Essay Response : Short vs. Long

<p>Does a longer response on the SAT essay necessarily mean you will score higher? Is there a preference between short and long responses?</p>

<p>I took this class during the summer, and the teacher said that a longer essay is better than shorter essay.</p>

<p>I tend to agree. Excessive information is better than no information at all.</p>

<p>But then again, the grader gets all grumpy and gets some vendetta against your essay. =/</p>

<p>i filled up the entire thing and only got an 8. and i didn't think it was too bad, either. so, it may not always end up how ya think.</p>

<p>longer essays are better. Apparently, there are studies conducted on the essay in which the grader would be able to hold the essay at an unreadable distance away, and still be able to know the grade...just google it, you'll know what I'm talking about....</p>

<p>I did a page and 3/4 and got an 11.
It was back in March.</p>

<p>Better more than less, def.</p>

<p>a page and 3/4 isnt too lengthy, I'm talking 3 pages or so essay</p>

<p>hah. 3 pages or more? dear you only get 2 pages to write.
i agree with eduardoz over there</p>

<p>on the oct.8 SAT, i ran out of time and only did 1 page and 5-10 lines. Will that be enough for a 9 or a 10?</p>

<p>i wrote like 3/4 of one page. I got a 9. and under the comment thing said I understood the complexitivity of the issue and was impartial. Silly questions. This was the Sept. 24 one.</p>

<p>what? are you talking about princeton review or something? there was no SAT on sept. 24.</p>

<p>short essay that has good argument and support will get a 12</p>

<p>What about a long essay (filling every line) with a decent argument, but nothing stellar or creative?</p>

<p>probably 4 or 5 (8-10)</p>

<p>Longer is not always better. Granted, you need some space to discuss your ideas, but it doesn't have to fill everything up.</p>

<p>I filled up a page and a half, and got an 11. Go for substance, not length. I do this in English class and all essays and always do better than people who wrote much more than me.</p>

<p>ok this all makes me feel better...though i'm sure i won't get higher than an 8 this time either.</p>

<p>"on the oct.8 SAT, i ran out of time and only did 1 page and 5-10 lines. Will that be enough for a 9 or a 10?"</p>

<p>I didnt really prepare for the writing going in, and I didnt realize until just when we started that we had 25 minutes for the essay(which, by the way, is IDIOTIC.. 25 minutes for an essay is absurd) And despite not finishing(didnt have a change to finish conclusion.. didnt manage time well) got a 7. If by ran out of time you mean had to rush the ending, you should be fine for a 9 or so if you write well. If you ended up doing what I did, its up in the air.</p>

<p>I wrote exactly 2 pages and got a 11. I spaced out my words though so that i would fit the two full pages. I believe it looks better to the grader when you use all the space. The RR also said the same thing. Those essay graders dont look for good prose, just information and mastery of the arugment. It is much easier to demostrate that if you write alot. </p>

<p>Also, Iv been wondering if the graders grade the original or photocopied versions of the essay. If they grade photocopy then the pencil is very important. I found that some pencils dont show very well even if it is #2 when photocopied.</p>

<p>I hope you are right, lixuelai. Did you think the content of your essay was exemplary, or was it more the length that got you the high score?</p>

<p>I thought that my content was ok, and I highly doubt it is anything close to exemplary. My intro and conclusion format i just pulled from my essay style for in-class writings...which means it is starts with a glossy sentence, then gets down to the point and finish with my thesis. My examples were pretty weak. I had 3 classics in my head that i intended to use. I only had time to use 2. The two were Eugene Onegin by Pushkin and The Age of Innocence by Wharton. Now i had to stretch the content of the TAoI by quite a bit to fit into the context of the questions (think it was about work on ppl's lives). Anyway so at best my content is good.</p>

<p>Just write bigger and leave bigger spaces.</p>

<p>i just made up 3 examples from my life and filled up the two pages, nothing too compelling but i got the point across. thats what the Grammatix thing told me to do... will i get at least a 10?</p>