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SSAT Writing: Essay Prompts and Samples

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The SSAT Essay

The SSAT essay is the first part of the SSAT exam. You will be given a choice of two topics, one creative writing topic, and one topic that asks for your opinion about an issue. You have 25 minutes to read the topics, choose the topic you wish to write about, organize your essay, and write.

Six Steps For Essay Writing: Getting It Right

1. Read the question to find out exactly what it asks you to do.

2. Choose a point of view or decide how to answer the question.

3. Outline your essay. For creative writing topics, use the topic given as the first sentence of your essay. Then write a descriptive story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. For all other essays, you will probably want four paragraphs: an introduction, two paragraphs for two supporting ideas or illustrations, and a conclusion.

4. Write the essay.

5. Proofread. Correct errors in punctuation, spelling, grammar, and word choice.

6. If needed, make phrasing changes as neatly as possible.

Now let's try these steps on a couple of sample topics:

Topic: Every student should be required to complete 60 hours of community service during his or her high school years. Do you agree or disagree?

1. This question is asking you to choose sides, then support your position.

2. You must now decide whether you want to write in favor or in opposition. Choose the side that you will find easier to defend with strong examples; which side you choose does not matter. The question is not really seeking your opinion. For this exercise, let's disagree.

3. Introduction: Community service should not be compulsory.

Point 1: Involuntary activities are never performed well.

A. Beneficiaries suffer from half-hearted service.

B. Student is resentful and gains no satisfaction.

Point 2: Teenagers must learn to arrange priorities and manage their time for their own benefit.

A. Some poor students cannot afford to give up so much study time.

B. Many beneficial extracurricular activities compete for precious time.

C. Some students must hold part-time jobs to help their families.

Conclusion: Community service should be encouraged, not be compulsory.

5. Proofread. Ask yourself these questions:

- Does each paragraph have a topic sentence? Is the topic sentence well developed within the paragraph?

- Is my language colorful and descriptive? Have I varied my sentence

- Do I make a convincing argument for my position?

- How is my spelling? Is my punctuation correct? What about my grammar?

6. Refine the essay if necessary. Remember: Neatness counts.

Tips for Writing Excellent Essays for the SSAT and ISEE exams

SSAT Essay Samples

• What Is the SSAT Writing Sample?
• SSAT Essay Writing Sample 1
• SSAT Essay Writing Sample 2
• A Well-written SSAT Essay Example
• SSAT Writing: Example of A Well-written Essay

SSAT Essay Prompts

• SSAT Essay Prompt 1
• SSAT Essay Prompt 2
• SSAT Essay Prompt 3
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• SSAT Writing
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The SSAT Essay: What to Expect

Introduction to the ssat essay.

• You’ll need to organize your thoughts quickly (you’ll have 25 minutes to write a complete essay).
• Your essay is limited to two pages.
• Essay topics will be easy to grasp.
• What you say is more important than using perfect grammar.
• Your essay will not be graded.

The Golden Rule of essay writing is to stick to the topic . All you need to do is stay on course and write clearly, giving examples to support your points. Whether a question is academic or creative, there should always be a beginning or introduction, a middle (body paragraphs), and a conclusion.

The Kaplan 4-Step Method for Writing

Step 1: brainstorm.

When you start to brainstorm for ideas, first think about the topic. With the sample topic, your thinking might go like this: I believe that people are rewarded for good deeds, not punished. Okay, what examples can I use to support this point of view? It’s important that you’re clear in your head about what your stance is before you start to organize your essay. Once you start to put your examples together, you don’t want to have to go back and figure out what you’re trying to show.

Step 2: Make an outline

Once you’ve decided on your topic or opinion, the next step is to write an outline. Come up with three examples to support your points or opinion. Next, decide the best order in which to present your examples. Is there a logical order to lay out your ideas? How do you want to start your essay? How do you want to end it? Make some notes on your scratch paper so when you start to write, you can glance at them to keep you on track and writing quickly. Even if you’re feeling rushed, don’t skip the Outlining step. Planning your essay will make the entire writing process easier and faster, and it will ensure that your writing is well organized. Remember, wear a watch on Test Day so you can keep a handle on your pacing.

