As a former English teacher, I am well aware of the importance of the five-paragraph essay in a student’s development as a writer. It’s a very nice and neat formula—write an introduction with a thesis, support it with three specific examples, and conclude with a strong paragraph that sums everything up. This format works especially for struggling writers, who often benefit from having more structure.

That said, the five-paragraph essay is not always feasible in the 30 minutes allowed on standardized tests like the SAT and ACT. Many students believe that a five-paragraph essay is absolutely necessary in order to earn a top score on the writing portion of those tests, but in reality, all you need is a solid four-paragraph essay.

There is some truth behind the myth that essay graders will automatically give you an above-average score if you write a five-paragraph essay. This, however, has more to do with the effort it appears you have put into the essay rather than the actual number of times you indented. Scorers like it when they see you’ve written legibly for the full 30 minutes because it means you take writing seriously and have aimed to please.

A four-paragraph essay is a great—and obvious—compromise between a three-paragraph and a five-paragraph essay. Since it is—duh—shorter than its five-paragraph counterpart, you will have more time to write and FINISH a cohesive essay in the time allotted. Yes, three times is often the charm, but two strong examples will work just as well when defending an argument. When you are taking a test for three hours straight, you will appreciate the fact that you can safely cut corners whenever you can.

Why not a three-paragraph essay, you ask? Go ahead and write one, but know that unless each of the paragraphs are long (7-10 sentences) and very well-developed, you could get a lower score, just because the scorer might think that you could have written more about the topic.

Some of you will still aim to write five-paragraph essays and some of you will succeed. Others will write four-paragraph essays that masquerade as five-paragraphers, with the third example stuck on there like you were playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. Still others will run out of time and submit an essay that ends up in the air, like the season finale of Lost. But never fear; there is still time before the next ACT and SAT to revamp your plan of attack.

Check back with this blog tomorrow for Acing the SAT/ACT Essay, Part II: You Wrote about WHAT?