<p>I'm retaking the SAT come next week...</p>
<p>I've heard that they have weird guidlines for the SAT essay. Some of my friends said to just fill up the page as much as possible, others said to write like a simpleton so as to not confuse the SAT readers. I got a 5 on the AP Lang test and an 8 on the SAT essay. Do you love it?</p>
<p>ANY ADVICE?? (esp. if you did better on the essay on <em>your retake!</em>)</p>
<p>buuuuuuuuuuuuuuump anyone???</p>
<p>I’m afraid there’s no “one size fits all” advice for the essay since everyone’s style is different (not to mention everyone’s handwriting!). That being said, there’s a few general things I recommend.</p>
<p>1) Stick to the topic! Make sure every word you write is relevant to your argument. The idea is not to fill up two pages, and that kind of thinking can lead you into making superfluous, irrelevant statements. I’ve read plenty of 5-6 essays that were a page and a half long. </p>
<p>2) Keep it simple. By that, it’s not that you should write like a “simpleton,” but you should stick to the standard essay format, and you should absolutely refrain from using big vocabulary words or examples from great literature if you don’t know EXACTLY what you’re talking about. Some of the worst essays I’ve read have been from students that attempted to use every $5 word they could think of, to the point that the essay made no sense. As for using great literature, maybe have 4-5 books/poems whatever that might be relevant to a number of prompts to use as your standard examples. Know them well, and use them if appropriate, but whatever you do, don’t try to force them into a prompt. I’ve had students that decided to use something like “Lord of the Flies” as their standard example, and used it no matter what the topic was. Bad idea.</p>
<p>3) Assume your reader knows nothing. If you want to use an esoteric example, you have to explain who/what you’re talking about. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with the esoteric example, just be sure you lay it all out for the reader. Remember, they’re reading 100s of these things and they’re not going to go look up your favorite obscure book just to understand you.</p>
<p>4) Take one position and stick with it. While it is certainly possible to write a great essay using counterarguments, you generally need to be an exceptional writer to pull it off. Picking one side will naturally help you stay focused.</p>
<p>Hope that helps and good luck on Saturday.</p>
<p>I would just add, don’t sweat it too much. You can get an 8 on the essay and still get up to 790 on the Writing section.</p>
<p>hope this isn’t too much a digression. i’ve always heard “pick one side and stick to it”, is an argument in such form “X is true if we (add a condition here)…” off-topic and so receive a score of zero?</p>
<p>@Hunt: Some adcoms look at students’ SAT essays</p>
<p>@renlandrew: Yes, you should pick one side and argue it. Arguing for both sides is for the MCATs and other standardized tests. For the SAT, you should have a consistent argument as the readers expect you to spout out your opinion specifically.</p>
<p>Out of the 3 practice tests I’ve taken, I’ve gotten a 12 on all of them. First and foremost, think about your argument. How you present it is of equal priority. If you can successfully present it, then you’ll do really well. If you can’t, then your essay is not effective.
I’d recommend doing one argument so that you don’t confuse yourself. If you can intertwine two views, then go for it. If you think it’ll make your essay confusing, simply don’t do it.</p>
<p>you definitely cannot get a 790 with an 8 essay.</p>
<p>i got 3 multiple choice wrong, with an 8 essay, for a 690. there’s no way.</p>
<p>by the way, can someone clarify if adcoms actually do check the sat essay? do they even have time to do that?</p>
<p>
You definitely can, because my son did. 790 on Writing, with an 80 subscore on the multiple choice, and 8 on the essay. I just looked again at the score report, to make sure I wasn’t losing my mind. I guess the essay must play a relatively small role in the overall score.</p>
<p>It varies on the tests. On one of the official tests, I got an 80 on the MC, but a 10 on the essay. I was dropped to a 760.</p>
<p>Weird. Maybe it has to do with the supposed difficulty of the multiple choice questions.</p>
<p>the essay is +/- 250 points out of the 800… your son’s test date must have had one HELL of a curve…</p>
<p>I got 790 with 1 MC wrong and a 9 essay… so it’s not that far off.</p>
<p>June sat</p>
<p>I got an 8 essay and 770 writing score -1mc but 80 subscore. So it’s possible</p>
<p>Here’s some advice: DON’T RETAKE</p>
<p>why?? I don’t have much of a choice at this point.</p>
<p>On a real SAT test that I took, the essay was only worth 130 out of 800 for the writing section, so you can get a 0 on the essay and still get 670 on the section. If you got an 8 on the essay, you can get up to 770.</p>
<p>I took the Oct. 9 SAT this year, and I got an 80 MC subscore and an 8 on the essay.
790 overall! Retake it but don’t focus on the essay, try to bring your other scores up instead.</p>
<p>I can confirm that length DOES play a large role in essay score. My last essay was not any better in quality, perhaps worse, than my previous one yet it got an 11 rather than a 9 because it was a full 2 pages instead of 1.5.</p>