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In days of yore, the SAT Essay was very different. For starters, it was a required portion of the exam, scored as part of the writing section. You had a measly 25 minutes to give and support your opinion on such deep philosophical issues as the importance of privacy or whether people perform better when they can use their own methods to complete tasks.

Things are very different now. Along with the SAT itself, the SAT Essay has been completely revamped and revised. Among other things, it is now an optional portion of the exam. In light of this SAT Essay renovation, many schools will no longer require that students take the SAT Essay when they take the exam.

But what do all these changes mean for you? Is the SAT Essay important? Read on for a breakdown of the new SAT changes, information on which schools continue to require the SAT Essay, why schools do and don’t require this portion of the exam, and how to figure out if the SAT Essay is necessary or important for you.

UPDATE: SAT Essay No Longer Offered

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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.

The New SAT Essay

The SAT was revised in March 2016. The aspect of the exam that is most changed is the essay. Instead of writing a 25-minute opinion piece, you will have 50 minutes to analyze how the author of a given passage constructs his or her argument.

Additionally, instead of having the exam integrated into your composite score, you will receive a separate score for your exam that does not affect your 1600-point score. The new exam is graded out of 24 points - 8 points each in “Reading” (essentially reading comprehension), “Analysis,” and “Writing” (writing style). See our breakdown of the new rubric here .

Finally, the new essay is a completely optional portion of the exam. You don’t have to take it, and you’ll still get your 1600-point score. In this way it’s a lot like the ACT, which also has an optional essay. If you wish to register for the SAT Essay, you’ll pay an extra $11.50.

Because the essay is now optional, colleges have the option of not requiring students to send SAT Essay scores. Thus, many colleges have dropped this requirement. So who still requires the SAT Essay?

Let this creepy happy pencil guide you through the SAT Essay!

Who Requires the New SAT Essay?

According to a Kaplan poll in which 300 schools were surveyed, most schools will not require the optional SAT Essay. However, some still do recommend or require it, particularly in the most selective tier of institutions.

Notably, elite schools like the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, and the University of Chicago are divided on the issue, with some requiring the essay and some neither requiring or recommending it. In the Ivy League, Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth and Yale will continue to require the SAT Essay, and Columbia, Cornell, UPenn, and Brown will not.

Big state schools are similarly divided: for example, the University of California system and the University of Michigan both require the essay, University of Illinois and Purdue University recommend it; and Penn State, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Indiana University neither require nor recommend the essay.

For the most up-to-date information on a school’s position on the SAT Essay, check the College Board . If the school isn’t on the list, check their admissions website. Those schools that do require the essay have gone on the record with specific reasons for doing so; I’ll break those down in the next section.

Schools are divided, like this egg.

Why Do Schools Require the SAT Essay?

Given that so many schools won’t require the essay going forward, you may be curious about those that do still require it. What’s their reasoning? Based on public statements from school officials, it seems to boil down to three main reasons:

#1: More Information Is Better

Some colleges seem to feel that all of the information they can get from applicants is helpful in painting a complete picture of the applicant. Certainly the SAT Essay presents a somewhat unique data point in that there are no other standardized elements of a college application that would include specific information on an applicant’s timed writing skills. It makes sense that schools that value having all the information that it is conceivably possible to obtain about a student would require the SAT Essay.

#2: The Revised Test Is Similar to College Work

The old SAT Essay involved a fairly arbitrary task and bore no resemblance to any work students do in college. However, the revised essay engages a student’s rhetorical analysis skills and requires the kind of analytical thinking students will perform in college. Thus, some colleges require the new SAT Essay because they feel it gives valuable insight into how a student might perform with college-level work.

#3: Sending a Message on the Importance of Writing

Institutions may also require the SAT Essay simply because they wish to telegraph to the world that they believe writing is important. This was part of the rationale given by Yale as to why they would continue to require the essay.

That’s why schools require it—but what about schools that don’t require the essay? What’s their reasoning?

Cats or dogs: another hot-button issue at elite institutions

Why Don't Schools Require the SAT Essay?

There are four main reasons that schools have given for not requiring the SAT essay going forward:

#1: Consistency

Many schools already do not require the optional writing portion of the ACT. So now that the SAT Essay is also optional, it makes sense to not require it, either. This simply makes testing guidelines consistent for those schools.

#2: The Essay Is Redundant

Some schools feel that they already have sufficient evidence of an applicant’s writing capability through application essays. This is particularly true at institutions where multiple essays are required as part of the application.

