercise that asks students to respond to a text. The College Board has said it is meant to resemble a “typical college writing assignment.” The ACT also includes an optional essay.

But enthusiasm for these essays has waned. Many colleges have found the essay scores are not useful or necessary for admissions. In 2018, Harvard University and numerous other highly selective schools dropped their requirement for students to submit an essay score. Last year, University of California officials took the same step as part of a larger policy shift to phase out use of the SAT and ACT.

Pencils down: Major colleges stop requiring essay test for admission

Even though few schools still require the essay scores, many students fret over whether they should take the essay option, and whether their essay scores are good enough to achieve their goals. Now, the College Board is pulling the plug on the essay in all but a few places.

The SAT essay will continue to be offered through June to anyone who wants to take it. After that, the College Board said, it will be available only in certain states, including Delaware and Oklahoma, that use the SAT for school accountability measurement and offer the test during the school day.

Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid at Yale University, applauded the College Board’s announcement. Yale recently stopped considering SAT subject test scores, he said. Quinlan said the SAT’s optional essay had limited value. “The essay score never really became a part of our review process,” Quinlan said.

Quinlan said he is inclined to favor revisions to the SAT that will make it more flexible and accessible and available in a digital format. “They’re going to have to plan, take time, do their due diligence,” he said of the College Board. “It will be a lift, but I think they are up for it.”

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College Board Eliminates SAT Subject Tests and Essay

The College Board will permanently eliminate the SAT Subject Tests or SAT with essay to better adapt to the pandemic-era admissions process, the company announced last Tuesday.

“As students and colleges adapt to new realities and changes to the college admissions process, the College Board is making sure our programs adapt with them,” the statement reads. “The pandemic accelerated a process already underway at the College Board to reduce and simplify demands on students.”

While the tests have been canceled for students registered in the U.S., College Board will continue to administer the Subject Tests — exams that assess specific topics, such as Chemistry, World History, or French — and SAT with essay to international students through June 2021.

Jay R. Rosner, executive director of the Princeton Review Foundation, described the use of the SAT Subject Tests and SAT essay in college admissions as “steadily diminishing.”

“The deaths of both the essay and subject tests are several years overdue,” Rosner wrote. “Harvard will eventually see the light and jettison the SAT, but maybe not without a fight.”

Harvard College spokesperson Rachael Dane said the Admissions Office will still review all test materials submitted by applicants.

“Harvard admission officers review all material that an applicant submits, so if a student has already taken Subject Tests or the essay portion of the SAT, they may still submit it along with their other application materials,” Dane wrote.

Harvard College — along with its peer institutions — removed standardized test requirements for this year’s application cycle given the challenge of scheduling tests with Covid-19 restrictions.

Brian Taylor, managing director of private college consulting service Ivy Coach, said College Board’s decision was "entirely predictable."

“This was an entirely predictable move by College Board,” Taylor said. “When certain elite schools make a move, other universities soon thereafter follow their lead. College Board read the writing on the wall.”

In eliminating the SAT Subject Tests, College Board could make AP exams — end-of-course tests offered by the same company — more profitable, Taylor speculated.

“AP exams are already hugely important in highly selective college admissions,” Taylor wrote. “This move by College Board hammers home their importance.”

“These exams, which went online last year, are also more of a revenue driver for College Board,” he added. “Each test costs test-takers around $95, whereas SAT Subject Tests cost test-takers around $26.”

Conner M. Huey, an admitted student to the Class of 2025, had taken one SAT Subject Test, but not the SAT due to the limited availability of testing centers. He wrote in an email that he had “mixed feelings” about the removal of the Subject Tests.

“In a way, it definitely makes college admissions less driven by test scores and more holistic, which I greatly appreciate,” Huey wrote.

“I am concerned, however, that this will lead to increased stress for students since they may feel the need to compensate for what would have been excellent Subject Test scores,” he added. “In a sense, I think by removing the pressure of more standardized tests for students, I believe another pressure has been amplified.”

—Staff writer Vivi E. Lu can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Dekyi T. Tsotsong can be reached at [email protected].

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College Board Ends SAT Subject Tests and Optional Essay

The word is out…

College Board is no longer offering the SAT Subject Test and is removing the optional essay portion of the SAT.

The subject test has been removed effective immediately, and the optional essay will end in June 2021.

This decision comes amidst the many changes 2020 (and now 2021) has brought to the college admissions landscape. While some colleges and universities have temporarily lifted any requirements on testing scores due to the coronavirus pandemic, others have opted to forgo them indefinitely.

Now, the subject test and the optional essays are also on their way out.

College Board says it’s removing both to reduce the workload on college-bound high school students.

The subject tests often duplicate what can be shown in AP courses and testing, it says.

And, students have myriad opportunities to convey their personal experiences and showcase their writing abilities, that the optional essay also becomes redundant.

For more answers to all your pressing SAT Subject Test and SAT optional essay concerns—such as future testing dates and international implications—see the College Board blog post and FAQs here .

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On January 19th, College Board announced a few significant updates in regards to its SAT Suite of Assessments, including the elimination of the optional essay portion of the SAT and the discontinuance of the SAT Subject Tests (SAT II tests). Let’s take a look at these changes and how they might affect students’ plans for the spring of 2021 and beyond.

In the release, College Board announced that the optional essay will be discontinued from the SAT following the June 2021 test date, with the exception of school day administrations in states which require the essay for evaluative purposes. Students currently registered to take the exam with essay between now and June will have the option to cancel the essay portion via their online account with no change fees up until the test’s registration deadline. In their statement, College Board observed: “This decision recognizes that there are other ways for students to demonstrate their mastery of essay writing. At the same time, writing remains essential to college readiness, and the SAT will continue to measure writing and editing skills.”

