<p>Oh my God... I'm so ****ed off about the essay! First of all, I was so involved with trying to start the essay right off the bat that I wrote the whole first page on the 2nd page instead! I felt so retarted. I had to call the proctor and ask he what to do in the middle of it which wasted like 5 mins. On top of that, I was planning on using 2 examples for it, one with history and one personal, but i ran out of time thanks to my starting the essay on the 2nd page and I only put one example!!! I made it detailed about Mahatma Gandhi, and used a broad amount of SAT words, but it fell short at only 1 1/2 pages and my conclusion was only one sentence. :( My intro was extremely good, but I think my essay went from great to not so great. I'm just praying that I did really well on the writing multiple choice to make up for my score. What do you think is the max. score I could get? :(</p>
<p>dude i had a one sentence conclusion also with only two examples and filled 1 and 1/2 pages. Chill out, I'm sure it was good! I'd say we both got at least a 10, if your sentences were complex and your ideas well thought out</p>
<p>You had two examples man! I only had one. :( Anyone else do bad? ha</p>
<p>Hmm.. it depends on how well you write under a great deal of pressure, obviously :) But considering how hard of an experience you had, I should warn you not to be surprised if your essay comes back an 8 or lower.. :/ Readers know what hte time constraints are like and they're not going to kill anyone for a shortened conclusion, but it sounds like your entire essay was written in a frantic manner</p>
<p>Also, I see people saying this all the time: "I used a crapload of SAT words, YAY!". I don't think it really works like that. If you are a good writer and know how to use hard words, this will work to your favor. But if you use difficult words at the wrong time, becaus you've never seen them used in context (you only know their definition), that's not going to help your score. For example, if you replace the phrase "there's no question that..." with the SAT word 'undubitably', you've got the meaning down, but now you sound pompous and (IMO) very very strange. Have you ever used the word indubitably in a conversation??</p>
<p>I used "indubitably" during halloween when I was Mr.Pennybags <_<</p>
<p>I used "indubitably" during halloween when I was Mr.Pennybags <_<</p>
<p>That pretty much proves my point :)</p>
<p>To answer your question, no I haven't used that word in a conversation. But, I'm sure I used every vocab word in the correct context. Only thing is, I hope my example was very on-topic, because I had no time to think while I was writing it. Is it just me, or did the essay timing seem so much faster at the real thing? Usually I'm able to write atleast 2 lengthy examples, or 3.</p>
<p>It really depends on the proctor - in my case, my proctor gave us a 15 minute and a 5 minute warning, so everyone knew where they were at - so there weren't any complaints...</p>
<p>My proctor gave us too warnings 25 minutes and 2 minutes. One of the smartest girls I know was taking test with me and she ran out of time because of the proctor's poor timing. She also told us we had no more time, only to tell us right after we all closed our books that we had 5 more minutes. Whoa, I totally went off topic with the rant. </p>
<p>I'm sure you will get an 8+ as long as your essay was well structured and your examples were as good as you think they were. Good luck.</p>
<p>The test book did say you can be penalized for writing on the second page first, but I don't see that happening.</p>
<p>Be prepared for lower than an eight, but you may go above it if what you had was spectacular. However, one example, no matter how well-written, is still only one example, which, even for twenty-five minutes, isn't much of an essay.</p>
<p>I used tantalized, ascendancy, succumb and a bunch of other words. My hadwriting got worse towards the end though...</p>
<p>CRAP! I didn't use any hard vocab words in my essays. I did, however, had 3 good examples, intro and conclusion, and transitions... Will that hurt at all?</p>
<p>I used tantalized, ascendancy, succumb and a bunch of other words. My hadwriting got worse towards the end though...</p>
<p>Guys, I'm repeating myself, but the point of the writing portion of the SATs is for the CB to determine whether you are good WRITERS. Knowing "big words" like ascendancy, tantalized, and succumb shows just that... that you reviewed the big Barron's list. </p>
<p>Some may argue that they really DO know the definitions of these words and have used them in context/seen them used in context before/KNOW that they used them correctly/blahblahblah. But to this I say that, if you are the kind of avid reader and passionate writer who uses "advanced" words on a regular basis, you wouldn't feel a need to make a list of SAT level words you managed to stuff into your essay and post it on this website. And the reason for that is simple: those with genuinely large vocabularies use SAT words and see SAT words often enough that they do not consider using them anything of note. In fact, those with large vocabularies might not even remember using a difficult word like tantalize -- such a word is not innately "difficult" to them. </p>
<p>Those who need to point out that they used a five - syllable word in their essay are usually the ones, in my experience, who learned the word in their cram SAT book. And this is not an attack on character. That is just the natural tendency. Most of the readers are English teachers, and you can't fool them with a couple of scary looking words. Either you are a great writer, or you are a not so great writer.</p>