Step 3: Write your essay

Now you have to write the essay. Follow your outline carefully, but be flexible. Maybe you’ll think of another great idea midway through your writing. Should you ignore it, or should you substitute it for the third example you had planned to include? If you think it’s better than what you originally came up with, go ahead and write about it instead. Just make sure that any deviation you make from your outline is in fact an improvement over the original idea.

Step 4: Proofread

Wrap up your writing five minutes before the end of your allotted time. Give your essay a good read-through, making sure you haven’t made any spelling mistakes, written any run-on sentences, or forgotten to capitalize a proper name. You won’t be able to make any huge changes at this point—after all, you only have a few minutes left—but you do want to make sure that you haven’t made any egregious errors.

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What You Need to Know About the SSAT Writing Sample (Regular Prompt)

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Prepped and Polished has been featured on:

Learn from Terri of Prepped and Polished, as she shares six key traits of good SSAT writing to produce a winning essay.

Today I’m gonna tell you what you need to know about writing the SSAT writing sample in the form of an essay. You know, even though the essay is not scored, it gives schools an overall impression of your level of maturity and your power of self-expression.

I realized the importance of the essay through a personal experience. I accompanied my son to a gathering of students admitted to a particular independent school. And one of the admission’s counselors came over to him and said, “We loved your essay. You’re just the kind of student we want in our school.”

Well, not only was that nice to overhear, but it was enlightening in terms of the power of the essay. So, how do you write a winning essay with prompts like, “My fondest memory is…” “Do we learn more from our mistakes than our successes?” “Did a parent tell you to do something that you now wish you had done?” Don’t we all?

Let me show you from my years of reading samples. I’m gonna share some of my best suggestions with you. Let’s take a look.

So, here are basically six traits of good writing. And if you incorporate these into your essay, you can’t help but produce a winning sample. So, let’s go over them quickly.

You wanna brainstorm first before you start writing and kinda get a clear idea of what you’d like to write about. Bcause you wanna write meaningful details and examples, you wanna have fully-developed thoughts and definitely stick to the topic. That’s very important.

Organization

You should make an outline prior to writing the essay. You can use bullets. It’s just for you to see. But then you won’t get stuck in the middle and not know where you’re going with your essay, because you want a logical pattern of ideas, details, and strive for at least three paragraphs. You wanna have paragraphs.

Voice is really all about bringing the topic to life, and this is very important. Does it sound like you? Because I’ve read many essays where it just didn’t sound like a student I was tutoring. They were trying to make it too lofty, or throw in too many words that didn’t sound like themself. You wanna show your feelings and convictions, and it should be appropriate for the audience, topic and purpose.

Need a tutor? At Prepped and Polished, we provide personalized tutoring locally in Massachusetts, throughout the USA and around the world. Start a conversation with us on our website via chat, call us at +1.781.753.9951 or send us a message on our contact page today .

Sentence fluency.

Sentence fluency is all about rhythm and flow. Sentences should begin in different ways. Some should be short. Some should be long. It should be smooth.

Word choice

You know, you wanna try…you don’t wanna overdo it, but you do wanna put in some rich colorful vocabulary, minimal redundancy. In other words, don’t repeat words over and over, and to just be precise, interesting, and natural. But you don’t want it to be too informal. It is an essay.

Conventions

That’s the mechanics such as spelling, paragraphing, grammar usage, punctuation, use of capitals. All that’s important, and you wanna leave a few minutes at the end to proofread and correct your errors neatly. Presentation is important. It has to be legible.

So, here’s a tip for you. Read newspaper editorials and you’ll see how good writers argue their opinions, organize their thoughts, and use good examples. Now you know how to produce a winning SSAT writing sample.

If you enjoyed these tips today, give us a thumbs-up and subscribe to our channel. If you have any questions or you want more in-depth tutoring either online or in person, simply email [email protected] and we’ll be glad to help you. Good luck.