#3: The SAT Essay Does Not Predict College Success

In the past, the old SAT essay has been shown to be the least predictive element of college success on the SAT. While there is not yet data on the new SAT essay’s predictive capabilities, schools have taken this opportunity to shed what they feel is basically dead weight in an application.

#4: Requiring the SAT Essay Presents a Burden to Underprivileged Students

Columbia’s primary concern is that the extra cost of the essay may be a deterrent to underprivileged students.   University of Pennsylvania has made similar statements —minority and underprivileged students are least likely to have a “complete testing profile.” So, they’ve eliminated the SAT Essay requirement in the hopes of attracting a more diverse applicant pool.

A diverse tomato pool.

So Does the SAT Essay Matter to Your College Chances?

I’ve gone over how and why schools use or don’t use the SAT Essay. But what does all of this mean for you?

There are two main questions you need to answer to determine how important the essay is for you: first, should you take the SAT Essay section, and second, how important is your score?

Should I Take the SAT Essay?

This comes down mostly to whether or not you are applying to schools that require or recommend the SAT Essay. (In college applications, I would generally err on the side of treating recommendations as nicely-worded requirements.)

If you are truly not interested in a single school that requires/recommends the essay, and you don’t see yourself changing your mind, go ahead and skip it.   However, if there’s even a chance you might be interested in a school that does require/recommend the essay, you should take it.

And if you’re applying to highly selective schools, definitely take the essay portion, because around half of them require the essay. So if you change your mind at the last minute and decide you’re applying to CalTech as well as MIT, you’ll need that essay.

I advise this because if you don’t take the essay portion and then end up needing it for even one school, you’ll have to take the entire test over again. If you’re happy with your score already, this will be a big four-hour drag for you.

You might also want to take the essay portion if you are particularly good at rhetorical analysis and timed writing. Even for colleges that don’t require the essay, a stellar score will look good.

How Important Is Your SAT Essay Score?

This is a little more complicated, as it does depend to a certain extent on the schools you are applying to. I spoke to admissions officers from several schools, and some themes emerged as to how important they consider your essay score to be, and how they use it in evaluating your application:

• The general consensus was that the essay was the least important part of the SAT overall. Admissions offices will look much more closely at your composite score.
• The SAT Essay is primarily looked at in combination with your other writing-based application materials: your admissions essay and your high school English transcripts are also used to determine your writing and language skills. Essentially, it’s a part of a facet of your application.
• That said, bombing the essay would be a red flag to admissions officers that you might not be fully prepared for college-level work.

Overall, I would advise you not to sweat your essay score too much. The most important thing is that your essay score is more or less consistent with your other test scores. It certainly doesn’t have to be perfect—if you get a 1600 and an 18 out of 24, I wouldn’t stress too much. But if you, say, have a 1500 and get a 9/24 on the essay, that’s a little more concerning, as it may cause concern among admissions officers that you aren’t prepared for college-level work.

In general, then, schools really look at the score, but it’s not one of the most important parts of your application or even your SAT score.  Your best bet if you are interested in a given school that requires the essay and you want more specific guidance how they use the essay is to call the admissions office and ask. To learn more about what a good SAT Essay score is, check out our guide to the average SAT Essay score.

Not this kind of score!

How Can I Succeed on the SAT Essay?

Luckily, it’s very possible to learn the skills to hit the SAT Essay out of the park every time. Here are some general tips:

• Learn specific persuasive and argumentative techniques that you can reference in your essay. If you can’t identify what devices authors can use to make arguments, how will you write an essay about it?
• Make sure you have a clear thesis that can be defended with evidence from the passage.
• Include an introduction and a conclusion. This will help “bracket” your great points and show that you know how to structure a solid piece of writing.
• Rely on evidence from the passage to build your argument.
• Don’t give your opinion on the issue! The new SAT essay is not opinion-based.
• Make sure you use correct grammar and academic language. (No “This passage, like my brows, is on fleek.”)
• Write at least a page.

Also see this guide to getting a perfect SAT Essay score and this one on improving your score.

Tips to success: don't fold up the Essay section into origami boats.

Final Summary and Actionables

With the new SAT making the essay section optional, many schools have chosen to neither require nor recommend that students take it. Most schools will no longer require the essay, but highly selective schools are divided on the issue.

Among those schools that do require the SAT Essay, many have gone on the record to say that they feel the essay provides a valuable additional piece of information on an applicant’s potential for college-level work. They plan on using the essay as a way to further evaluate an applicant’s writing skills, although for most of these schools it is considered the least important part of the SAT score .

