By Andy Navarro · October 7, 2026
Every year I prep early-college and dual-credit students for the TSI, and the essay is the part they worry about most. The good news: most weak TSI essays aren't weak because of grammar. They're weak because the student started writing before they knew what they were going to say.
So we practice planning until it's automatic. Here's the five-minute routine I teach.
Minute 1: unpack the prompt
TSI prompts usually give a short passage about an issue and then ask a question. Students underline the question and rewrite it in their own words. If they can't say what the question is asking in one sentence, they're not ready to write.
Minute 2: pick a side and say it plainly
Fence-sitting hurts. I tell students to pick the side they can defend best, even if it's not the one they feel strongest about, and write a thesis with two reasons: "I believe ___ because ___ and ___."
Minutes 3 and 4: one example per reason
For each reason, jot one specific example. It can come from history, current events, books they've read, or their own life. Specific beats general every time: "the summer job where I learned to show up on time" says more than "many people."
Minute 5: one counterargument
Write one sentence for what the other side would say and one for why your side still holds up. This is the move that separates an okay essay from a strong one, and it takes thirty seconds once students have practiced it.
Then write from the outline
With the plan done, the essay almost writes itself: an introduction ending in the thesis, a body paragraph for each reason, a counterargument paragraph, and a short conclusion. Students who outline first write faster, not slower, because they never stop to wonder what comes next.
I use a one-page outline template so students can see the whole essay before they start. It's below with the lessons that go with it.