Although the vast majority of colleges no longer require (or even recommend, in many cases) students to submit SAT Essay scores, it is somewhat unclear what effect College Board’s announcement will have on the few schools that still utilize the essay portion of the exam in the admission process. Ultimately, the best advice for students and families is likely to check with any colleges they are interested in to see what they recommend, but it seems likely that the SAT essay will not play any role in college admissions for any students in the class of 2022 and beyond.

As a tutor aware of the pressures facing students preparing for the test, I see the announcement as a welcome change. The removal of the optional essay, which was only valued by a small number of schools and did not contribute to students’ overall composite score out of 1600, does offer many benefits to students preparing for the SAT. In addition to reducing the cost of the exam by $15, it shortens the already lengthy test by nearly an hour, which may allow students to devote more energy and focus to the four primary sections (Reading, Writing and Language, No-Calculator Math, and Calculator Math) which contribute to their overall score. Additionally, it allows students to allocate more study time towards other endeavors, whether those be further test prep, academic coursework, extracurricular activities, or even developing a stronger college admissions essay.

College Board Will No Longer Offer SAT Subject Tests

College Board also announced its discontinuation of the SAT Subject Tests, also known as SAT II tests, effective immediately in the U.S. and beginning June 2021 internationally. U.S students registered to take SAT Subject tests in this spring will have their registrations cancelled automatically and their registration fees refunded. Because the SAT Subject Tests are often used for a wider variety of purposes internationally, College Board will offer two final administrations of the exam to international students in May and June of 2021. As to how this might affect the applications of students who already took any SAT Subject Tests, College Board states:

We’ve reached out to our member colleges, and they’ll decide whether and how to consider students’ Subject Test scores. Students should check colleges’ websites for the most up-to-date information on their application policies.

Ultimately, this probably will not have a large role on the college admissions process for most schools . As of the time of the announcement, very few schools recommended students submit SAT Subject Test scores, and while each college is free to decide how to handle scores from previous administrations of the test and what effect this may have on its admission policies, it is rare for a college to alter its admissions policy in a way which penalizes a student for events that are beyond their control. 

College Board attributes its decision to discontinue the tests to the widespread availability of its AP testing, which they consider to render SAT Subject Tests as unnecessary in demonstrating students’ academic knowledge. Both AP exams and SAT Subject Tests are designed as content specific, supplemental exams which allow students to demonstrate their proficiency and interest in specific subjects, and both differ significantly from the standard SAT in their reliance on students’ prior knowledge and comprehension rather than on critical analysis and general problem solving ability. However, there are also some key differences students may wish to be aware of when deciding how to alter their test prep in absence of the SAT Subject Tests . Firstly, because AP exams offer students opportunities to earn valuable college credits, the level of rigor on the exams is closer to that of a first-year college course than to the high school curriculum covered on the SAT Subject Tests . Additionally, there are several key differences in the structure and scoring of the exams:

While the long term effects that these changes might have on students currently preparing for the exams of spring 2021 and beyond remain to be seen, understanding their immediate effects can help students develop effective plans and ease concerns. Additionally, the cancellation of the SAT Subject tests will likely allow schools to offer a greater number of seats to students seeking to register for the SAT this spring.

 I would encourage any students or families with questions or concerns to reach out to their guidance counselor or a test prep professional to discuss how this impacts their current plans.

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College Board will no longer offer SAT's optional essay and subject tests amid COVID-19 pandemic

PHILADELPHIA -- The SAT's optional essay and subject tests have been nixed by the College Board, the latest step away from standardized testing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As students and colleges adapt to new realities and changes to the college admissions process, College Board is making sure our programs adapt with them. We're making some changes to reduce demands on students," the organization said in a statement.

The subject tests will still be offered for international students, but only for two more sessions -- in May and June of 2021.

Students already registered for subject tests will be automatically refunded, the organization said. Those registered for the SAT essay will still be able to take the test through June 2021.

In response to why the organization is discontinuing the SAT essay, College Board again referenced the "changing needs" of students and colleges.

"This change simply streamlines the process for students who have other, more relevant opportunities to show they can write an essay as part of the work they're already doing on their path to college," it said in a statement.

Though this change by College Board is permanent, the last few months have seen many schools temporarily step away from requiring college-readiness exams.

Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California system, for example, all dropped their SAT and ACT requirements for the year -- with the UC system suspending them until at least 2024.

At the same time, more and more students and parents have argued that the tests should be optional on a permanent basis, saying that the tests aren't a true reflection of a student's intelligence or academic ability.

An analysis by Inside Higher Ed, for example, found that the lowest average scores for each part of the SAT came from students with less than $20,000 in family income, while the highest scores came from those with more than $200,000 in family income.

Still, College Board and ACT, Inc. have defended their tests, arguing they are still widely used and provide a standardized measure of academic readiness.

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The SAT Eliminated Its Essay. Now What?

College Board announced last month it will  no longer offer its SAT Subject Tests  effective immediately and eliminate the essay portion (except for states where the essay is required for School Day test administrations).

While the Subject Tests’ elimination made a big splash, the scrapping of the essay likely impacts many more students:  fewer than 500,000  Subject Tests were taken yearly (and students often took multiple Subject Tests, so this represents even fewer students), but  over 1.2 million  took the SAT essay in the class of 2020.

Students will likely welcome the elimination of the essay. Removing the SAT essay means admissions teams will no longer consider the score of a single, timed essay completed at the end of a three-hour-long test.