The Top 6 SSAT Writing Tips:

• Ideas :  Brainstorm, meaningful details, examples, fully developed thoughts, stick to topic.
• Organization :  Outline, logical pattern of ideas, details, 3 paragraphs
• Voice : Brings topic to life. DOES IT SOUND LIKE YOU? Feelings, convictions. Appropriate for audience, topic, purpose.
• Sentence Fluency:  Rhythm and flow. Sentences – bring in different ways, short and long, smooth
• Word Choice : rich, colorful vocabulary, minimal redundancy, precise, interesting, natural. NOT TOO INFORMAL
• Conventions : mechanics – spelling, paragraphing, grammar, punctuation, use of capitals. Proofread and correct errors neatly.

Your writing should ALWAYS be legible!

What was your biggest takeaway from this video tutorial about six traits of good writing to produce a winning SSAT essay? Do you have any questions for Terri and Alexis Avila?

Related Articles:

• Showcase Your Writing Skills on SSAT Creative Essay Prompt
• Five Tips to Master Sentence Improvements on the SAT Writing Section
• Learn to Overcome Challenges With Your Writing

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SSAT Writing Practice & Info

The SSAT Writing section is one of the four sections on the SSAT. Each student is required to write one essay, which is not scored. Continue reading to learn more about the SSAT Writing section.

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About the SSAT Writing

Ssat writing prompts, elementary level, middle level, upper level, ssat writing tips.

The SSAT Writing section is not scored. On the SSAT Elementary Level, students are provided with one picture prompt and 15 minutes to complete the essay. The SSAT Middle* and Upper** Levels provides students with a choice of two written prompts and 25 minutes to write the essay.  *SSAT Middle Level is provided with a choice of two creative writing prompts **SSAT Upper Level is provided with a choice of one creative writing prompt and one essay prompt The SSAT Writing section provides students with the opportunity to express themselves. Though it is not graded, the SSAT essay is submitted to the admissions departments of the schools to which the students have applied. This allows admissions department to assess students’ writing skills. The essay is not included in the score report, unless it is purchased to be included in the student’s online score report (except for the Elementary SSAT essay, which cannot be purchased).

The SSAT essay prompts are written in a way that allows students to tell admissions departments more about themselves and their way of thinking. Students are provided with two pages to write their essays on.

Elementary SSAT Test takers are provided a prompt in the form of a picture. Students must write an essay based on the picture prompt and make sure that their writing sample is complete, with a beginning, middle, and end.

Both of the two Middle Level SSAT Writing prompts are creative. The response to the prompts must also be creative and make use of animated explanations. Students are expected to use grammar and vocabulary which conform to Standard English.

The Upper Level SSAT Writing section provides students a creative prompt and an essay prompt to choose from. If a student decides to respond to the creative prompt, the response must also be creative and make use of animated explanations. The creative prompt might be ambiguous and require the student for building the entire essay almost by himself or herself. If he or she responds to the essay prompt, the response must be supported by strong examples from the text. Back to top

Though the SSAT essay is not scored, it is still recommended that students write their essays as well as possible, as a copy of each students’ essay will be submitted to the schools selected during the SSAT registration process. Here are some helpful SSAT Writing tips to help your child produce the best work possible:

• Begin the essay with a sentence either similar or identical to the one provided in the prompt
• Write neatly in the space provided
• Use proper grammar and vocabulary, conforming to the rules of Standard English. Pay careful attention to the rules of capitalization and punctuation
• Stay on topic
• Be creative, when suitable
• Provide supportive information (statements, examples, etc.)
• Maintain a standard essay structure, with an introduction, a minimum of two paragraphs in the main body, and a clear conclusion. Make sure your conclusion is tied back to the prompt and that you did not deviate from it too much
• Stick to the expected word count of 350
• Some people find making a list or a draft with their ideas before writing the actual essay useful – try to see whether it facilitates your writing
• If you have enough time left, it is warmly recommended to go over your essay after you have finished writing and read it again to make sure the structure is logical and that you can easily understand the story
• Keep your mind clear and writing-focused. Simple steps that might help are organizing your work environment and eating a healthy snack before you start writing

Click here to find out more about the other sections of the SSAT Test!

