Seventy minutes. Sixty, now that the teacher’s instructions are over. 

You sit down at your desk, its cool surface pressing against your thighs. Around you, backpacks shuffle, chairs scrape, and someone exhales too loudly. You flip open the packet – and sure enough, the two topics you are supposed to write about are the ones you somehow managed to overlook, despite studying for three hours the night before.  

For many Webb students, an in-class essay is not just a test—it is a seventy-minute battle.  

“It is stressful because it has a time limit,” Jaeho Lee (‘28) said. “It is also one and done, we don’t get to revise it or anything. I was super anxious about it, and I over prepared.” 

Yet with artificial intelligence on the rise, where tools such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek AI readily available, in-class essays are becoming one of the preferred ways teachers are assessing their students’ writing abilities.  

“With a take home essay, sometimes students will use Grammarly or in worst case scenarios other non-ideal technologies to change their writing voice,” said Elizabeth Cantwell, humanities department faculty. “In an in-class essay, you get a real sense of what a student’s voice on a page really sounds like. You also can get a sense of that student’s ability to develop an argument in a timed manner.” 

It is a valid concern, but as AI evolves, so do other technologies that could aid with monitoring student progress. Google Docs, for instance, offers version history, allowing teachers to track each step of a student’s writing process. This feature helps detect whether students are writing independently or copying and pasting large chunks of text from elsewhere. 

One possible solution is to shift some in-class essays to a take-home format and require students to submit their work through an online platform within a set time frame that is slightly longer, such as four to five hours. This approach maintains a controlled writing period while still allowing teachers to monitor students’ progress and authenticity. 

As many Webb students head off to college, many will continue to encounter in-class essays.  

“A lot of colleges will still ask students to write timed essays,” Dr. Cantwell said. “Webb is a college prep school, and having these skills is useful.” 

While this is true in some instances, many universities, such as University of Waterloo, Troy University, and University of North Georgia are transitioning to include more timed take-home essays or oral exams. These newer ways of assessment provide a range of benefits such as prioritizing critical thinking over memorization, accommodating various needs, and developing more nuanced responses.  

But in-class essays are not just a way for teachers to get a sense of their students’ writing abilities, they also align with Webb’s philosophy.   

“At Webb, we encourage students to develop unbounded thinking.” said Nina Butler-Roberts, the Director of Studies. “I feel like an in-class essay in some ways lends itself to that very nicely. Being able to write, from a space that is not pre-scripted and predetermined, pushes students to think creatively and undauntedly.” 

Yet, thinking creatively and boldly also requires a certain level of preparedness. If students enter an in-class essay with no sense of what to expect, they may panic, scrambling to come up with an argument just so they have enough time left to articulate their ideas.  

This time constraint discourages them from thinking outside the box or taking risks, as they feel compelled to rely on familiar arguments instead of exploring more complex or unconventional ideas.  

Webb teachers vary in how much information they provide before an in-class essay—some share exact topics in advance, while others offer little to no guidance. For example, students in the Advanced Studies Fascism course are given all the topics they need to cover beforehand, whereas in Advanced Studies Gothic and Horror Literature & Culture, students are only given a general framework of the in-class essay.  

A better solution would be for teachers to standardize the amount of information given before an in-class essay, ensuring consistency in preparation while maintaining the element of spontaneity. To put this into perspective, teachers can provide students with a list of potential prompts a few days in advance without specifying which one will appear on the exam. This approach allows students to prepare adequately while still thinking on their feet during the timed essay. 

In the end, in-class essay is a work in progress, but there are ways to refine the approach to both enhance assessment and encourage bold, creative thinking. Shifting toward timed take-home essays or developing a standardized in-class essay format are two starting points that Webb can consider as part of a broader effort to improve the writing assessment process.  

“I think a lot of students, including me, would like to be able to have revisions for in-class essays,” Jaeho said. “Knowing you can revise something make it easier for the students and takes away the stress of having to it perfectly the first time.”