College Board was  advocating  for the essay’s validity and usefulness in predicting college performance as recently as 2019; instead, college admissions counselors will now rely on a much larger data set: years of high school essay writing in addition to the essays written in the application process.

It’s worth noting that the SAT still includes a rigorous writing and language section, which assesses proofreading skills, so there’s no escaping an important assessment of editing skills, but the essay writing portion is no more.

Some Context: SAT’s Century of Changes 

Over its near century-long existence, the SAT has adjusted both its name and its construct multiple times. Therefore, removing the essay component is not necessarily as momentous as it may be perceived.

In fact, the essay was only  added in 2005 , and this most recent iteration of the essay (a 50-minute rhetorical analysis of a provided persuasive text) has only been part of the test since 2016.

Over the last few years,  fewer and fewer schools  have required the SAT essay as part of a student’s application. In many ways, this change was simply following colleges and admissions teams’ lead.

Better Way to Assess Writing Ability

Indeed, while the  grading rubric behind the SAT essay is valuable (focusing on important principles of evidence-based reading writing), its administration often provides students with little opportunity to demonstrate their true skills in that arena. First, consider the circumstances under which students write the essay: during a 50-minute block at the end of a three-hour test. Second, consider the grading conditions: graders are expected to score  20 to 30 essays per hour , and there have  long been concerns  about the accuracy of the grading.

In other words, the SAT essay does not reflect the kind of extensive subject-matter engagement required for college-level writing, and its grading doesn’t reflect the assessment most college professors provide for written work.

In the end, eliminating the essay means that college admissions teams will continue to focus on a much better measure of students’ writing ability: four years of sustained writing in English and social studies classes reflected in grades in high school transcripts along with essays carefully crafted throughout the application process.

These examples of writing show not only students’ mastery of writing but also their progress over time, which serves as the best index to their ability to maintain a high level of performance or learn and apply new skills, both essential for success in college.

Ongoing Need for Rigorous Writing Instruction 

College Board explained its elimination of both the essay and Subject Tests as part of an effort to simplify the SAT. Indeed, AP test scores can stand in for the latter and essay composition grades and application essays for the former.

While the ACT has not yet made any indication that it plans to eliminate its optional essay, the SAT’s change is a welcome simplification for test-takers and admissions teams.

College readiness, however, will still require mastery of both grammar and essay composition skills, and admissions officers will always be looking for evidence of mastery of these essential skills.

While the SAT essay is no more, students still need to demonstrate competence in essay composition and proofreading. Educators still need to ensure that students can develop cogent, evidence-based, persuasive arguments and have the mechanical writing skills to share those arguments effectively.

While the SAT is transient, the relevance of those skills and their necessity for college and career readiness persists.

DISCLAIMER!  The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The College Post.

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The SAT Announces Cancellation Of Essay & Subject Tests

• Updated On December 15, 2023
• Published In SAT 👩‍🎓

The results of the SAT, a standardised test, are essential for your entry to some of the most prestigious universities in the USA and Canada. It assesses an individual’s ability to solve mathematical equations and speak the English language. Over the years, the SAT has seen its fair share of alterations. Since the coronavirus hit our lives, we’ve been left to adapt to the realities of the world, especially students wanting to get admission into well-known universities.  The College Board, the organisation which administers the SAT test , is also ensuring the universities adapt to the times. That is why they’re making some changes to reduce the demands of students as well. One of the major changes from their end is cancelling the SAT Easy test. This decision by the Board was taken last year. In this blog, we’ll cover this new change, what it means for the students, and how the SAT Essay Cancelled affect college admissions.

Table of Contents

SAT Essay Cancelled

As per the notification by the College Board, they will no longer offer the SAT Essay to high school students. It means that school students will no longer be able to schedule to take the SAT Essay exam. However, there’s an exception to this rule. If a student is required to take the SAT Essay exam as part of the high school graduation requirements, they may take the test. Although, there’s a good chance that the states requiring this will drop the requirement in the future. As a student, you must be up to date with the latest updates by staying in touch with your guiding counsellors or high school administrators.

SAT Subject Test Discontinued

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Like the SAT Essay, the College Board has also decided to cancel the SAT Subject Test. As per the Board, this test doesn’t offer the same value that it once did. The Board used to offer subject tests on topics like grammar, world history, Latin, modern Hebrew, and math.

Reasons For Discontinuing SAT Essay

As mentioned above, the Covid-19 pandemic has been hard for everyone. However, it was especially tough on high school students and the College Board. The SATs were cancelled repeatedly, while many institutes dropped the SAT requirement entirely in the 2020-2022 phase of admissions. The College Board felt that dropping the SAT essay would help reduce the demands for students for now and in the future. Many experts feel that this decision is also a timely and practical one because most universities don’t require SAT Essay scores as part of the admissions process. Many students had already started dropping the SAT Essay test before this notification. In 2020, hardly 57% of students took the essay section with the SAT exam. That is why it’s believed the College Board may have dropped the SAT essay for operational and financial reasons, as well. Getting rid of the essay portion makes the SAT test entirely multiple-choice, allowing automated grading to occur. As a result, the Board would not have to pay the essay scorers. Moreover, it would also pave the way for a level playing field. Many felt that SAT only catered to the privileged and affluent students. Getting rid of the SAT Essay and subject test requirements may enhance perceived accessibility in standardised testing. For similar reasons, the ACT might end up cancelling the ACT Essay, as well.