Admission to gifted and talented programs as well as independent schools has become increasingly competitive. Even with a high score on the SSAT, acceptance is not guaranteed. The SSAT essay section can give your child an opportunity to stand out against other candidates who may have the same score, and in that sense, be equally qualified. Help your child succeed by making sure he or she is properly prepared for all sections of the test, including this one. TestPrep-Online currently offers a collection of Upper Level SSAT Practice Packs, and will soon release two following packs for the Middle and Lower Levels. All our packs are designed to provide your child with the opportunity to improve and progress. Our goal is the same as yours: To get your child the score s/he deserves.

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Middle Level Strategies

Techniques and tricks for mastering the ssat, #1 fend off discouragement.

The SSAT is not similar to a test you take in school. On an in-class exam, you are expected to know most or all of the information on the test because it has been taught. The SSAT is different. It is not a test of taught information in the same way. The Middle Level SSAT is made for students in grades 5 – 7 applying to private schools. So, if you are a 5th or 6th grader taking this test, please understand it is made to also challenge students older than you. So please adjust your expectations. Do not think of the SSAT as similar to a test in school where you can work to get an ‘A.’ On the SSAT, you can get many questions wrong and still do well; you are compared to other students at your grade level. So tip #2 is: do not get discouraged because the SSAT is “too hard.” It is “too hard” for all students! Learn the strategies, apply them as well as you can, practice, practice, practice, and relax on test day knowing you have done what you can to succeed.

#2 THINK of the answer before READING answer choices.

On the verbal sections of the SSAT, when possible, it is important that you do not read answer choices before coming up with your own answer to each question. There are certainly exceptions; for example, there are questions in Reading Comprehension that say, “Which of the following…,” which require you to read answer choices first. But whenever possible, predict the answer before reading choices A, B, C, D, or E. There is more advice under each section type for how best to do this for synonyms, analogies, etc. Note: many wrong answer choices on the SSAT represent common mistakes and misconceptions, so many wrong answer choices may look tempting. Even if you misunderstand a question, you may find the answer choice you are thinking of among the answer choices. This is an important reason to avoid reading answer choices until absolutely necessary; they can mislead you!

#3 Learn test-taking strategies!

Whether it is with a tutor, with a family member, or with fellow students, learn test-taking strategies. Whether from this website or a test prep book, learn the tips for how best to do each section of this test.

#4 Learn when to guess.

There is a penalty for wrong answers on the Middle (and Upper) Level SSAT. You earn 1 point for every correct answer, you lose ¼ of a point for every wrong answer, and no points are gained or lost for questions you don’t answer. Despite this wrong answer penalty, there is no mathematical benefit to skipping questions — you should feel free to guess on any question that you get to. But, if you’re running out of time and haven’t gotten to questions at that end of the section, there is no reason to hurry up and bubble answers for those unreached questions. If you’d like to see the full logic behind this, check out our article about the SSAT’s wrong answer penalty.

#5 Practice!

In addition to learning test-taking strategies, the best thing you can do is PRACTICE by completing timed practice test sections that reflect the structure and content of the official exam you will take. This is why we created SSATpracticetest.com! In addition to the practice tests we provide, we recommend purchasing the guide, Preparing and Applying, sold by the SSAT board. This guide has 2 Middle Level and 2 Upper Level exams. These practice tests are your most accurate representations of the real SSAT.

#6 Don’t cram!

Make sure you sleep well; not only the night before the exam but the night before that as well (so if the SSAT is on Saturday, go to bed early both Thursday and Friday nights).

Eat a good breakfast that includes some protein.

Do not drink caffeine the day of the test (unless you usually practiced for the SSAT on caffeine). We do not recommend that young people drink caffeine at all; however, the point is that you don’t want to be in a different state of mind on test day than you were while you were preparing for the SSAT. So don’t over-stimulate yourself with caffeine, sugar, or anything else to be alert on test day.

Do not practice for the SSAT the day before the exam. The SSAT is a long test and requires a lot of stamina! Do not overwork your mind the day before the test so that you are as fresh and energetic as possible. Don’t do too much homework that day; consider doing a reasonable (but not exhausting) amount of exercise or just relaxing.

