<p>I hate the formula of using two scholarly examples to prove a super weighty thesis. It feels completely artificial. And I feel that if your essay feels artificial and stereotypical, without showing any deep analysis, feeling, or creativity, you’re going to get a 9. : </p>
<p>That’s why I like to go with personal and historical anecdotes in my essay. They’re so easy to write, they’re sentimental, and they really carry a heartfelt, personal understanding if you write them correctly. This last essay, I wrote about my friend being bullied because he said that his grandfather, a Japanese kamikaze pilot, was a hero. I also wrote about Bill Clinton getting accustomed to the White House’s policies.</p>
<p>Sprinkling some vocabulary in there, writing somewhat fluidly and interestingly, I got an 11.</p>
<p>What collegeboard looks for is right in their rubric: Grammatical correctness, an interesting vocabulary, interesting well-suited examples, organization, and INSIGHT. And that last part is what sets apart a 5 from a 6.</p>
<p>By the way, thanks for the compliment in the title, but I’m not a genius. 
I’m just a slightly intelligent human being who worked very hard for his 2400.</p>