Reasons For Discontinuing SAT Subject Test

The main reason behind discontinuing the SAT Subject test is the expanded reach of AP exams. With each passing year, AP tests have become more widespread and cover a range of subjects. Moreover, eliminating the subject tests will open seats to students who need to take the SAT and haven’t had the chance to do so due to the coronavirus pandemic. The widespread availability of the AP exam had led to most universities eliminating the subject test requirements. Plus, the language subject tests were mainly being taken by native speakers. So, colleges were not getting vital information in making admission decisions through this test.

Impact of Cancellation on the Students

To put it simply, students wouldn’t be able to take the SAT Essay test unless it is a part of an SAT School Days Requirements. This notification is most impactful for students who had planned to use their essay scores to make their applications stand out from the crowd. For instance, there have been students in the past who’d hoped their essay scores would help overcome a low overall GPA or math score. However, that wouldn’t be an option for the students anymore.

Impact of Cancellation on Admission Process

If your college required the SAT essay in the past, there are going to be various changes that one may see in the admission process. While some universities or schools may drop the essay requirement, others may ask you to submit additional writing samples to fulfil that requirement. Something similar is also possible with departments that used the SAT Essay for the selection process. So, students applying to literature degrees or programmes that require lots of writing (rigorous writing skills) may have to submit additional college essays samples or take a department-specific placement test. However, this decision likely wouldn’t change anything for students applying to universities where the SAT Essay wasn’t a college admissions process requirement in the first place. The reason is that the admission process isn’t affected by the College Board’s policies.

Next Moves to be Made by the Students

Students should check with their potential universities and schools about the admission process. It’ll allow them to see how the new SAT Essay policies will affect their chances and college application. In such a scenario, admission counsellors can be a great help. Some colleges might ask for AP subject test scores or minimum grades in place of subject tests in specific courses from an applicant. SAT Exam For 2022

Encouraged by the coronavirus pandemic, the College Board has been making substantial investments in making the SAT more inclusive and relevant. That is why last year, the College Board announced to discontinue the SAT Essays and Subject Test. This decision was made by the board to reduce the demand on students for both the present and the future. Plus, they feel that these sections do not offer the same value that they once did. Many colleges had already removed SAT essays scores as a selection criterion some years back. Moreover, AP tests have become widely available and cover various subjects, making them a potent replacement for SAT subject tests. They are of greater importance than ever. While the SAT Essay was an optional essay, the decision of discontinuing it is a major one. For further info on the SAT, like the registration deadline and test date information, book a free counselling session on LeapScholar today.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Will colleges still consider Essay scores if I submit them? 

They might. It will vary from college to college. That is why it is best to check with the colleges that you are interested in studying about their application process. Some may consider or require an optional SAT essay as part of their holistic review process.

How can I show my skills in specific subject areas without the opportunity to take SAT subject tests? 

Many colleges use AP scores as an indicator of a student’s ability and interest in a particular subject area. Plus, colleges also have access to the performance of an applicant in specific subjects areas through SAT scores, ACT scores, and high school transcripts, amongst others. So, you can check directly with the colleges you will apply to for alternative ways to support your application.

How can I make my college application stand out now that the SAT Essay is discontinued? 

Some ways to make your college application or registration stand out are showcasing a potent GPA, strong test scores, extracurricular experience, work experience, compelling LORs, and volunteering experience.

Is the SAT Essay Cancelled? If yes, what is the main reason behind it?

As per the College Board, the primary reason for cancelling SAT Essay was to reduce the demand on students. However, reducing finances and making the SAT more accessible for students are also key reasons.

Lalitha Manjunath

My 8-year long journey as a SAT trainer has been paved with considerable success, excellent feedback, and extremely satisfactory learning outcomes.

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Harvard and Caltech Will Require Test Scores for Admission

The universities are the latest highly selective schools to end their policies that made submitting SAT or ACT scores optional.

By Anemona Hartocollis and Stephanie Saul

Harvard will reinstate standardized testing as a requirement of admission, the university announced Thursday, becoming the latest in a series of highly competitive universities to reverse their test-optional policies.

Students applying to enter Harvard in fall 2025 and beyond will be required to submit SAT or ACT scores, though the university said a few other test scores will be accepted in “exceptional cases,” including Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests. The university had previously said it was going to keep its test-optional policy through the entering class of fall 2026.

Within hours of Harvard’s announcement, Caltech, a science and engineering institute, also said it was reinstating its testing requirements for students applying for admission in fall 2025.

The schools had been among nearly 2,000 colleges across the country that dropped test score requirements over the last few years, a trend that escalated during the pandemic when it was harder for students to get to test sites.

Dropping test score requirements was widely viewed as a tool to help diversify admissions, by encouraging poor and underrepresented students who had potential but did not score well on the tests to apply. But supporters of the tests have said without scores, it became harder to identify promising students who outperformed in their environments.

In explaining its decision to accelerate the return to testing, Harvard cited a study by Opportunity Insights , which found that test scores were a better predictor of academic success in college than high school grades and that they can help admissions officers identify highly talented students from low income groups who might otherwise had gone unnoticed.

“Standardized tests are a means for all students, regardless of their background and life experience, to provide information that is predictive of success in college and beyond,” Hopi Hoekstra, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, said in a statement announcing the move.

“In short, more information, especially such strongly predictive information, is valuable for identifying talent from across the socioeconomic range,” she added.

Caltech, in Pasadena, Calif., said that reinstating testing requirements reaffirmed the school’s “commitment as a community of scientists and engineers to using all relevant data in its decision-making processes.”

Harvard and Caltech join a growing number of schools, notable for their selectivity, that have since reversed their policies, including Brown, Yale, Dartmouth, M.I.T., Georgetown, Purdue and the University of Texas at Austin.