Synonym Section Strategy:

There will be words you know well, words you sort of know, and words you don’t know at all. Your strategy is to first answer questions with words you know. Then come back to the words you sort of know. Even if you find there are no words you know well, focus your time on making best guesses for words you sort of know. Make sure you spend the last few minutes of the section entering an answer on every question for which you can eliminate at least one answer choice. Note: you will also complete the Analogies within the Verbal section time.

Synonym Question Strategy:

Cover the answer choices and read the capitalized word. Can you think of a synonym (a word that means the same thing) for that word? If you can, then compare the word you came up with to the answer choices. Eliminate worst matches and pick the answer that best matches your synonym. If you are not able to come up with specific word or synonym for the capitalized word, can you come up with a feeling or phrase to describe it? Is it positive or negative? Are any of its roots familiar to you? Can you think of a context in which you have heard the word? You will use anything you can come up with to help you pick the best answer choice.

For most analogy questions with two words such as, “puppy is to dog as,” you will make a sentence describing the relationship between the two main words, such as, “a puppy is a baby dog.” You then want to find this same relationship between two words in the answer choices, such as, “kitten is to cat;” “a kitten is a baby cat.”

Note: Order is important here. If an answer choice for “puppy is to dog as” were “pig is to piglet,” you should cross it off because the word order is wrong. Apply your relationship sentence: “a pig is a baby piglet.” That is false. Be careful of word order!

Some analogy questions have three main words, for example, “Broccoli is to vegetable as banana is to.” Here you again make a sentence expressing the relationship between the first two words: Broccoli is a kind of vegetable. So, banana is a kind of what?  Find “fruit” in the answer choices!

The other type of analogy question to know about use relationships between sounds, spelling, or the rhyming of words (rather than the meaning of the words). Here are some examples written by Test Innovators (which are likely trickier than what you will see on the Elementary SSAT):

1. Sound is to round (A) circle is to square (B) hat is to sombrero (C) pound is to kilogram (D) noise is to poise (E) pen is to pencil

2. Board is to bored as (A) coarse is to course (B) ocean is to sea (C) melt is to malt (D) disk is to desk (E) wand is to wound

3. Snooze is to ooze as (A) bold is to mold (B) stork is to bird (C) own is to clone (D) dark is to arc (E) smirk is to irk

Look at the correct answers to these questions (in bold). In question 1, in both the question and correct answer, the words are spelled the same except for one letter difference (and both sets rhyme, though not with each other). In question 2, board and bored are spelled differently but pronounced the same, just as coarse and course are spelled differently but pronounced the same. In question 3, snooze is spelled like the word ooze but with 2 more letters on the front, just as smirk is spelled like irk but with 2 extra letters on the front. You can see and practice easier versions of this type of analogy on our Middle Level practice tests.

The Middle-Level Reading Comprehension section has seven passages with four questions each. This may be more than many students will have time to complete. While you do not want to spend too much time on any one passage or question, you also do not want to move too quickly. While a tutor or parent may be the best person to help you determine your best pace, keep in mind that you don’t want to hurry so quickly that you make lots of careless errors. While some students may need to quicken their pace, many students will actually perform better by spending more time on fewer questions.

Questions Strategy:

Read each question; whenever possible, predict what you think the answer will be BEFORE reading answer choices. Then compare your guess to the answer choices; eliminate worst answers.

When you are asked what a word means in the context of the passage, go back to that place in the passage, reread, cover the word if necessary, and decide what it means in context. Use direction words and context clues to guide you.

When a question asks you to “infer,” it is asking you to make a guess or conclusion about something that may not have been stated clearly. If questions include the capitalized word EXCEPT, solve by determining whether each answer choice is true or false. Four choices should be T; the one F is your correct answer.

Calculators are not allowed; students may (and should!) write in the test booklet or on scratch paper.

Know that there may be math on this exam that you have not yet learned in school (after all, the Middle Level SSAT is taken by 5th, 6th, and 7th graders). And remember, you’ll lose one quarter point for wrong answers. Don’t let that scare you; if you do not understand a question, skip it and move on. If you sort of understand a question, don’t get stuck—make a note and come back to it if you have time. If you can eliminate at least one answer, you should make an educated guess. If you can’t eliminate any answers, it’s better to leave the question blank.

