Step 1: Scope the Situation. Analyze the situation and make sure you have a solid understanding of the alternatives presented. Then read the two bullet-pointed criteria and the descriptions of the alternatives. Select the choice that you find easier to defend, regardless of the one you may choose yourself in real life. While one option may appeal to you more from an aesthetic or practical standpoint, you may find the other easier to defend logically in writing. Don’t spend more than a couple of minutes making your decision! Remember, both options represent plausible, defensible scenarios.

Step 2: Outline Your Response. When you’ve made your selection, use the scrap paper provided to outline your response. Allow yourself roughly five to seven minutes to create your outline. Don’t worry about grammar or writing mechanics at this point; simply focus on getting your ideas down on paper. You will do this by listing the major points you will be making in abbreviated form. As for structure, plan to devote one long paragraph, or at most two short paragraphs, to each option. Include an introductory and concluding sentence. Here’s an example of an effective essay format that you may wish to employ.

The introductory and concluding sentences can stand alone or be part of the first and last paragraphs, respectively. Either of the main body paragraphs can also be split into two shorter paragraphs. In any event, you should be able to establish your position in two to four paragraphs. You need not follow the exact structure stated above, but it is a good idea to have a reliable essay structure in mind going into the exercise. Since the prompts are totally formulaic (i.e., always a situation with two alternatives and two criteria), there’s no reason why you can’t decide the organization of your response in advance.

Your outline should include at least two advantages of your selection and at least one disadvantage of the alternative not selected. Jot these ideas down on your scrap paper in shorthand form. Don’t flesh them out yet—that’s what the writing stage is for. Your outline should serve as a blueprint for the points you wish to make and should help to keep your essay on track.

Step 3: Write Your Response. The writing stage entails fleshing out, in proper Standard Written English, the points you conceptualized in Steps 1 and 2. Step 3 will naturally take up the bulk of the 35 minutes. Strive to complete Steps 1 and 2 in about 10 minutes total, which will give you roughly 20 to 22 minutes to write while still leaving a few minutes to proofread your essay at the end. Here are some important points to keep in mind to execute Step 3 effectively.

Step 4: Proofread Your Essay. Save three minutes or so at the end to look over your essay. Check spelling and grammar and fix any mistakes you find. A neat cross-out and rewrite is preferable to an egregious mistake. Just make sure your essay isn’t littered with sloppy revisions to the point that it’s difficult to read.

You should make an attempt to vary your sentence structure to keep the essay engaging. And while it can’t hurt to demonstrate a solid vocabulary. . .

. . . don’t submit to a compulsion to evidence your estimable and irrepressible loquaciousness in an endeavor to astonish your future academic compatriots into acknowledging the vital, indisputable, and inevitable advisability of acceding to your fervent desire to obtain entrance to their legal institution.

In other words, avoid sentences like that—it sounds pretentious and increases the risk that you and your logic will get lost in the wordiness. Use language that’s appropriate to make your case. Avoid overly complex sentences, and don’t get carried away with flowery embellishments. Thirty-five minutes is not enough time to create the next Great American Masterpiece, but it is enough time to construct a clear and persuasive essay in support of a position. Use the vocabulary you have to the fullest, but don’t try to squeeze in big words that you may not know how to use correctly. Finally, try your best to write neatly. It won’t help your chances if admissions officers can’t read what you wrote.

In the children’s book The Bear Scouts, the bear cubs learn all about how not to camp out by carefully observing one blunder after another by their self- proclaimed leader, Papa Bear. In a similar vein, long-time Writing Sample watchers have derived a whole host of “don’ts” from numerous analyses of sub-par essays. We’ve recommended things you should do in your essay. Here are some things you shouldn’t:

Don’t restate the situation. Your readers know the deal and want to know what you make of it, not how well you can copy it. Get right to the point with a strong statement of choice.

Don’t restate information from the prompt word for word. Your readers are interested in how well you interpret the facts, not how well you repeat them.

Don’t overextend your vocabulary. Use language that you know you can use well.

Don’t go off topic. Keep each paragraph focused on the merits (or lack thereof) of one alternative, which will keep the essay organized and help the reader follow your train of thought.

Don’t shortchange the discussion of the unchosen alternative. Showing why the option you didn’t choose is inferior to the one you did adds considerable weight to your argument.

Don’t over-rely on the first person. While writing “I” or “me” is acceptable every now and then, don’t litter your essay with these words and don’t use them when they add nothing to the essay, such as “I think that Acadia should publish with Second City Press.” “Acadia should publish with Second City Press” makes the same point and is more concise.

Don’t try to fill up every line at all costs. You can use up the two pages you’re given if you have time and your argument requires it, but don’t assume that doing so will necessarily result in a better essay. You may be better off putting extra time into the preparation phase, even if that results in a shorter response.

When you’re feeling up to cranking out a practice essay, give it a shot in the next section.