For Harvard, the move comes at a time of transition, and perhaps a return to more conservative policies.

Last June, the Supreme Court struck down race-conscious college admissions in cases involving Harvard and the University of North Carolina, raising fears that with the demise of affirmative action, those schools would become less diverse.

And in January, Harvard’s first Black president, Claudine Gay, resigned under pressure from critics who said she had not acted strongly enough to combat antisemitism on campus after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, and under mounting accusations of plagiarism in her academic work, which she stood by.

The provost, Alan Garber, was named interim president, while the dean of the law school, John Manning, became interim provost, the university’s second-highest administrative position. Mr. Manning is considered a strong potential candidate to replace Dr. Gay. His background stands out for his conservative associations, having clerked for the former Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia.

In the current climate on campus, a return to test scores could be seen as a return to tradition. It also may address concerns of many parents that the college admissions process, especially in elite institutions, is inscrutable and disconnected from merit.

Applications to Harvard were down by 5 percent this year, while those at many of its peer universities went up, suggesting that the recent turmoil may have dented its reputation. But it still received a staggering number of undergraduate applications — 54,008 — and admitted only 3.6 percent. Requiring test scores could make sorting through applications more manageable.

Critics of standardized tests have long raised concerns that the tests helped fuel inequality because some wealthier students raised their scores through high-priced tutoring. But recent studies have found that test scores help predict college grades, chances of graduation and post-college success, and that test scores are more reliable than high school grades, partly because of grade inflation in recent years .

But Robert Schaeffer, director of public education at FairTest, an organization that opposes standardized testing, said Thursday that the Opportunity Insights analysis had been criticized by other researchers. “Those scholars say that when you eliminate the role of wealth, test scores are not better than high school G.P.A.,” he said, adding that it is not clear whether that pattern is true among the admissions pool at super selective colleges such as Harvard.

Mr. Schaeffer said that at least 1,850 universities remain test optional, including Michigan, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin and Syracuse, which have recently extended their policies. “The vast majority of colleges will not require test scores.” An exception, he said, could be the University of North Carolina system, which is considering a plan to require tests, but only for those students with a G.P.A. below 2.8.

Acknowledging the concerns of critics, Harvard said that it would reassess the new policy regularly. The school said that test scores would be considered along with other information about an applicant’s experience, skills, talents, contributions to communities and references. They will also be looked at in the context of how other students are doing at the same high school.

“Admissions officers understand that not all students attend well-resourced schools, and those who come from modest economic backgrounds or first-generation college families may have had fewer opportunities to prepare for standardized tests,” William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of admissions and financial aid, said in a statement.

Harvard said that in the interest of selecting a diverse student body, it has enhanced financial aid and stepped up recruitment of underserved students by joining a consortium of 30 public and private universities that recruits students from rural communities.

An earlier version of this article misstated Robert Schaeffer’s position. He is the director of public education at FairTest, not the director.

How we handle corrections

Anemona Hartocollis is a national reporter for The Times, covering higher education. More about Anemona Hartocollis

Stephanie Saul reports on colleges and universities, with a recent focus on the dramatic changes in college admissions and the debate around diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education. More about Stephanie Saul

I'm a low-income high school student. I worry colleges reinstating the SAT requirement will ruin my admissions chances.

• The college admission process concerns me as top colleges reinstate the SAT requirement.
• As a low-income minority student, I can't afford expensive resources like test prep and tutoring.
• I am striving to make my college application impressive without having the best test scores.

College applications are something that stays on my mind all the time. As a high school sophomore, I have taken every AP class that is offered by my school, gotten straight A's, and maintained a high GPA to ensure my work pays off come college decision day.

But even doing everything I can, I feel my fate is still uncertain and anxiety-inducing. Do I have enough clubs? Am I as impressive as some of my other high-achieving peers? Recently, a new concern has taken over my college apprehension: SATs.

In 2020, many top colleges made standardized testing optional for the college admission process due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in January, Yale and Dartmouth reinstated standardized testing — like the SAT and ACTs — as a requirement for college applications.

This change makes me increasingly worried about my chances at some of my dream schools — especially as a low-income, minority student .

I can't afford SAT prep

Being a low-income student, doing well on the SAT is not easily achievable because of how the exam is structured. To me, it seems like the exam measures your ability to beat the test instead of your knowledge of the material.

Related stories

In order to do well on the exam, you have to prepare the test structure rather than the content. This means studying SAT strategies and having a plan of action ready for test day. From thousands of prep books to specialized tutors, many resources exist to help students do just that. The only problem is that these resources are completely out of my price range.

My low-income family cannot afford pricey preparation materials and private tutors, especially not for long periods like SAT prep requires. I am unable to seek help from my immigrant family because of their unfamiliarity with the wording and structure of the exam. Plus, my high school does not have the money to pay for test prep or afford high-caliber resources.

It is a culmination of these factors that makes me truly realize how much students in minority communities are held back from their academic goals.

It feels as if achieving an impressive score on the exam is still out of reach, no matter how hard I study. It's hard to cope with the fact that my application will be deeply affected by something I cannot control.

The SAT doesn't offer an equal playing field

It doesn't feel like an equal playing field. Unlike me, students from higher socio-economic backgrounds can afford the SATs because they have the resources to do well on the exam. I fear that my inability to afford prep will make my college applications look sub-par compared to my higher-income counterparts. My goal is to have an application that matches other high-caliber students, but I am not sure how I can do that with lower test scores .

However, I am not someone who easily gives up, especially on lifelong dreams. In recent months, I have begun working harder in my classes, extracurriculars, and SAT studies — through every resource I can find and afford.

