← SSAT® Upper Level

The Writing Sample

Two essay prompts, one personal and one general, 25 minutes, two pages, no score from the test maker and a copy to every school on your list.

7 topics · 26 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.

Unscored by the Test Maker, Read by Every School

  1. How it worksHow does a writing sample travel from a test centre to every school on a score-report list?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't an ungraded essay a safe place to write about something painful and private?
  3. Going furtherWhat happens to one writing sample when a student sends scores to nine schools instead of one?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The writing sample is not scored, and a copy travels to each of the 7 schools on a student's score report. What follows from that?

Choosing Between the Personal and the General Prompt

  1. How it worksHow does a personal prompt reward a specific memory while a general one rewards a defended position?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through choosing between describe a time you changed your mind and what makes failure a good teacher.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't the prompt that looks easier the one to take when the clock runs only 25 minutes?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens when you start on one prompt, stall at minute six, and want to switch to the other?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
On test 7 the two prompts are: describe a time you changed your mind, and what makes failure a good teacher. How should a student choose between them?

Planning Inside 25 Minutes

  1. How it worksHow do you split 25 minutes into planning, drafting and a final read with no clock in front of you?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through a four-minute plan for: describe a decision you would make differently now.
  3. Worked exampleFind what to cut first when a plan holds five body ideas and there is room for two.
  4. Going furtherWhat changes about planning when the prompt is general and you have no story ready for it?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The writing sample runs 25 minutes. A student spends 5 minutes planning and keeps 3 minutes at the end to read it back. How many minutes are left for drafting?

Thesis and Structure: A Spine With Ribs

  1. How it worksHow does every paragraph attach to a thesis, and what does a dangling paragraph look like?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through turning failure teaches you things into a thesis a reader could disagree with.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't a five-paragraph shape required when 25 minutes rarely allows five paragraphs?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens to a structure when the strongest body paragraph turns out to argue the other side?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
On draft 7 a student's thesis reads: failure teaches you things. Which rewrite makes it a thesis?

Using One Specific Story as Evidence

  1. How it worksHow does a concrete detail do the work that an adjective only promises to do?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through rewriting I worked really hard on the project into something a reader can picture.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't a longer list of examples stronger than one example told properly?
Your turneasy1 of 3
On draft 7 a sentence reads: I worked really hard on the project. Which rewrite does the work?

What Admission Readers Actually Look For

  1. How it worksHow do prompt adherence, structure, clarity, sentence variety and originality get read off a single page?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through what a reader notices first in an essay that answers a different prompt than the one marked.
  3. Going furtherWhat happens to sentence variety when every sentence opens with I and runs the same length?
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't big vocabulary what impresses the reader of a handwritten first draft?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
On sample 7 an essay is well written and answers a different prompt from the one marked. What does a reader notice first?

The Two-Page Limit

  1. How it worksHow does a fixed amount of space force you to choose an idea count before you choose your words?
  2. Worked exampleFind how many body paragraphs fit two handwritten pages once an opening and a close are set aside.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't filling both pages a goal, and what does a padded second page look like to a reader?
  4. Ties togetherHow does planning for two pages connect to the four-minute plan that opens the 25 minutes?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Two handwritten pages hold about 28 lines each. An opening and a closing paragraph take 12 lines between them. How many lines are left for body paragraphs?

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