<p>I don’t think the grading is necessarily harsh, just that standards are different from what we’re being taught. Personally, I’ve been successful with the ACT writing section, with a 10 as an 8th grader and a 12 as a freshman. I haven’t taken the ACT with writing in 2.5 years though, so the grading could have changed somewhat. I try to employ sophisticated diction and complex syntax in a 5 paragraph essay format. I always include
a strong thesis and outside information for my supporting details. I don’t know if my way is “right” but it seems to work.</p>
<p>I think so. On my in-class AP Lang impromptus, my teacher generally gives me 8 - 9s (9 being the highest score). Yet on the ACT/SAT, I ONLY get 8s (out of 12)!</p>
<p>There were a few threads some time back about quite a few students who got 35 or 36 composites with writing scores of 6 to 8. You will do poorly if you are concise! Some MIT professor did a study and found that there was almost a perfect correlation between LENGTH and your score. Write quick, ramble on and on with any details you can come up with – they don’t even have to BE ACCURATE, just vaguely on topic.</p>
<p>Or just don’t worry about it. The elite schools don’t take the essay portion seriously, as long as your college app essays are stellar: they know that students have been known to win writing awards yet perform poorly on this generic essay. My son got into Brown with a 36 composite paired with a horrible essay score.</p>
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I think it was the April 2011 Scores thread. I was one of these people. I got a 35 composite, 35 English, and only a 9 essay. </p>
<p>Don’t be too precise and concise… be elaborate and put in as much detail of as many examples as possible.</p>