At the end of the day, it seems that college admissions will always come back to money. For immigrant, low-income students like myself, it seems as if we always end up with the short end of the stick when it comes to our education and, more importantly, our futures.

But when my background becomes discouraging or admissions feel like they are taking over my life, I remind myself that it's not important that I attend a top college . It only matters why, and that is to fight for better opportunities for people like me.

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SAT Writing

And then, if you've chosen to take it, there's the essay. Or, more accurately, "To finish up, there's the essay." Because the last thing you'll do on the SAT (with Essay) is read a passage and write an essay analyzing its argument, all in 50 minutes.

How can you even begin to read a passage, analyze it, and write an essay about it in 50 minutes? What SAT essay structure should you follow? Is there an SAT essay format that’ll score you a top score for sure? Read on to find out the answers to these questions!

feature image credit: Pencil by Laddir Laddir , used under CC BY-SA 2.0 /Cropped from original.

UPDATE: SAT Essay No Longer Offered

In January 2021, the College Board announced that after June 2021, it would no longer offer the Essay portion of the SAT (except at schools who opt in during School Day Testing). It is now no longer possible to take the SAT Essay, unless your school is one of the small number who choose to offer it during SAT School Day Testing.

While most colleges had already made SAT Essay scores optional, this move by the College Board means no colleges now require the SAT Essay. It will also likely lead to additional college application changes such not looking at essay scores at all for the SAT or ACT, as well as potentially requiring additional 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 SAT Essay decision for everything you need to know.

What 5 Things Does Your SAT Essay Need?

To build a great SAT essay template, you need to know what it needs to include. Here are the five most important elements of any SAT essay:

#1: An Introduction

The first impression the grader will have of your writing is your essay introduction. Don't just jump right into discussing argumentative techniques — i ntroduce your analysis with a statement of what the author is arguing in the prompt. You should then briefly mention the specific persuasive techniques the author used that you'll be discussing in your essay.

#2: A Clear Thesis Statement

I've separated this out as its own point because it’s so important. You must express a precise claim about what the author's point is and what techniques she uses to argue her point; otherwise, you're not answering the essay question correctly.

This cannot be emphasized enough: SAT essay graders do not care what your stance is on the issue . They care that you understand and explain how the author argues her point.

The SAT essay task is designed for you to demonstrate that you can analyze the structure of an argument and its affect on the reader with clear and coherent reasoning. Take this example prompt, for instance:

Write an essay in which you explain how Eric Klinenberg builds an argument to persuade his audience that Americans need to greatly reduce their reliance on air-conditioning. In your essay, analyze how Klinenberg uses one or more of the features listed in the box above (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.

A bad thesis leaves you unclear on what features of the author's arguments you'll be analyzing in the essay:

The author tries to enforce to his audience by telling that air conditioning has negative effects.

This thesis doesn’t specify what features of the argument you'll be discussing, or even what Klinenberg's specific views are. It's just a (grammatically flawed) sentence that hints at Klinenberg's argument. Compare to a good thesis for the same prompt:

Through consideration of quantitative data, exploring possible counterarguments to his position, and judicious use of striking phrasings and words, Klinenberg strengthens both the logic and persuasiveness of his argument that Americans need to greatly reduce their reliance on air conditioning.

The above thesis clearly specifies both what the author's argument is and what aspects of the argument will be analyzed in the essay . If you want more practice writing strong thesis statements, use our complete list of SAT essay prompts as inspiration.

#3: Specific Examples That Support Your Point

To support your thesis, you'll need to draw on specific examples from the passage of the techniques you claim the author uses. Make sure to provide enough information for each example to make it clear how it is relevant to your thesis - and stop there. No need to paraphrase the entire passage, or explain why you agree or disagree with the author's argument - write enough that the reader can understand what your example is and be done.

#4: Explanations of the Examples That Support Your Point

It isn't enough to just summarize or paraphrase specific excerpts taken from the passage and call it a day. In each example paragraph, you must not only include details about a example, but also include an explanation of how each example demonstrates an argument technique and why it is persuasive. For instance, let's say you were planning on discussing how the author uses vivid language to persuade the reader to agree with him. Yes, you'd need to start by quoting parts of the passage where the author uses vivid language, but you then also need to explain why that example demonstrates vivid language and why it would be persuasive to the reader.

#5: A Conclusion

Your conclusion should restate your thesis and briefly mention the examples you wrote about in your essay (and how they supported your thesis ). If you haven't done it already in your essay, this is NOT the place to write about a broader context, or to contradict yourself, or to add further examples you didn't discuss. End on a strong note.

Ready to go beyond just reading about the SAT? Then you'll love the free five-day trial for our SAT Complete Prep program . Designed and written by PrepScholar SAT experts , our SAT program customizes to your skill level in over 40 subskills so that you can focus your studying on what will get you the biggest score gains.

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What’s the Best SAT Essay Format?

Now that you know what has to be in your essay, how do you fit it all in? It’s not enough to just throw in a thesis and some examples on paper and expect what you write to be an essay. You need to be organized, and when you have to organize an essay under pressure, the generic five paragraph essay format is your friend .

Just as with every five-paragraph essay you've written at school, your SAT essay should have an introduction, 2-3 body paragraphs (one paragraph for each argumentative technique you discuss), and a conclusion . Your thesis statement (which techniques you'll be analyzing in the essay) should go in both your introduction and your conclusion, with slightly different wording. And even if you're just discussing multiple examples of the same technique being used in the passage, you’ll still probably need two body paragraphs for organizational purposes.