<p>Apologies for the grumpy rant, but I have so many friends who write entire AP Lang essays this way - by including as many SAT words as possible. And these are very intelligent people, by the way. But they are not the ones who get the best scores on their essays.</p>
<p>So what I'm trying to say is, to anyone who is preparing for his/her SAT (and I've gotten a 12 on an essay to my cred) please please don't think that including a couple of big words is going to help your score. It's not. But reading as much as you can, writing often, and getting your work editted by peers and professionals will help.</p>
<p>ditto, topasz</p>
<p>Everybody, take a second now to reread topasz's post. Grumpiness aside, is it not clear as a bell? (= logic, clarity). Starting with "Guys.." (his paragraph 2) he wrote a 5-paragraph essay with thesis, supporting examples, and conclusion. He probably didnn't even realize he was doing it as he ranted and wrote.</p>
<p>Can you sense the person behind it, writing away (= writer's voice, point-of-view)</p>
<p>No grammar errors, either.</p>
<p>Aside from the fact that I agree with him, I'd give his RANT a 12, and it had no twenty-pound SAT words imported.</p>
<p>Learn the vocab, yes, but if you're unsure of it, keep it to raise your CR score rather than to fluff or plump your essay unnaturally by injecting it (while praying you just used it correctly).</p>
<p>Just.. TALK to us in your writing.</p>
<p>The problem is, there are also prosaic (that means ordinary, but I know that word and really use it in speech) writers. Their work has a "plain Jane" vocabulary that could use some pumping up. If someone chooses words such as "get" all the time, "he wanted to get happier, so he..." or the most boring words ("happy, sad, excited" = level 1)) when the writer DOES know some better words
("pleased, sorrowful, animated" = level 3) then I'd encourage the use of those KNOWN words to enliven an essay. I repeat: KNOWN words, that one has read or heard, so they're used correctly in context!!
For some natural writers, precise words will pop into the mind while writing a first draft, while others might notice opportunities to upgrade during editing. That's personal, I believe, and comes with much experience.</p>
<p>For these SAT essays, I'd advise: don't venture into ("celebratory, remorseful, exuberant" = MIGHT suggest a level 6 -- but only if used correctly) just to impress a reader. BE AUTHENTIC. Understand the words you write. WOrds are tools to construct something on the page, so know your tools, just as any good carpenter would. Just as the carpenter's goal is to build something, you're trying to construct an idea-piece. A functioning product, a construction that doesn't fall down due to poor foundation, means more than which tool you used to tighten a screw along the way. </p>
<p>Good writing is like good dancing; it communicates. If you know your moves, your dancing can look smooth as glass. If you're trying to impress, it's like trying to do the same moves but wearing someone else's shoes. BUT..if you're comfortable in the shoes, and you've tried them out before and know they fit, by all means go ahead!</p>
<p>Most of the writers above sound like they'll certainly get l0's, at least. A lot of the stress, for example, "my conclusion was only 1 sentence!" are not deal-breakers. When they give you 2 pages and you use up 1.5 pages, you know you're in their range of expectation, so why stress? </p>
<p>Here are dealbreakers:
fuzzy logic, poor focus, such as: walking away from the essay and saying, "now, what did I say?" (could mean the thesis was weak) </p>
<p>lame examples unworthy of a teacher's atttention (how irritating is my girlfriend, really!)</p>
<p>examples put onto the page, and discussed, but sitting herre today you can't imagine how they have anything to do with your opening paragraph or the prompt.</p>
<p>forgetting to hand in the essay</p>
<p>Other than that, no single thing will kill a score. It's not like Arithmetic (one right answer) and more like Math (many good ways to get there)</p>
<p>Besides, it's Monday. Aren't you glad it's over???? That said, second-guessiing is natural, and I do it myself.</p>
<p>When the scores are reported, I believe they might send you a score on the release date, but then a few weeks later you can actually go onsite and reprint the essay you wrote, terrible penmanship and all.
Then, you can take it to an English teacher and get an actual analysis, if you bring him/her a candy bar or something for the extra time spent!</p>
<p>look people, I used those words not because I actually made a list and then used them... those were the words I used in my essay, that's it.</p>
<p>I know a high -scoring essay doesn't need "big" words, it is just as a safety net.</p>
<p>toapsz, if you look at the 6 scoring essay on the CB site, you will notice the "big" words they use.</p>
<p>lol this is hilarious.</p>
<p>why is this hilarious?</p>
<p>Naidu90, sorry didn't mean to rile you. </p>
<p>I posted to reassure Paulfoerster (post 11), who wrote " CRAP! I didn't use any hard vocab words in my essays. I did, however, had 3 good examples, intro and conclusion, and transitions... Will that hurt at all?"</p>
<p>Probbbbly you BOTH wrote well.</p>
<p>I notice a lot of bad feelings, regretting this or that, posting in search of reassurance, now that the test is over. Is it productive, I wonder. I guess it's just natural.</p>
<p>I'm sorry too :o</p>