At schools where the SAT Essay is not required, the essay has been eliminated for a variety of reasons: for more consistency with ACT requirements, because the Essay seems redundant or poorly predictive of college success, or to attract a more diverse applicant pool.

What does all this mean for you? If there’s even a chance you’ll apply to a school that requires or recommends the essay, take the SAT with Essay. If you don’t and end up needing it later, you’ll have to re-take the entire exam.

If you do take the SAT Essay, don’t stress too much about getting a perfect score, but do prepare enough that you are confident you won’t get a very low score compared to your composite.

What's Next?

If you're thinking about test scores and college, check out my article on the minimum SAT score for college.

Ready to get started with practice essays? Check out our thorough analysis of the SAT essay prompt and our complete list of prompts to practice with .

Aiming for a perfect SAT essay score? Read our guides to get strategies on how to get an 8/8/8 on your SAT essay .

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Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

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Absolutely Essential SAT Writing Strategies

tl;dr: The SAT essay is graded on three metrics — Reading, Analysis, and Writing — each on a scale from 1-4. To score an 8/8/8 on the SAT essay, you need to understand the rubric and keep in mind the three important parts of the essay: analyzing the prompt, outlining, and writing. Analyzing the prompt requires you to identify the author’s claim, purpose, tone, and persuasive elements that help build the argument. Outlining helps you answer the three questions for each device—why, how, and affect—to ensure you have strong analysis. Finally, when writing the essay, make sure to include an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. With these tips, you can write a great SAT essay and get the top score!

❓ What are the SAT Sections?

In the SAT, you will have 4-5 sections on the test (depending on whether you choose to take the essay section or not)! The sections are:

• Check out this video with an overview of the reading section of the SAT .
• Writing and Language (aka the Grammar section)
• Make sure to watch this video with tips and tricks for the grammar section of the SAT .
• Math (No-Calculator)
• Review the important aspects of the math section with this SAT math review part 1 and part 2 .
• Math (Calculator Allowed)
• Writing/Essay (⚠️OPTIONAL ⚠️)

If you signed up for the essay portion of the SAT, you have a relaxing 2-minute break after the math calculator section. You're going to need it, as you have 50 minutes to write a rhetorical analysis essay. ⏲️

If you are taking AP Lang or have already taken the exam, you should be pretty familiar with this format of essay. It is very similar to FRQ 2, or the rhetorical analysis essay. 📰

✍️ Mastering the Rubric

Your essay is graded on these three metrics on a scale from 1-4:

Two readers will score your essay , so the highest score you can receive is an 8 on each of the three sections. Unlike the other SAT sections, there is no percentile for the SAT essay nor a composite score (the three categories aren't "added"). 💯 Let's break down each of these three scoring categories and how you can score an 8 in all three.

This scoring category covers comprehension! Essentially, the scorers want to see if you understand the relationship between the main idea(s) and important details. To get an 8 in this scoring category, you cannot misstate facts from the passage, nor make an interpretation about facts not in the passage.

One of the main things that SAT Essay scorers will check is to ensure you have textual evidence (quotations and/or paraphrases) throughout the essay to ensure that you have a true understanding of the text. 📚

What separates an 8 from a lower score in this category is whether you have thorough (as opposed to effective) comprehension of the text and whether you are making skillful (as opposed to appropriate) use of textual evidence. The line between thorough and skillful is drawn at your consistency; if you make a misrepresentation of text in just one place, that may lower you to a 6.

To earn a 8 in the analysis category, you should be accomplishing the following:

• Offering an insightful analysis of source text.
• Evaluating the author's choice of evidence, reasoning, stylistic & persuasive elements, and/or other features that you noticed.
• Using relevant, sufficient, and strategically chosen support for your claims or points.
• Consistently focusing on features that are most relevant to addressing the task.

What separates an 8 in analysis from a lower score is whether you have strategically chosen support for claims and whether your essay is consistent in its analysis and its focus on "features most relevant to addressing the task."

The writing rubric category is exactly what it sounds like—checking your ability to write an essay! There are a number of guidelines that SAT essay scorers will be looking at, and here are a few of them that will help you earn an 8:

• A cohesive essay that effectively uses and commands language
• A precise central claim
• Skillful introduction and conclusion
• Progression of ideas that is highly effective both within paragraphs and throughout the essay
• Wide variety in sentence structures
• Consistent use of precise word choice
• Formal style and objective tone
• Strong command of English conventions, an essay free of errors

Consistency is also key to getting a high score in this category. Having a mostly cohesive essay or including a few errors could bump your score down to a 6 or below!

