What should I expect from College Board essay questions on the SAT?

The SAT essay portion, which was part of the test until 2021, focused on analyzing a provided passage rather than offering your personal viewpoint. While it was still available, the College Board's prompts always gave you a passage (usually around 650–750 words) to read and asked you to explain how the author built their argument to persuade readers.

You weren't expected to give your own opinions or write about personal experiences. Instead, you were required to analyze techniques the author used—like evidence, reasoning, or stylistic elements—and discuss how these techniques strengthened the argument. The prompts were standardized so that the type of question was almost always the same: “Explain how [the author] builds an argument to persuade [their] audience.”

An example: one real SAT essay prompt featured a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. about justice. The test didn’t ask what you thought about justice, but rather asked how King used logic, evidence, and rhetorical devices to support his points. Your job as an essay writer was to pick out the author’s strategies and use examples from the text to back up your analysis.

The best way to prepare is to read SAT-released sample prompts and actual scored sample essays from the College Board website. Practice identifying things like statistics, emotional language, or structure in persuasive essays. Don’t worry about being broad or super creative—the scoring rewards clarity, focus, and evidence-based analysis. A good practice step is to time yourself writing these analyses to get comfortable with structuring a clear thesis and using direct quotes from the passage.

A lot of students found it helpful to memorize a template: introduction (describe the author’s argument), two or three body paragraphs (explain techniques used), and a short conclusion. You can find real past prompts and graded essay samples on College Board’s official SAT Essay page, which is the closest resource to the actual test experience.

To sum up: the SAT essay was always factual, not opinion-based, and rewarded analytical reading and clear examples. If you practice with official prompts and focus on breaking down how an argument is made, you’ll be well-prepared if you encounter similar analytical essays—even in other classes or tests.