Sock Drawer by noricum , used under CC BY-SA 2.0 /Cropped from original

SAT Essay Template Outline

So how do you write an SAT essays in this five paragraph format? I've created an SAT essay template that you can use as a guide to structure your own SAT essays, based on the following prompt:

Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Klinenberg’s claims, but rather explain how Klinenberg builds an argument to persuade his audience.

You can read the full text of the passage associated with the prompt (part of Practice Test 5) via our complete collection of official SAT essay prompts .

In the following SAT essay format, I've broken down an SAT essay into introduction, example paragraphs, and conclusion . Since I'm writing in response to a specific prompt, some of the information and facts in the template will only be useful for answering this specific prompt (although you should feel free to look for and write about the argumentative techniques I discuss in any of your essays). When responding to any SAT question, however, you can and should use the same format and structure for your own essays. To help you out, I've bolded structural words an d phrases in the below template.

Introduction (2-5 sentences)

Begin with a statement that explains the central claim of the passage's argument; this statement should provide some context for what you’ll be discussing in the essay. It can be brief if you’re short on time (1-2 sentences):

In his commentary, Eric Klinenberg conveys a strong stance against the rampant and short-sighted utilization of air conditioning (AC) nationwide. He believes AC is a massive unnecessary energy drain, and he implores the reader to reconsider the implications of constant cool comfort.

Next comes the all-important thesis statement that includes a clear outlining of what aspects of the author's argument you'll be discussing . You can be very specific (e.g. "statistics about air-conditioning usage in the US") or more vague (e.g. "quantitative data") here - the important part is that you'll be supporting your opinion with proof (1-2 sentences).

To buttress his argument, Klinenberg deftly employs quantitative data, acknowledgment of counterarguments, and vivid language.

Sample SAT essay introduction

In his commentary, Eric Klinenberg conveys a strong stance against the rampant and short-sighted utilization of air conditioning (AC) nationwide. He believes AC is a massive unnecessary energy drain, and he implores the reader to reconsider the implications of constant cool comfort. To buttress his argument, Klinenberg deftly employs quantitative data, acknowledgment of counterarguments, and vivid language.

Example 1 (6-10 sentences)

Introduce your first example with some kind of transition (1 sentence).

In his introductory paragraph, the author points to AC usage statistics to illustrate the grave magnitude of our hedonistic climate control.

In this case, the writer linked this body paragraph to the introduction by explaining how his example (AC usage statistics) relates to one of the persuasive techniques he'll be discussing (statistics): it is an example of the harm created by overuse of air-conditioning.

Next, provide relevant information about when and how in the passage the author uses this persuasive technique (4-7 sentences). Be sure to paraphrase or directly quote the passage for the strongest evidence.

He shares that “Americans use twice as much energy…as we did 20 years ago, and more than the rest of the world’s nations combined.” These staggering statements immediately give the reader pause, forcing an internal dialogue about their significant. Clearly, in the past 20 years, the American population has come nowhere close to doubling - and yet, AC energy use has doubled. This can only mean utilization per person has skyrocketed. Furthermore , the American population can comprise no more than 10% of the world’s population (400 million to the world’s 6 billion) - and yet we use more AC energy than the rest of the world. This leads to another profound inference - each American may use almost 10 times more AC energy as the average non-American. These conclusions are grave and thought-provoking.

Finally, explain how this example works to strengthen the author's argument (3-4 sentences).

By introducing incontrovertible data, Klinenberg empowers the reader to reason though her own arguments and formulate her own conclusions. The rhetorical consequence is that the reader independently and actively agrees with Klinenberg’s thesis, rather than being a passive unengaged audience member. By the virtue of her own logic, the reader is compelled to agree with Klinenberg.

Sample SAT essay body paragraph (1)

In his introductory paragraph , the author points to AC usage statistics to illustrate the grave magnitude of our hedonistic climate control. He shares that “Americans use twice as much energy…as we did 20 years ago, and more than the rest of the world’s nations combined.” These staggering statements immediately give the reader pause, forcing an internal dialogue about their significant. Clearly, in the past 20 years, the American population has come nowhere close to doubling - and yet, AC energy use has doubled. This can only mean utilization per person has skyrocketed. Furthermore , the American population can comprise no more than 10% of the world’s population (400 million to the world’s 6 billion) - and yet we use more AC energy than the rest of the world. This leads to another profound inference - each American may use almost 10 times more AC energy as the average non-American. These conclusions are grave and thought-provoking. By introducing incontrovertible data, Klinenberg empowers the reader to reason though her own arguments and formulate her own conclusions. The rhetorical consequence is that the reader independently and actively agrees with Klinenberg’s thesis, rather than being a passive unengaged audience member. By the virtue of her own logic, the reader is compelled to agree with Klinenberg.

Example 2 (6-10 sentences)

Transition from the previous paragraph into this example (1 sentence).

Quickly after this data-driven introduction , Klinenberg effectively addresses potential counterarguments to his thesis.

Provide at least one specific example of how the author uses the persuasive technique you're discussing in this paragraph (2-5 sentences).

He acknowledges that there are clear valid situations for AC use - to protect the “lives of old, sick, and frail people,” “farm workers who work in sunbaked fields,” and “workers who might otherwise wilt in searing temperatures.” By justifying several legitimate uses of air conditioning, the author heads off his most reflexive critics.

Explain how and why this example persuades the reader of the author's opinion. (3-4 sentences).