📖 Analyzing Prompt and Passage

On test day, you're not going to see the rubric or even the three scoring categories. All you will get is the prompt and passage. It's important you analyze and annotate the prompt and passage to ensure you can write an effective essay.

On test day, you'll see this at the beginning of the essay.

The most important thing to do before you even start reading the passage is to read the given context. In this example, we know that the article is from the Huffington Post and the author Peter Goodman is writing about crisis and foreign policy. 🔥

Then, you'll read a passage about an argument written for a broad audience. In that passage, the author will make a claim, and use different techniques to persuade the audience of that claim.

Since you will be writing about how the author uses different techniques in the passage to make their argument more persuasive, that is exactly what you should look out for while writing your essay. 🔍

When reading the passage, you'll want to look at the three bullet points given in the prompt: specific factual evidence or examples, reasoning that connects evidence and claims, and other stylistic or persuasive elements that helps the author build the argument. 🚧

Here's a short bullet list of stylistic or persuasive elements that you can look out for:

• Shifts of any kind (in diction 🗣️, tone 😤, imagery 🖼️, etc.)
• Appeals to emotion 💕, logic 🧠, or credibility 👩🏽‍🎓
• Syntax (organization of paragraphs 📑, length of sentences ↔️)
• Unique diction or imagery (make sure to describe diction/imagery with an adjective )

After you find the rhetorical devices you want to analyze, you'll need to answer three important questions:

• Why does the author use this device or strategy?
• How does this device or strategy help them achieve their purpose?
• How does the device or strategy affect or change the audience?

You can strengthen your analysis and answer these three questions for each of your devices by outlining.

🗒️ Outlining

There are a few components to an outline that will help you secure an 8/8/8 on the SAT essay:

• Identifying audience & author's purpose
• Writing a thesis
• Identifying rhetorical devices
• Answering the three important "analysis" questions for each rhetorical device

On test day, find some white space under the article (or on the next page) to write your outline. Knowing and writing down these elements will make the writing process go a lot smoother!

📝 Writing the Essay

Let's break down how to write each section of the SAT essay portion: the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

Introduction

There are a few elements that you should explicitly include in your introduction:

• Author's claim in the passage
• Author's tone & purpose
• Audience of passage
• Specific rhetorical choices or persuasive elements in the passage that "enhance logic/persuasiveness" of the argument

One example template for an introduction is:

Here's an example:

Writer Marcus Stern in his article, "How to Prevent an Oil Train Disaster," asserts that new Obama-era regulations in 2015 were insufficient in protecting the public's safety and needed to be expanded. Stern adopts a critical tone to persuade his audience, the general public, of his purpose of supporting stricter, comprehensive regulations that reduce oil volatility. To achieve his purpose, Stern utilizes a variety of rhetorical techniques, including but not limited to specific credible evidence, appeals to the general public's fear of disaster, and emotional word choice that enhances the logic and persuasiveness of his argument.

Body Paragraphs

Your body paragraphs should create a line of reasoning , which is just a fancy of way of saying that it should follow the structure you outline in the essay. For instance, from the introduction paragraph above, I would make my first body paragraph about the "specific credible evidence," my second body paragraph about the appeals to the general public, and so on. 🤩

⚠️ Note: There is no minimum or maximum number of body paragraphs that you should include —focus on developing solid body paragraphs rather than including as many as possible!

You should include the following in a body paragraph to earn high scores on reading, analysis, and writing:

• A strong introduction sentence tied to the thesis
• Embedded quote or paraphrase with context
• Why the author uses this rhetorical strategy or persuasive element
• How it affects the audience and/or how it helps the author achieve their purpose
• Link back to thesis

Let's see these five elements in an example!

• Stern furthers his argument by appealing to the general public’s fear of disaster.
• He invokes specific visual imagery when asserting that an oil tanker rupture would send a “mushroom-shaped fireball” into the sky. In fact, Stern further builds his argument by citing the “nine other places in North America” in which oil tanker explosions materialized.
• Stern uses these appeals to logic and emotion primarily because they highlight a somber reality of the impacts of continued inaction.
• Because Stern includes multiple instances of oil explosions, the audience feels logically impacted. This sense of urgency communicated by the visual imagery makes the audience more convinced that action must be taken, specifically because it could harm them very soon.
• Ultimately, Stern successfully leaves the audience convinced that lax oil restriction could lead to devastating consequences that could harm the audience, which strengthens the persuasion of his argument that we should enact strict regulation that decreases volatility.

