Aiming for 800 (The Writing Section)

<p>Hi All!</p>

<p>3 Months ago, I received a score of 400 on the writing section. (Diagnostic test taken in a tutor company. 22 = raw score)</p>

<p>After numerous of studying, cramming, and practicing, I have successfully raised my writing score from 400 to 600-670 depending on my essay score. However, it seems like I cannot achieve a perfect 49/49. I always make </p>

<p>I have taken about 5-6 full practice tests, 49 MC, for the writing section so far. Non of them are perfect. Most of them contain 4-5 mistakes, which is frustrating. I KNOW all those rules! I always get really disappointed after reading the explanation and realize how easy/simple the questions were. It just seems like I can never hit the 49/49 mark. </p>

<p>Any of you who have achieved 800, or close to 800, for the SAT writing multiple choice, can you give me some advice or share your testimonies that can help me to hit the limit? </p>

<p>Thanks, any advice helps!</p>

<p>Practice practice practice! I scored 780 and 770 on my two SAT writing sections. I scored 49/49 with an 8 on the essay on both. My advice is honestly to just keep taking practice tests. Each SAT administration tests the same writing concepts, so you should learn to recognize immediately when an error is present. I trained myself to be able to complete the entire writing section in 15 minutes, with 10 minutes left over to check EVERY question again, especially the improving paragraphs questions.</p>

<p>I scored an 800 using Barron’s writing workbook. The essay prep isn’t good, but the MC help is great. MC score was 78/80 while essay was 11/12.</p>

<p>For the essay, there’s a thread called “How to write a 12 essay in just 10 days”.</p>

<p>Okay honestly those tutoring companies make the questions so much more difficult in practice tests than the actual SAT. I don’t think I ever broke 700 on critical reading or 750 on practice tests, but on my first attempt on the actual test I received 800 on both. They purposely make it seem more difficult to show growth (at least, that’s what I think…)</p>

<p>@ Ivyhope: WOW 15 minutes? I can barely complete the whole section in 25 minutes. Alright, I will keep on practicing. Do you have any suggestions how I should approach the blue book for writing practice? Should I just Practice Daily for 10 days? (49 per day) Or should I space my time out? I’m not taking the SAT till November. </p>

<p>@Cheerios: I’ve borrowed the book from my friend before, it is, indeed, really helpful for the writing MC. For the Essay that you got 11/12, did you follow the guide explicitly? Did you make your own template? If you did, do you mind sharing it with me? Thanks man!</p>

<p>@LilShowstoppa: Yeah they do make it harder, but I don’t think it matters because when I was taking the test, I had no clue what is going on. I did not join the tutor company; I studied on my own along with friends’/parents’ help :P</p>

<p>I more or less followed the guide. The key points are to have the same format, topic sentences, thesis statements ready to go. I wasn’t exact with the guide in terms of number of examples I had on head etc, but I did follow the five paragraph, three evidence structure.</p>

<p>Let’s see if I remember my format…</p>

<p>First sentence: Intro to topic
Second sentence: Explicitly state your view point (key word explicit)
Third sentence: Explain reasoning
Fourth sentence: "Examples from history, literature, and contemporary society demonstrate/show/prove (thesis).</p>

<p>Example paragraphs:</p>

<p>Open with variation of thesis:</p>

<p>“The paragon of a great challenge defining a man’s life comes from Gene Kranz’s handling of the Apollo 13 mission.”</p>

<p>Next, explain the example ie what happened, but don’t get too detailed.</p>

<p>Finally, tie it back to the thesis. (Repeat 3 times)</p>

<p>Conclusion:
“When one analyzes the pattern of (insert examples) an indisputable pattern becomes clear: (thesis)”
And then, a wrap up sentence.</p>

<hr>

<p>At least that’s what I did. Always time yourself, and try and push. You should get used to finishing each paragraph around a certain time. Take no more than 1 minute to brainstorm and get your examples ready. Use a variety of types. Then write like crazy. Remember not to use too many SAT words, or else that looks fake.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>@Cheerios:
Thanks for spending your precious time to help a noob lol. This really helped. I will be modifying my own essay template, and soon might need your advice again! Thanks again, I cannot appreciate enough</p>

<p>My issue is the multiple choice, not the essays. I got a 12/12 on the essay section, but I still end up with like a 770 in writing overall? How do you get an 800???</p>

<p>@Jokejoke</p>

<p>Not too sure to be honest. I have always been good on the writing (1 wrong on the PSAT) so I never really did too much prep for the Writing portion of the SAT. But to improve just writing, do a complete set of 49 questions everyday until you feel confident with what’s being tested.</p>

<p>Don’t really need 49/49 Mc to get 800 writing. </p>

<p>I got 48/49+11 essay and got 800.</p>

<p>You can get 47/49 and still get 800.</p>

<p>It’s pretty hard to get full 49/49 mc. Sometimes they just throw in a random, impossible idiom question that will eventually comes down to pure 50/50 guessing. </p>

<p>I think you should just continue your MC prepping as you are but also try working on getting your essay to double digits.</p>

<p>10+48/49-800
11+47/49-800
12+47/49-800</p>