Word Problems Strategy:

Read the question and paraphrase to yourself what it is you need to find: what is the question asking? Underline the information most relevant (and/or cross out irrelevant information). Ask yourself, “can I solve this problem with estimation?” Very often in this section, you will not need to actually calculate and can eliminate wrong answers with good estimations. Make your best estimation of the correct answer, see if it is one of the answer choices, and cross off unreasonable answer choices. 

The above strategy is for quantitative word problems that you can understand. There may be many questions you do not understand well. For these, remember, DO NOT get stuck and waste too much time on questions you do not understand.

Beware:  as in other sections of the SSAT, many wrong answer choices represent common mistakes. Be sure to read each question carefully, more than once. Even if you make a mistake in reading the question, know that you may find the (wrong) answer that you miscalculated among the answer choices.

Middle Level SSAT test-takers are given 25 minutes to respond to one of two prompts: a creative story starter or a personal essay prompt. Your official SSAT writing sample will not be graded but is sent to the admissions offices of the schools to which you apply. Read each prompt carefully and decide which you prefer and think will be easier to answer. You can then organize what you plan to say before you begin writing. Paper for outlining your writing sample will be provided at the official exam.

Remember to make sure your penmanship is readable. Stay within the margins of the answer sheets. If you wish to change something you have written, you may neatly strike through the words you want to “delete.” You are given two lined pages; however, you do not need to fill both pages.

If you have time, we recommend that you read over what you have written. Often when students write quickly, they make careless mistakes. Here are some helpful Test Innovators reminders:

• Check to make sure you have not left out any words.
• Look over your spelling. Are there any words that don’t look right to you?
• Have you capitalized words in odd places or forgot to capitalize proper nouns?
• Does your comma use look okay?
• Have you used complete sentences? Remember not to connect two full sentences with a comma.
• If you include dialogue, have you used quotation marks properly?
• Did you use the correct spelling of homophones such as there/their/they’re, your/you’re, and two/to/too?

Be your own editor, and good luck!

Looking for additional help on your essay? Receive guidance on your essay from an SSAT writing expert!

Middle Level SSAT

The top private middle school admission test for students currently in grades 5–7 ( students may test up or down ), available in paper and Prometric testing worldwide and the SSAT at Home in the United States and Canada. Accommodations and fee waivers are also available.

SSAT Testing Options

The SSAT testing options vary depending on the student's grade and location. Selecting the right test method for your child often comes down to comfort level and convenience.

• Available in the United States, Canada, and many international locations
• Middle and Upper students can take up to 6 Standard tests and 1 Flex test
• Elementary students can take up to 3 tests including 2 Standards and 1 Flex
• Available in the United States (including U.S. territories) and Canada only
• Proctored computer-based testing at home
• Students can take 1 SSAT at Home per testing year
• Middle and Upper Level only
• Proctored computer-based testing at a test center
• Students can 2 Prometric tests per testing year
• Middle & Upper Level only

Please note: SSAT test availability is based upon the student's physical location on test day, not their current location or home address. For example, a student living in the United States that travels to Germany cannot take the SSAT at Home while in Germany. The testing year that defines the maximum number of SSAT tests students can take runs from August 1 through July 31. Contact [email protected] if you have questions.

What’s on the SSAT?

• Quantitative (Math) : Composed of math computation.
• Verbal : Vocabulary and analogy questions.
• Reading : Reading passages.
• Writing Sample : The writing sample is not scored, but schools use it to assess writing skills.
• Experimental: Mixed content questions (verbal, reading, and math). This section does not count toward reported scores.

SSAT Sections

Total duration: 3 hours, 10 minutes*.

Click on the items below to learn more about the content in each section of the Middle Level SSAT. Please note that the allotted time for each section may vary for students with approved testing accommodations. *Only on the SSAT at Home are students not required to use the full time.

Part 1: Writing Sample

Students have 25 minutes to write an essay, choosing between a creative story starter or a personal question prompt. Writing samples aren't scored, but they are provided to the schools that you opt to receive the SSAT score report, helping them assess the student's writing abilities. Parents may obtain a copy of the writing sample as a separate purchase.