You may hear sometimes from your teacher that the conclusion is not that important, or that it can simply be one sentence. This is not true for the SAT; in fact, you could get points taken off the writing section with an oversimplified or non-existent conclusion.

However, you can score highly with a slightly reworded introduction! Here's what you should include in your conclusion:

• Author's central claim (reworded from intro)
• Persuasive elements/rhetorical choices
• Audience & author's purpose

Here's an example conclusion paragraph that includes those elements (and you can see its parallel to the intro):

Author Olmer Stern communicates to the general public that there is a necessity for stricter safety regulations that decrease oil volatility. To convince the audience of his purpose, Stern effectively invokes fearful emotion of the general public, cites specific evidence from the oil industry, and communicates powerful diction about the imminent oil threat to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument.

📂 Resources and Example Essays

There are some fantastic ways to practice for the SAT essay! Here are some useful resources and example essays :

• Two sample SAT Essay prompts from College Board's website
• 50 CrackSAT Practice Essays and Prompts

Guide Outline

Related content, sat math: guide to quadratic equations & radicals, sat math: guide to linear equations, sat math: how to use your calculator, sat reading: guide to the social science passage, how to study for the sat/psat english sections, sat language: guide to word choice & passive flow.

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If you’re going to be applying to college soon, there’s a good chance that you’re already thinking about the SAT. Most colleges still require standardized test scores, and millions of students across the country tackle this exam each year. 

As you begin your college search, it’s important to understand the exact standardized test requirements of the colleges on your list. Some will be test-optional . Others require scores from the SAT or ACT. In addition, some will require that you submit scores from the optional essay portions of these tests. There may also be schools that require or recommend SAT Subject Tests. Knowing the exact testing policy at each school you’re considering will help you plan your test taking strategy, and begin test prep well in advance. 

If you’re planning to take the SAT, you won’t want to miss this complete overview of what colleges require the SAT essay. 

What is the SAT Essay? How is it Scored?

Before we dive into which schools require it, let’s take a closer look at what exactly the SAT essay is, and how it is scored. 

On the SAT Essay, students are provided with a written argument that they must read and analyze. Students have 50 minutes to read the passage, plan the essay, and write their response. Most successful responses stick to the standard five-paragraph essay format. To see an example prompt and scoring rubric, check out the Essay Sample Questions on the College Board website. 

It’s important to note here that the SAT Essay score is separate from your overall composite SAT score. It does not impact the score ranging from 400-1600 as reported on your score report. Instead of being included in your composite score, it is provided in addition to it. 

The Essay is scored on a scale from 2-8 in three areas of evaluation—Reading, Analysis, and Writing. Each essay is reviewed by two scorers, and scores between 1-4 are awarded in each dimension. These scores are then added together so that you’ll receive three scores for the SAT Essay—one for each dimension—ranging from 2–8 points. A perfect score on the essay would be 8/8/8, but the mean score on the essay is a 5 for Reading and Writing, and 3 for Analysis. This means if you can achieve any score over 5/3/5, you have scored above average on the essay. For a more complete look at how the test is scored, don’t miss our post What is a Good SAT Essay Score?

Should I Take the SAT Essay?

First of all, the SAT essay is technically an optional section, so no, you are not required to take it. That being said, some colleges do require applicants to take the SAT with Essay. If you choose not to take the essay portion of the test, you will not be an eligible applicant for any of these schools. 

The SAT Essay used to be required at many top colleges, but it has become optional at many schools. Now, among elite schools, only the University of California schools require the Essay. Other selective colleges like Duke University, Amherst College, and Colby College recommend the Essay, but it’s not required. 

Take a look at the colleges on these lists, and see if there are any you plan to apply to. Also be sure to double-check on your schools’ webpages, as these policies can change. 

If you think you might change your mind about which schools you want to apply to, you should take the SAT Essay to leave those doors open. This is why we generally recommend taking the essay, regardless of whether or not it’s required. After all, you can’t go back and just take the SAT Essay if you decide to change your mind and apply to a school that requires it—you’d have to retake the entire SAT.

Some colleges don’t require the essay, but do recommend it. In these cases, we always direct students to do what the college recommends. 

That being said, there is currently no option to withhold your essay score if you do terribly on it. Your essay scores will always be reported with your other test scores from that day, even to colleges that don’t require them. 

