Preparing for the SAT I Writing Section

High school students preparing for college will have to face the nerve racking SAT I writing section. The writing portion of the SAT I test is a 60 minute test that includes an essay writing and a multiple-choice section.

Whether you are looking to obtain an ivy league education or pursue one of the many online education degrees, the scores you get on the writing portion of the SAT I test can determine your future. Here are some tips you can use to help make the writing portion of the SATs a little easier.

Outline Your Writing

Many SAT test takers make the mistake of jumping into the essay portion of the test without outlining their thoughts. This can result in an essay that doesn’t flow or strays off topic.

If you are looking to write a great essay, make sure you take the added time to outline your essay and plan what you are going to write. This will help you create an essay that flows and reads well.

Stay on Topic

While it might be tempting to stray off topic during your essay, it will not help your SAT scores. You will be given one topic to write about. Make sure you stay on topic and only write about the given topic.

Don’t Go For Perfection

The SAT writing section assesses your writing ability but it does not look for perfection. While writing your essay keep this in mind and don’t try to achieve perfection. Instead, focus on writing a clear essay that conveys your thoughts in an organized fashion.

Using these tips will help reduce your stress and help you get a good score on your writing SAT section.

Tips for Writing Flawless School Papers

Poster promoting reading by Charles Dickens in...

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These are two words students fear hearing most: writing assignment. The dreaded school paper. Unlike a multiple-choice test, a school paper doesn’t have one right answer. Instead, a student must clearly, and sometimes eloquently, present an argument with supportive details over the span of two to five pages, and sometimes more. And if that’s not hard enough, the paper must have proper punctuation and grammar, and no misspellings. However, the tips below will help make the next writing assignment — be it a one-pager for middles school or a 20-pager for online Bachelors programs — flawless.

Build an outline first

Before writing the first sentence map out the paper by outlining the introduction and conclusion as well as each main point that will be discussed in the body. Once the major topics are figured out, the rest of the details become easier to fill in. In contrast, writing blindly increases the chances of going off topic and writing run-on sentences.

Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite

Even the best writers in history — from Dickens to Hemingway — constantly revised their work. Going through several drafts of a school paper weeds out the weak areas, making the overall paper much stronger.

Find a writing spot

Writing takes a lot of concentration, as well as creativity. That’s why it’s important to find somewhere that is secluded but can get the creative juices flowing, either indoors or outdoors.

Undergo peer criticism

No one should proofread their own work. Instead, every writing assignment should be proofed by a classmate who can point out the flaws and make suggestions

Tips to Improve Your Writing Skills For the ACTs

Doing well on the ACTs is important and can help you get into a good college. Whether you’re planning on attending a community college, university, or getting an online college degree, taking the ACTs is a good idea. The writing portion of the ACTs is optional, but some colleges require that you take this part of the test. Here are some tips to help you do well on the ACT writing portion.

Research Examples

Before your text date, go online or use ACT prep guide books to research writing tips and examples. These will give you an idea of what types of subjects you will be writing about and show you sample pieces of other students’ writing exams. They also give you a score and reasoning as to why that student received that rating.

Don’t Rush

When you take the test, it is important that you don’t rush yourself to avoid sloppy and poorly thought out content. You have plenty of time to write. It is important that you take your time in order to do your best.

Prewrite

Begin by writing an outline. This will help you organize your paper well and establish a well-rounded and thought out piece. You should have a good idea of what you want to say before you start writing so that you aren’t constantly erasing and revising your final draft. The test center should supply a scratch piece of paper, so you can write out a rough-draft before you complete your piece.

Edit and Review

After you have completed the writing exam, make sure to reread through it. Failing to review your piece may cost you. If you have extra time, look over what you have written several times because you don’t always find mistakes the first time.