SAT Essay study tips
Before the Exam
■ Study the format presented to you in the SAT Outlines
■ Memorize several quotes by people such as:
Winston Churchill, Friedrich Nietzche, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, the Dalai Lama, Benjamin Franklin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr, Bill Gates, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Calvin Coolidge, John F Kennedy, Adam Smith, Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Mandella, Confucius, The Buddha, Napoleon, Plato, Socrates, Rousseau, Viktor Frankl, St. Augustine, Sigmund Freud, John Locke, Paul McCartney, Clint Eastwood, or any other famous musician, politician, actor, or philosopher. You can also use quotes that you have heard from your relatives (parents, grandparents, etc).
Many quotes by these people can be used for multiple question types. These will be useful in crafting your “attention grabber” at the beginning of your essay.
■ Study the personal stories of your favorite philosophers, politicians, actors, musicians, or family members. Many of these stories can also be used for multiple question types:
Example: You can answer both of these questions using the story of Nelson Mandella, who spent nearly 30 years behind prison bars in his fight for racial equality in South Africa.
SAT Prompt 1: Should we wait for good things to come, or is destiny not something we can wait for?
Here, you can show that he needed to wait 30 years for racial equality to be achieved ― therefore, he needed to wait for good things to come.
SAT Prompt 2: Do you agree that persistence is a major factor in success?
Here, you can show that he needed to continue his fight for many years before being successful ― therefore, persistence is a major factor in success.
■ Do not forget your own personal stories regarding topics such as: persistence, destiny, hard work, intelligence, pleasing others, imitating others, money, and popular culture.
Example: Remember stories when you needed to persist, such as persisting in a competition or sport. Remember stories when you needed to shape your own destiny, or wait for someone else to help you. Remember stories when you needed to work hard, or when you needed to upset/please another person for some reason. These personal stories may help you craft your essay, and will give it a more personal, emotional touch.