Part 2 & 5: Break

Students are allotted two ten-minute breaks.

Part 3 & 7: Quantitative (Math)

• Number of questions: 50 in two 30-minute sections
• What it measures: Ability to solve problems involving arithmetic, elementary algebra, geometry, and other concepts
• Scored section: Yes
• Time allotted: 30 minutes for each section of 25 questions
• The quantitative (mathematics) section of the Middle Level SSAT measures your knowledge of algebra, geometry, and other quantitative concepts.

Students aren't permitted to use calculators in this section.

Part 4: Reading Comprehension

• Number of questions: 40
• What it measures: Reading ability and comprehension
• Time allotted: 40 minutes
• Topics covered: Reading passages ranging in length from 250 to 350 words

After reading each passage, students are asked about its content or the author's style, intent, or point of view. The SSAT uses two types of writing: narrative , which includes excerpts from novels, poems, short stories, or essays; and argument , which presents a definite point of view about a subject.

Reading passages come from:

• Literary fiction
• Humanities (biography, art, poetry)
• Science (anthropology, astronomy, medicine)
• Social studies (history, sociology, economics)

Questions related to the passage ask students to:

• Recognize the main idea
• Locate details
• Make inferences
• Derive the meaning of a word or phrase from its context
• Determine the author's purpose
• Determine the author's attitude and tone
• Understand and evaluate opinions and arguments
• Make predictions based on information in the passage

Part 6: Verbal

• Number of questions: 60; 30 synonyms and 30 analogies
• What it measures: Vocabulary, verbal reasoning, and ability to relate ideas logically
• Time allotted: 30 minutes
• Topics covered: Word similarities and relationships through synonyms and analogies

The verbal section asks students to identify synonyms and interpret analogies. Synonym questions test a student's vocabulary strength, while analogy questions measure the ability to logically relate ideas to each other.

Synonyms are words with the same or nearly the same meaning as another word. For example, fortunate is a synonym for lucky, tidy is a synonym for neat, and difficult is a synonym for hard. Synonym questions ask students to choose the answer word with a meaning similar to the prompt word.

Analogies are comparisons between two things with similarities. These comparisons play an important role in improving problem-solving and decision-making skills, perception and memory, communication and reasoning skills, and reading and vocabulary. Analogies help students process information actively, make important decisions, and improve understanding and long-term memory. Considering these relationships stimulates critical and creative thinking.

Part 8: Experimental

The experimental section quality tests future SSAT questions to ensure they are reliable, secure, and acceptable.

• Number of questions: 16
• Scored section: No
• Time allotted: 15 minutes
• Topics covered: This section contains six verbal, five reading, and five quantitative questions

Practice for the SSAT.

The Official SSAT Practice Materials from the assessment team that creates the SSAT include Online Practice and Guide Books . Both have four full-length practice tests mirroring the SSAT experience. Get started with the free online Mini-Practice Test to identify where to focus studying.

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Moscow SSAT Prep Courses

Find the best SSAT Prep Courses/Classes/Workshops in Moscow and compare different preparation options for the SSAT test in Moscow.

Manhattan Review Courses

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What is MoSCoW?

Why should i use it, how to use it, won’t.

• It needs a homepage
• It needs product pages
• Each product needs a photo and description
• There needs to be a shopping cart
• There needs to be an about us page
• There needs to a be a terms & conditions, returns page
• There should be a banner with special deals
• There should be live chat
• It would be nice to have social media buttons
• It would be nice to have a pop up for subscribing to mailing lists
• Perhaps there can be a blog, but not sure

Latah County Human Rights Task Force

Strengthening the bonds of community to embrace diversity and reject bigotry..

Art and Essay Contest

Each year a topic concerning human rights is chosen with grade-specific contest parameters.  The information below is provided for the 2023-24 contest.

LATAH COUNTY HUMAN RIGHTS TASK FORCE 2023-24 MARTIN LUTHER KING ART AND ESSAY CONTEST THEME: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND OUR LIBRARIES