What Colleges Require the SAT with Essay?

There colleges request scores from the SAT with Essay in order to apply.

Schools that Require the SAT Essay:

• All of the University of California schools
• Benedictine University
• City University London
• Delaware State University
• DeSales University
• Dominican University of California
• Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
• Howard University
• John Wesley University
• Kentucky State University
• Martin Luther College
• Molloy College
• Schreiner University
• Soka University of America
• Southern California Institute of Architecture
• Texas A&M University—Galveston
• United States Military Academy (West Point)
• University of North Texas
• West Virginia University Institute of Technology
• Western Carolina University

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These schools do not require the SAT Essay, but do recommend that students submit it. At CollegeVine, our best advice is to always follow a college’s recommendations. 

Schools that Recommend the SAT Essay:

• Abilene Christian University
• Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
• Allegheny College
• Amherst College
• Art Institute of Houston
• Augsburg University
• Austin College
• Caldwell University
• California State University, Northridge
• Central Connecticut State University
• Central Michigan University
• Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
• Coastal Carolina University
• Colby College
• College of Wooster
• Colorado School of Mines
• Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
• Corban University
• Cornerstone University
• Dallas Christian College
• Duke University
• Eastern Illinois University
• Eastern Nazarene College
• Easternn University
• Endicott College
• Five Towns College
• Gallaudet University
• George Washington University
• Georgia Highlands College
• Greenville University
• Gwynedd Mercy University
• High Point University
• Hofstra University
• Holy Family University
• Husson University
• Indiana University South Bend
• Indiana University Southeast
• Indiana Wesleyan University
• Inter American University of Puerto Rico: Barranquitas Campus
• Juilliard School
• Keiser University (West Palm Beach)
• Lehigh University
• Madonna University
• Manhattan College
• Marymount California University
• Massachusetts Maritime Academy
• McMurry University
• Mercy College
• Modern College of Design
• Montana Tech of the University of Montana
• Morehouse College
• Mount Saint Mary College
• Mount St. Joseph University
• National-Louis University
• New Jersey City University
• Nichols College
• North Park University
• Occidental College
• Ohio University
• Oregon State University
• Purdue University Northwest
• Randall University
• Randolph-Macon College
• Reading Area Community College
• Rowan University
• Rutgers University—Camden Campus
• Rutgers University—Newark Campus
• Saint Michael’s College
• Sciences Po
• Seton Hill University
• Shiloh University
• Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
• Silver Lake College of the Holy Family
• Southern Illinois University of Carbondale
• Southern Oregon University
• Spring Hill College
• Sul Ross State University
• SUNY Farmingdale State College
• SUNY University at Stony Brook
• Tarleton State University
• Texas A&M International University
• Texas A&M University
• Texas State University
• The King’s College
• United States Air Force Academy
• University of Evansville
• University of La Verne
• University of Mary Hardin—Baylor
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• University of Minnesota: Twin Cities
• University of New England
• University of Northwestern—St. Paul
• University of the Virgin Islands
• University of Toledo
• University of Washington Bothell
• VanderCook College of Music
• Virginia Union University
• Wabash College
• Webb Institute
• Webber International University
• Wesleyan College
• William Jewell College

If any of the schools you are considering appear on either of the lists above, we recommend taking the SAT with Essay. In fact, we recommend that most, if not all, students take the SAT essay since it leaves more doors open in your college search. However, if you’re absolutely sure you won’t be applying to colleges that require or recommend the SAT with Essay, you can skip it.

Regardless, as you consider which colleges to add to your list, you’ll want to be certain you know what colleges require the SAT essay so that you can plan ahead for this part of your test. 

For help figuring out which schools might be a great fit for you, don’t miss our customized and innovative Chancing Engine and School List Generator . Here, we use a proprietary algorithm backed by over 100,000 data points to develop a school list based on your real admissions chances and preferences.

Want to know how your SAT score impacts your chances of acceptance to your dream schools? Our free Chancing Engine will not only help you predict your odds, but also let you know how you stack up against other applicants, and which aspects of your profile to improve. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account today to gain access to our Chancing Engine and get a jumpstart on your college strategy!

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Students registering to take the SAT are immediately confronted with a decision: should they sign up for the optional essay or not? The essay adds 50 minutes to the exam time, and $15 to the cost. It can also add some stress to what is already a rather miserable morning.

So just how important is the SAT optional essay in the college admissions process? As you'll see below, much less important than it used to be.

