What is a Good SAT Essay Score in 2024: Combined out of 24

An SAT essay is a type of essay that one writes while making an application to a new college or school. This essay gauges your reading, analysis, and writing skills as part of your admission process.

In addition, this type of essay has a unique scoring system.

A good SAT essay score should be 6 and above for the essay part of the test. However, a good SAT score for the combined test should be 18 out of 24. Most universities prefer a balanced score for each of the three parts. Therefore, they prefer a score of at least 6 for each part to give a total of 18.

How to Score Well in SAT Essays

If you want to improve your SAT score, observe the following:

1. Give a Clear Thesis

The essay should make an argument that a reader can identify easily.

Luckily, SAT offers you the main idea so the author does not have to hunt for a new one.

The thesis is great for giving direction on how you will be making your arguments.

2. Create an Outline

Create a sketch of the points and structure of the things that you want to cover in the entire essay. This approach enables you to avoid skipping the key ideas that you want to cover in a topic.

An outline is good for you to ensure that there are no gaps in the arguments.

 3. Understand the Scoring System

The scoring system is necessary to indicate how one understood the passage. The area of scoring revolves around three items namely; reading, analysis, and writing which appear in the essay score. We rate them on a scale of between two to eight.

The reading score indicates how well the author understood the essay. The writing score exposes the cohesiveness of your essay. Finally, the analysis part indicates the author’s analytical ability to persuade the audience.

4. Have an Introduction and Conclusion  

The introduction part enables the reader to know what you want to talk about and it sets the essay structure. You can use this introduction part to set the quality and the tone of the entire essay.

In case you run short of time, you can stick with an introduction and skip the conclusion part. Typically, an introduction should include a thesis statement for you to build your argument.

5. Effective Word Choice

You should have a good command of language to make you remain effective in delivery.

You should avoid making grammatical mistakes. Furthermore, do not be repetitive.

Avoid first-person statements because you are writing an equivalent to a school paper. It is not an opinion piece.

Opt to use different words when describing the same idea. It is an opportunity to show off your vocabulary.

6. Stick on relevant Details

Your essay will be effective if you stick to just a few points. Avoid mentioning every minute detail by picking the most important item only to make your arguments. However, ensure that your facts are accurate. Convince that author by citing relevant examples

7. Answer the Prompt

Apart from summarizing your essay passage, ensure your arguments in the whole context answer the prompt. Develop ideas that connect your claim and evidence. The standard way is you use at least four or five paragraphs to keep it organized.

You should review some of the examples concerning the essay prompts you to understand what the grader expects for one to get a higher score. Understand the writing styles in terms of writing styles and persuasive elements.

8. Learn from Experts

You can build your reading and analytical skills by studying passages from reputable writers in the same field. That is the only way you can hone your skills.

Getting the right skills offers you an edge when you are tackling your SAT essay.

9. Prepare with Practice Essay

The only way you can perfect your skills is to practice frequently. You can get the samples and practice with them to replicate a situation as it would be in the real exam.

Doing so helps you to gauge your strengths and improve on your areas of weakness.

While doing practice, it would be sensible to work with a friend or a tutor to get instant feedback.

It can be a perfect experience to improve your learning skills.

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How Long is the SAT with or without an Essay?

The entire SAT takes quite some time to finish depending on whether there is an essay or not.

Commonly, if you are taking an SAT with an essay, it takes four hours with breaks. The essay section takes about 50 minutes and you will work on it at the end of the tests. The entire break time is fifteen minutes.

However, without an essay, an SAT takes 3 hours and 15 minutes with breaks inclusive. The break time takes fifteen minutes. You will dedicate three solid hours to testing without an essay.

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Tips on How to Write a Good SAT Essay

1. Adhere to Rules

Ensure that you follow the given rules. Avoid scoring a zero for failing to stick to the rules on the provided essay paper. For example, never change the question. Read the passage thoroughly to understand it well.

Make sure you understand the prompt before you get the temptation of writing your essay as soon as you go through it. The blunder can come if you write the essay fast and later realize that you did not answer the prompt as provided. As such, you should not underestimate the necessity of reading it well.

2. Divide your Time well

Typically, you have fifty minutes to write your essay.

Before you begin, divide it well and allocate each part fruitfully. For example, you can take five minutes to brainstorm key ideas about the essay.

You can use the rest of the time to create a great introduction. Make your first impression by creating a fact-filled one.

Use a few minutes to come up with good paragraphs backed by examples.

3. Take a position

Your essay argument will be about a particular issue. The audience will judge your essay based on the complexity and depth of your argument. At this point, you should take a stand on that particular issue of your argument.

You must be thorough with both sides of the issue that you are making your points about. For example, pick one side and explain why you believe that side is right.

4. Remain Consistent with the Subject

It can be tempting to alter the question to something almost similar. If your answer fails to address the provided question, you are likely to get a zero mark. Even if you change the question slightly, there is a risk that the reader may not like your answer.

5. Talk to Your Reader

The person who will be giving you a score is not a machine. When you are writing your essay, try to be interactive as if you are talking to your friend. Let your tone be formal and friendly. Even better, you can stick with simple language that makes you express yourself well without difficulty.

Use paragraphs to express your points well. Let each paragraph carry a particular idea. Also, focus on both quality and quantity. You will only get a full score if your response is full. An incomplete response will limit your score.

6. Proofread and edit

As you complete writing, take the last few minutes to read your passage and see if you can spot any errors.

Such could be typos and other grammatical mistakes. If you misinterpreted some information through the poor sentences section, you can edit that section until you deliver.

Edit any visible errors and read them carefully to ensure that you captured what you intended to say.

This method will assist you to ensure that you get a near-perfect document.