The Essay: One Prompt, Thirty Minutes
Unscored by ERB, copied to every school, never shown to your family: thirty handwritten minutes built as a spine with ribs that all have to attach.
12 topics · 47 questions
Each topic is a path, not a menu: work down it in order and every question builds on the one above. Click any of them to watch the answer draw itself.
How the ISEE Essay Works
- How it worksHow does an unscored essay still reach every school on your list while never reaching your own family?
- How it worksWalk me through the setup: a sheet for notes, two pre-lined pages, blue or black ink, and thirty minutes.
- Worked exampleShow me thirty minutes split into planning, writing and checking for a two-page handwritten response.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't an essay that nobody grades a section you can safely coast through?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The essay carries no score, and a copy of it reaches all 7 schools a family applied to. Why can a student not coast through it?Copying the Prompt Into the Box
- How it worksHow does an answer sheet split into note pages nobody ever sees and two lined pages every school gets?
- Worked exampleShow me the first thirty seconds: copy the prompt into the box, then write one line of plan.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the note side of the sheet a safe place to put your strongest paragraph?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A student writes 47 strong lines but leaves the topic box at the top of the page empty. What has that cost her with the reader?Reading a One-Sentence Prompt
- How it worksHow do you turn a one-line question into a claim you can actually defend across two full pages?
- Worked exampleWalk me through turning If you could improve your school in one way, what would that be into a thesis.
- Going furtherWhat changes when a prompt asks you about the world rather than about your own life?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't repeating the prompt back in your first sentence a real thesis?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The prompt reads: If you could improve your school in one way, what would that be? A student has 5 minutes before writing. What should the prompt become?Why Every Prompt Is Built to Be Answerable
- How it worksHow does free of bias and global in scope rule out prompts needing a particular school, country or family?
- Worked exampleShow me two versions of a prompt about travel, one assuming you have travelled and one that does not.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't an unusual life experience required to write a strong answer to a global prompt?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Prompts are written to be free of bias and global in scope. A student has worked through 7 of them in practice. Which version of a travel prompt meets that standard?There Is No Right Answer to the Prompt
- How it worksHow does a reader judge support and organisation rather than whether they happen to agree with you?
- Worked exampleShow me two opposite answers to one prompt about homework, both built the same way and both strong.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't picking the position you think an admission officer wants a safer strategy?
- Going furtherWhat happens when you spend your first page arguing both sides instead of choosing one of them?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Two students answer a prompt on homework in opposite ways, each with 3 reasons and an example apiece. How does a reader judge them?Planning Inside a Thirty-Minute Clock
- How it worksHow does a four-line plan on the note sheet become four paragraphs with nothing left to rethink?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't starting to write immediately the right move when the clock is only thirty minutes long?
- Worked exampleShow me a five-minute plan for: Name one problem in the world you would solve and explain how.
- Going furtherWhat happens when time runs out with one body paragraph still unwritten?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The prompt is: name one problem in the world you would solve, and explain how. Which 5 minute plan is ready to write from?Structure: a Spine With Ribs
- How it worksHow does a thesis act as a spine that every single body paragraph has to attach itself to?
- How it worksWalk me through checking each paragraph by asking which words of the thesis it is holding up.
- Worked exampleShow me a three-rib essay on school lunches and the fourth paragraph that attaches to nothing.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't an interesting paragraph worth keeping when it attaches to no part of the thesis?
- Going furtherWhat happens when two ribs attach at the same point of the spine and end up saying the same thing?
Your turneasy1 of 3
An essay on school lunches has three body paragraphs holding up its thesis and a fourth, 6 sentences long, about the school's football results. What is wrong with the fourth?Building a Thesis You Can Defend
- How it worksHow does a thesis name a position and preview its reasons in the order you will deliver them?
- Worked exampleShow me three versions of one thesis about school start times, from vague to arguable to specific.
- Going furtherWhat changes about your body paragraphs when a thesis names three reasons instead of only one?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't There are many good arguments on both sides a usable opening sentence?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Three versions of a thesis on school start times: (1) School start times matter. (2) Schools should start 72 minutes later. (3) Schools should start 72 minutes later, because teenagers sleep late, buses run better off-peak and first period is wasted. Which is strongest and why?Specific Examples Instead of General Ones
- How it worksHow does a general claim shrink into a specific example as you add a name, a place and a number?
- Worked exampleShow me students get stressed rewritten four times, each version more specific than the one before.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't an invented statistic better support than one small true detail out of your own week?
- Going furtherWhat happens when every paragraph has a vivid example but none of them support the same claim?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A draft says: students get stressed. The writer has 7 more lines of the paragraph to fill. Which rewrite carries the most weight with a reader?Transitions That Show the Reader the Shape
- How it worksHow does an arrow between two claim boxes get its label, contrast or addition or cause, from the boxes themselves?
- How it worksHow does a transition that misnames the relationship do more damage than no transition at all?
- Worked exampleShow me joining Buses arrive late and Students miss first period with the right transition rather than also.
- Going furtherWhat changes when a body paragraph contradicts the one before it instead of adding to it?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Two paragraphs read: Buses arrive late on 4 mornings a week. Students miss first period. Which transition names the real relationship?Two Pages, In Ink, Legible to a Stranger
- How it worksHow does a fixed number of printed lines turn how much should I write into a countable answer?
- Worked exampleShow me planning four paragraphs to land on the second page with three lines still to spare.
- Going furtherWhat happens when the lines run out with a conclusion still left to write?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't filling every line to the bottom of the second page a sign of a stronger essay?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The answer sheet gives two pre-lined pages. A student plans 5 paragraphs and wants to land near the end of the second page. How does she plan that?The Last Three Minutes
- How it worksHow does a fixed review order, topic then structure then sentences then spelling, catch the costly errors first?
- Worked exampleShow me a three-minute review pass on a finished draft that turns up one off-topic paragraph.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't fixing spelling first the right use of the last three minutes you have?
- Ties togetherHow does planning an essay on a note sheet connect to the outline you build while reading a test passage?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A student has 3 minutes left and a finished draft. In what order should she review it?AP®, SAT® and PSAT/NMSQT® are trademarks registered by the College Board (PSAT/NMSQT® jointly with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation). ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT Education Corp. GRE® is a registered trademark of ETS. LSAT® is a registered trademark of the Law School Admission Council. MCAT® is a registered trademark of the Association of American Medical Colleges. ISEE® and SSAT® are registered trademarks of their owners. None of these organizations is affiliated with, or endorses, Jentoo.