Why has my high school made the SAT Essay mandatory when College Board discontinued it?
My school signed up all 11th grade students to take the SAT on March 24th. I am prepared (as I can get) to take to Reading and Math portions. However, I have not studied at all for the essay because I thought it was discontinued. Will admissions officers look harshly at my essay score?
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1 answer
Unfortunately, you still have to take it. The college board only canceled the essay portion for national tests, not the one your school offered. You will still have to take the essay.
However, it doesn't really matter if you prepped for the essay. Your essay doesn't impact the other scores on the test... So your Math and Reading will not be affected if you score poorly. Most of the time, the people who score well on the essay write the quickest. Try to get used to writing an essay in the amount of time you are given for the SAT. Most prep books I have looked at for SAT essays boil down to that key concept of just getting good at writing within that time limit. Your test isn't for another few weeks so that is plenty of time to prepare for this.
More info:
https://blog.collegeboard.org/January-2021-sat-subject-test-and-essay-faq
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Thank you very much for answering so quickly!