Does the SAT Optional Essay Matter?

Nationally, fewer than 30 colleges currently require the SAT optional essay, and that number keeps decreasing. Most top schools including all of the Ivy League do not require or recommend the essay, and for most college applicants the essay exam isn't necessary.

The Pre-2016 SAT Essay Section

In 2005, the College Board changed the SAT exam to include a multiple-choice grammar section and a 25-minute essay writing component. This new SAT writing section immediately came under significant criticism because of the short time allowed for writing the essay, and because of an MIT study showing that students could raise their scores by simply writing longer essays and including bigger words.

In the first couple of years after the change in the SAT, very few colleges and universities placed significant (if any) weight on the SAT writing score. As a result, the general impression had been that the SAT writing score didn't matter for college applicants.

That said, a 2008 study by the College Board actually showed that of all the SAT sections, the new writing section was the most predictive of college success. As a result, even though few colleges were happy with the idea of a 25-minute essay, more and more schools gave weight to the SAT writing section as they made their admissions decisions. Some colleges also use the SAT writing score to place students in the appropriate first-year writing class. A high score would sometimes place a student out of college writing altogether.

In general, then, the SAT writing score did matter.

The Change to an Optional Essay

In 2016, the College Board entirely revamped the SAT to make it less about aptitude and more about what students actually learn in school. The exam changed, in fact, to be much more like the ACT, and many believe the change was motivated by the fact that SAT was losing market share to ACT. Along with the changes to the multiple choice exam, the essay section became optional.

The fallout from that change was not what most would have predicted. With the pre-2016 exam, the schools that cared most about the essay section tended to be selective colleges and universities. When the essay became optional, however, the great majority of the nation's most selective schools decided to not require the optional essay, and most don't even recommend the essay.

Colleges that Require the SAT Optional Essay

None of the Ivy League schools require or recommend the essay. Top liberal arts colleges such as Pomona College , Williams College , and Amherst College do not require or recommend the exam. Duke recommends the essay but does not require it.

Indeed, the number of schools that either require or recommend the optional essay section has been dwindling ever since 2016. Some schools still do require the essay, most notably all of the University of California campuses . Most other schools that require the optional essay, however, are not overly selective: DeSales University, Delaware State University, Florida A&M, Molloy College, the University of North Texas, and a handful of other schools. It's quite possible that if the UC system ever drops the SAT essay requirement, the College Board will find there's little point in continuing to offer the exam.

That said, you will definitely want to take the SAT optional essay exam if you are applying to a school that requires it, and it's probably a good idea to take it if any of your top choice schools recommend it. The best place to learn what a college requires or recommends is on the school's website. The College Board has a search tool for identifying college SAT essay policies, but those policies change so regularly that some results will be out of date. You'll also find that many results from a College Board search simply say "contact institution for information."

A Final Word About the SAT Optional Essay

Several years ago, most college admissions advisors would have recommended that you take the optional essay exam if you are applying to selective schools. Today, the essay seems far less essential unless you are applying to a UC campus or about 20 other schools that still require the writing test. For the majority of college applicants, the SAT optional essay is likely to be a waste of time, money, and energy.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, how important is the sat essay section.

I've been focusing a lot on the main sections of the SAT, but I'm not sure how much weight the Essay section carries for college admissions. Should I spend more time preparing for it, or is it less important than I think?

The SAT Essay section is generally considered less important compared to the main sections (Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing) of the SAT. In recent admission cycles, many colleges and universities have made it clear that the SAT Essay is not a significant factor in their admissions decisions, and some schools have even dropped the essay requirement altogether.

That being said, it's still a good idea to familiarize yourself with the essay section and understand its format, as well as practice writing under timed conditions. This helps to develop your analytical and writing skills, which can be useful for other parts of your application, such as your personal statement or other essays.

However, it's crucial to prioritize your preparation for the main sections of the SAT over the essay section. Your Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores carry much more weight in the admissions process, and colleges tend to focus on those scores when making decisions about scholarships, honors programs, and other opportunities. So, while it's a good idea to spend some time preparing for the SAT Essay, make sure that you allocate enough time and resources to the main sections, as they hold greater significance in the admissions process.

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How Important Are SAT, ACT Scores in College Admissions?

Many colleges' testing policies have changed. Here's what that means for you as an applicant.

Are SAT, ACT Scores Still Important?

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College admissions experts encourage students to take the SAT or ACT at least once, barring significant access barriers or text anxiety.

