Frequently Asked Questions

How can the Essay Institute help me?

We train students to perform brilliantly on the SAT Writing essay. Through our in-depth coaching and instruction, we'll help you feel confident and in-control the day of the test. With only 25 minutes to deliver a well-written essay, you don't want to waste a single minute or get confused and "choke." We'll teach you how to organize your thoughts, allocate your time, outline your key points and then put together a top-scoring essay. By practicing with us you'll get the advice, instruction and coaching that will allow you to score as high as possible on the SAT Writing essay.


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What's the overall process for getting help from the Essay Institute?

First, you should decide how much you want to practice with us for the SAT essay. The most popular option is the 5-essay Practice Package but definitely practice more if you can. Next, once you've placed your order, we'll email you a link to download our comprehensive Guide to the SAT Writing Essay that contains specific instructions on how to brainstorm, outline and then write a top-scoring essay.  The Guide also includes all of the sample essay prompts you ordered with further information on how to submit them to us. You should then get to work writing a practice essay by hand—which is how you'll do it the day of the test--and then either scan it or type it up before uploading it to the Essay Institute for review. We will carefully critique and grade your essay with an overall score and five sub-scores, which will give you an accurate sense of what your actual score would be. Our in-depth assessment and feedback is collected in a Performance Summary that we will email to you within either two business days or 24 hours—your choice.
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How much does it cost?

The better question is: how much will it cost you if you do poorly on the SAT essay? :) We believe our prices are very reasonable and our Practice Packages start at $19.99. We've done our best to make sure we can attract the best SAT writing tutors while still being affordable to most students. See our complete, detailed pricing.
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Who are EI's Tutors?

EI's tutors are all highly qualified professional writers, teachers, graduate students or professionals with extensive writing experience. They are also all native English speakers and we require that they have graduated from a top university. Our tutors who assist International/ESL students also have specific experience and training to handle the additional issues such students face. Quite often, EI's Tutors charge over $40/hour for their in-person services. They are all completely committed to help you improve each essay you submit and your writing skills in general. When you succeed, we succeed!
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What if I have a problem or am not satisfied? Do you have a guarantee?

We stand behind our work 100% and guarantee that you will be completely satisfied with our services. If you're unhappy or dissatisfied for any reason, contact us by email or phone and we commit to resolving the issue immediately. Contact us. If you're not completely satisfied with how we've handled the issue, we will refund your money or provide you with free credit for your next practice essay.
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How about some samples of your work?

Yes, take a look at this sample SAT essay we've reviewed and scored. Note that our comprehensive feedback is contained in your Performance Summary, which is a report you'll receive with each practice essay you submit.
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Tell me more about the Essay Institute and its founders:

The Essay Institute was founded in 2005 by Erick Widman, a lawyer from California, and his wife Ivy, who (fortunately for Erick) is a talented web designer. The Essay Institute is part of Knowledge Accelerated LLC, an Oregon company that also includes Turbo Review and MindZinger. Erick manages the daily operation of Knowledge Accelerated and its tutors and editors. Prior to this, Erick was Corporate Counsel at Philips Corporation in Silicon Valley and also taught for a year at the Budapest College of Economics. Erick can be reached at: erick@essayinstitute.com
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Do you have any job openings for Tutors?

Yes, the Essay Institute continues to grow and so if you're an experienced writer who graduated from a top university we'd be interested in hearing from you. Prior tutoring experience is definitely a plus. Send us your resume at: resumes@essayinstitute.com
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What do I do if I'm feeling unmotivated about getting started on my essay!

Click here for EI's "Feeling Unmotivated" link for inspiration.
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What if I have a crush on my English Teacher?

Sorry, we can't help you out with that one—but we're happy to help you improve your writing!
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