An incoming reader who has just absorbed Klinenberg’s thesis would naturally have objections - if left unaddressed, these objections would have left a continuous mental roar, obscuring the absorption of further arguments. Instead , Klinenberg quells the most common objection with a swift riposte, stressing that he is not a maniacal anti-AC militant, intent on dismantling the AC-industrial complex. With this addressed, the reader can continue further, satisfied that Klinenberg is likely to be somewhat well-reasoned and objective. Ultimately, this facilitates acceptance of his central thesis .

Sample SAT essay body paragraph (2)

Quickly after this data-driven introduction , Klinenberg effectively addresses potential counterarguments to his thesis. He acknowledges that there are clear valid situations for AC use - to protect the “lives of old, sick, and frail people,” “farm workers who work in sunbaked fields,” and “workers who might otherwise wilt in searing temperatures.” By justifying several legitimate uses of air conditioning, the author heads off his most reflexive critics. An incoming reader who has just absorbed Klinenberg’s thesis would naturally have objections - if left unaddressed, these objections would have left a continuous mental roar, obscuring the absorption of further arguments. Instead , Klinenberg quells the most common objection with a swift riposte, stressing that he is not a maniacal anti-AC militant, intent on dismantling the AC-industrial complex. With this addressed, the reader can continue further, satisfied that Klinenberg is likely to be somewhat well-reasoned and objective. Ultimately, this facilitates acceptance of his central thesis.

Example 3 (Optional, 6-10 sentences)

This paragraph is in the same format as Example 2. You should only include a third example if you think it’s strong and will help (rather than detract from) your point.

In the case of the essay we've been using as the backbone of this template, the author had the time to write a third example. Here it is, broken down in the same way as the previous example, starting with a transition from the previous paragraph (1 sentence):

When he returns to his rebuke of wanton AC use, Klinenberg employs forceful vivid language to magnify his message .

He emphasizes the blind excess of air conditioner use, comparing cooled homes to “igloos” circulating “arctic air.” Then, to underscore the unforeseen consequences of such behavior, he slides to the other extreme of the temperature spectrum, conjuring the image of “burning through fossil fuels in suicidal fashion.” This visual imagery shakes the reader from complacency. Most likely, the reader has been the beneficiary of AC use. “So, what’s the big deal?” By comparing malls to igloos and excessive energy use to suicide, Klinenberg magnifies the severity of the problem.

We are forced to consider our comfortable abode as a frigid arctic dwelling, prompting the natural question of whether we really do need our hones cold enough to see our breath indoors. The natural conclusion, in turn, is that we do not. By employing effective visual imagery, Klinenberg takes the reader through another internal dialogue, resulting in stronger acceptance of his message .

Sample SAT essay body paragraph (3)

When he returns to his rebuke of wanton AC use, Klinenberg employs forceful vivid language to magnify his message . He emphasizes the blind excess of air conditioner use, comparing cooled homes to “igloos” circulating “arctic air.” Then, to underscore the unforeseen consequences of such behavior, he slides to the other extreme of the temperature spectrum, conjuring the image of “burning through fossil fuels in suicidal fashion.” This visual imagery shakes the reader from complacency. Most likely, the reader has been the beneficiary of AC use. “So, what’s the big deal?” By comparing malls to igloos and excessive energy use to suicide, Klinenberg magnifies the severity of the problem. We are forced to consider our comfortable abode as a frigid arctic dwelling, prompting the natural question of whether we really do need our hones cold enough to see our breath indoors. The natural conclusion, in turn, is that we do not. By employing effective visual imagery, Klinenberg takes the reader through another internal dialogue, resulting in stronger acceptance of his message .

Conclusion (2-4 sentences)

Reiterate your thesis, using different words (1-2 sentences).

Overall, the passage effectively weaves quantitative data, acknowledgment of counterarguments, and vivid language to rebuke the excesses of air conditioning. The reader leaves with the strong conclusion that perhaps a bit of moderation can do the world some good.

You may also choose to mention the examples you used if you have time and if it adds anything (1-2 sentences). In this case, the author of the essay chose not to.

Sample SAT essay conclusion

The final sat essay template.

Here's what the final SAT essay template looks like (key structural words and phrases bolded):

This essay contains some inferences about what the reader may experience (e.g. that the reader is shaken from complacency by the image of suicidally burning through fossil fuels). It also has some minor grammatical and spelling errors.

Since there is no way to survey the mind of every reader and see how the majority of them react to the author's arguments, however, graders will go along with any reasonable inferences about how a reader would react to the author's argument. As far as grammatical, spelling, punctuation, or sentence structure issues, the rule is even simpler: if the error doesn't make your essay too difficult to read and understand, the people who score your essay will ignore these errors.

The essay graders will not fault you for factual inaccuracies or minor grammar/punctuation/spelling errors.

SAT Essay Format: A Quick Recap

To summarize, your SAT essay should stick to the following format:

• Start with a statement about what the author of the passage is arguing.
• Thesis with a clear statement about what argumentative techniques you'll be examining in the essay.
• Transition from introduction to a specific example that illustrates an argumentative technique.
• Brief description of when the author uses that technique and how they employ it.
• Explanation for why that example strengthens the passage author's argument
• Transition from previous paragraph to a specific example that illustrates a second argumentative technique.
• Transition from previous paragraph to a specific example that illustrates a third argumentative technique.
• Restate your thesis (in different words) and mention the examples you used to support it in your essay.

What’s Next?

Worried about putting this template into practice? Watch us write an SAT essay, step by step, to learn how to do it yourself!

Can you write a killer SAT essay in less than a page? Find out how SAT essay length affects your score here .

Want to make sure you're not leaving any stone unturned in your SAT essay prep? Read our 15 SAT Essay tips to improve your score .

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Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.

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