Taking the SAT or ACT is often a source of stress for students, as some spend weeks or months prepping to try to earn a score high enough to land at their ideal college. But now, many schools are placing less emphasis on these standardized test scores in the admissions process and are instead focusing on other factors, like GPA and essays.

Around 1,750 four-year colleges have announced plans to go test-optional or test-blind for fall 2023, according to a tentative count by the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a nonprofit advocacy group commonly known as FairTest. This trend, while not new, was accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, when many students were unable to access testing sites.

Colleges also recognize that there are "correlations between income and test scores," says Dana Rolander, a certified educational planner and founder of Ohio-based Midwest College Consulting.

"Students from more underrepresented groups with less privilege have had less access to test prep, so it hasn't been considered an equal playing field for kids from all backgrounds," she adds.

Test-Optional v. Test-Blind

A test-optional policy – implemented at schools such as Appalachian State University in North Carolina, Cornell University in New York, Princeton University in New Jersey and the University of Chicago in Illinois – typically allows first-year students to decide whether to submit their SAT or ACT scores to a college.

"It certainly benefits students for whom standardized tests are not their strong suit," says Anna Ivey, founder of Ivey Consulting, a college and graduate school consulting firm.

"We all know people who are very gifted academically and they are just not good standardized test-takers," Ivey says. "That is a very real phenomenon. So it's a good thing that people now have the choice as far as whether they want to make that part of their profile or not."

Far less common are test-blind or test-free policies, which are being used by the University of California system and schools like Loyola University New Orleans in Louisiana and Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. These policies mean that even if a student submits SAT or ACT scores, the school will not consider them during the application process.

These policies often come with caveats. For instance, a college may claim to be test-optional, but still require scores for certain programming or out-of-state applicants. Some test-optional schools even consider test scores when determining merit scholarship recipients.

"Students unfortunately have to do a little bit of digging around to make sure that they see all the fine print because each school has its own policies," Ivey says.

How Colleges Review Applications

"Test scores tend to validate other parts of the application," Rolander says. "But a high school transcript is always going to matter more than a test score."

Transcripts are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, since some high schools offer varying types of advanced classes. This means that if your high school did not have Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses, it won't be held against you.

Schools – especially those with holistic admissions – also pay attention to other parts of the application, including extracurricular activities , class rigor, recommendation letters and answers to essay prompts.

"It was never the case that the outcome rested on an SAT score . That was never how the world worked in admissions," Rolander says.

Dan Kwon, senior vice president of admissions consulting at FLEX College Prep, notes that essays are becoming far more important in the college admissions process.

An essay helps give "insight about who you are, the values that you hold and how you might fit into their environment," he says. "It sheds light into your maturity, your reflectiveness and, importantly, your goals and aspirations. Admissions officers genuinely try to look for the students who are going to best achieve those and fit into that particular environment. Because for better or worse, they can't accept everybody."

Should I Still Submit My Scores?

College admissions experts encourage almost every student to take the SAT or ACT at least once, barring significant access barriers or text anxiety. Fee waivers for both tests are available for eligible students, and those who qualify may also receive waived application fees at certain colleges.

Based on how well you perform, you can decide whether or not to submit your scores. Both the SAT and ACT have an option to cancel scores if the test didn't go well, for instance if the student filled out the answer sheet incorrectly or didn't finish the exam.

If a student takes the SAT or ACT more than once, some colleges require all of the results on the respective test to be submitted. Others automatically superscore, meaning that a student's highest scores from each section on all test attempts are combined to create a new composite score.

Experts recommend looking up the "middle 50" – the range of scores between the 25th percentile and 75th percentile for the last admitted class – on each college's website to see if your score falls within or above that range.

"If you're in the upper part of that band or above, those scores help you," Ivey says. "But if you are in the bottom half of that band or below, those scores don't help you. So unless there's some other extraneous reason why you should be submitting those scores, I would say don't submit them. My general rule for people is submit your scores only if they are required or if they help you."

In the fall 2021 college application cycle, about 20% of applicants had no recorded SAT or ACT score, according to data from the Admissions Research Consortium of the College Board, the not-for-profit organization that administers the SAT. Half submitted an SAT or ACT score and 30% had a score but chose not to submit it.

"Keep in mind that test-optional policies, I think, are contributing to the rise (in) applications , particularly at selective colleges," Rolander says. "Because students who might not otherwise have applied because of lower test scores now sometimes feel they have a better chance at admission, especially if their grades and the rest of their application is strong."

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