Ok, so Ive been studying for the SAT for a while now, and I have taken several practice essay sections. After taking the ACT's essay section, the SAT is a breath of fresh air. Seriously, the ACT writing prompts were things that were relevant to "teenagers." That usually meant that it was relevant to public school kids and not to Home schoolers. I find it hard to write about things which have no meaning to my life. The SAT prompts, on the other hand, are much nicer. Instead of just asking a simple question, they give a paragraph or quote about a certain subject, then ask you for your opinion on the subject. For example, the last practice on I did said, "The old saying, 'be careful what you wish for,' may be an appropriate warning. The drive to achieve a particular goal can dangerously narrow one's perspective and encourage the fantasy that success in one endeavor will solve all of life's difficulties. In fact, success can sometimes have unexpected consequences. Those who propel themselves toward the achievement of one goal often find that their lives are worse once 'success' is achieved than they were before." The question they asked after presenting this paragraph was: "Can success be disastrous?" That's much better fuel for writing than ACT prompts. I can get a great 5 paragraph essay out of that one without much trouble. The only down side I can find to the SAT essay section is that they only give you 25 minutes, but that isn't as bad as not having a decent question to write about. Thus, I say, "Thanks SAT!!!! You've not ruined my weekend yet!"
