<p>Can you share with me- a mediorce writer- your experience how to get a high score on the essay? When you read the assigned topic , what do you immediately think of , and what sources of supporting ideas do you consider to use? For example, for this kind you would choose to use historical events to bolster your essay, and for that kind your personal experiences,etc.
And one more thing, do you think it's a must to fill up the 2 pages reserved for the essay? I don't know how I can write with a rocket speed while think of choosing which evidence to use. (I have to admit I quickly run out of ideas when facing the SAT essay). Do you have any "technique" (sorry I can't find any better word) to achieve this?
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>The first thing to do is to change your screen name. Negative outlook never helps</p>
<p>I have not recieved a score yet, for the college board online course "can't grade my essay at this time" for some reason. However, I know that if you can't think of a support from personal experience or something, just make one up. Make sure it isn't obvious you're making it up (and then I rode a rainbow colored pony to china...). It saves a lot of time, and its what I've found myself doing. :-D</p>
<p>one of my friends was told by her SAT tutor that u should try to have 2 literary or historical examples to support ur claim, and 1 from personal experience. in my opinion, theres not nearly enough time to write this much stuff. the first time i took the SAT i got an 8 on the writing part, and i wrote only about a personal experience. i felt i did better than an 8, but then again, im not hte 1 grading the papers. the 2nd time i took the SAT i got a perfect 12 on the essay. i used 1 historical example, and 1 from current issues facing our world today. i suppose by using prominent historical, literary, or current events examples the graders r more impressed and give u higher scores. btw in the beginning of ur essay make sure u clearly take a stand as to whether or not u agree w/ the given quote. hopefully this helps!</p>
<p>Usually when I see a topic, I would begin to list books that I have read recently to try to find a common theme that I can use to respond to the prompt. This works most of the time, but sometimes when I get stuck I would refer to historical events that I have learned in class. So far, I have been able to respond to all of the SAT essay prompts (both practice and real) through this method. However for it to be effective, you have to do some planning on the books or historical eras that you anticipate you will use.</p>
<p>Also, the graders are more interested in the structure and the presentation of the argument rather than the actual content, so you should keep referring back to your thesis. From my experience, even if you use shallow arguments, you can still score in the 11-12 range as long as you keep repeating your argument. Even if the particular argument is weak, the fatigued grader who has read dozens of essays will be inclined to believe your point if you can really nail it in by reiterating it.</p>
<p>Well I got 10's on both, but I'll still chime in, anyway, I had strong opening paragraphs and seriously BS'ed my way through the rest of it, but if you're looking for an eleven or a twelve then I guess you should have some substance ;)</p>
<p>really, it's hard for an average writer to score very high, and there isn't much one can do outside of practicing, and reading more often.</p>
<p>as someone who got a 12 on the SAT essay, and a 10 on the ACT essay (idk what happened) all I can say is put all your effort into your intros and conclusions, and make sure you have 2 bp's supporting your argument and 1 bp that destroys the opposing argument....ive never taken any prep courses or anything, so my advice may be flawed, but i think that if you try that approach youll put yourself in a much better position to get 9+</p>
<p>I'd like to send my thanks to all of u. I find your advice very helpful.</p>
<p>I've taken the SAT twice with 4 practice tests. I got 11's everytime and a 12 on one of the real ones. I was talking with my friend before going into the test. I said: "Joe, no matter the topic, I am going to write about Death of A Salesman and The Glass Menagerie." He laughed and said that was a bad strategy. Well, I did that and got a 12, he got a 9. Anyway, my point is, you should already have a list of topics to discuss before going into the test. Make a list of some current events, a war or two, some good books and plays, and a personal experience. Just be careful with the last one, graders aren't always keen on sentimental.</p>
<p>ACH! Adidas is stealing my standardized test scores again! Lol, jk. Sorta...(I've seen his/her stats, and they're practically identical to mine.) I too got a 12 on the SAT essay and a 10 on the ACT essay.</p>
<p>My advice to you is to avoid personal experiences unless the experience you mention is really noteworthy. Although I am not an SAT grader so I can't say with certainty, I think that the graders appreciate historical and literary examples more than personal experience (at least the scores on CC would indicate such). Before even taking the SAT, have a list of good literary masterpieces at your disposal that you can refer to. I used Animal Farm (George Orwell) in my essay and that seemed to work quite well. I also highly recommend 1984 (also by George Orwell), Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury), the Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald), Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), The Prince (Niccolo Machiavelli), Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky), The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne), Moby Dick (Herman Melville), War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy), A Passage to India (E.M. Forster), and anything by Shakespeare, Dickens, and Hemingway. You know, the classics. You probably know some that I forgot that you can add to your list. Memorize the list! You could probably tie in at least one of these works in response to any question they might ask.</p>
<p>DO NOT choose dry, boring literary and historical examples just because they are "scholarly." A well-written personal example that fits the topic is MUCH better than a boring, barely relevant historical/literary example.
I agree with above posters who said that good intros and conclusions are vital.</p>
<p>to the original poster? Imagine a serial killer with a .88 mm rifle, fully loaded and cocked, in your face. And the serial killer doesn't want to rob you or kill you or rape you. All he wants to do is make you squeeze out 2-3 really good examples of a 25 minute essay you are about to write. If you don't immediately think of these spectacular examples in 1 min or less, then the serial killer will kill you.</p>
<p>This is my "technique" when dealing with the SAT essay section. It works. </p>
<p>Ok, on a more serious note, I suggest if you are a mediocre writer and want to go for the more conservative essay, then use 2-3 examples, three being the most. I say 2 exmaples b/c only very apt and experienced writers are able to construct a long enough essay with enough deep analysis to use only ONE example. Of these 2-3 examples, use one literary, one historical, and one current event. You can use any 2 combinations as well. The reason for this is that the literary and historical examples are easy to relate to. Almost every test GRADER will have heard of Kennedy's assassination, the rise of communism, or have read Huck Finn. Therefore, you actually save yourself time by writing about topics that the test writer also knows about, because you won't have to explain waht the book Huck Finn is about or the event of Kennedy's assassination. You can jsut skip right to the analysis-- and we all know that analysis is Gold next to Length requirements. </p>
<p>I usually use a literary example and an event from American history, but that's just b/c i have take AP u.S history. </p>
<p>My advice is that a literary example is best and almost a must. Then for your 2nd or 3rd example use whatever comes to your mind or whatever topic that is your expertise. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Scored 12: I suggest sitting for a/b 1 minute and thinking as well as creating a little map with two or three examples with subexamples. That's right...just like middle school. It worked for me.</p>
<p>Its best to look at what is considered a 12.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=209928&highlight=essay%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=209928&highlight=essay</a></p>
<p>
[quote]
I've taken the SAT twice with 4 practice tests. I got 11's everytime and a 12 on one of the real ones. I was talking with my friend before going into the test. I said: "Joe, no matter the topic, I am going to write about Death of A Salesman and The Glass Menagerie." He laughed and said that was a bad strategy. Well, I did that and got a 12, he got a 9. Anyway, my point is, you should already have a list of topics to discuss before going into the test. Make a list of some current events, a war or two, some good books and plays, and a personal experience.
[/quote]
I completely agree with halopeno2. If there is anything at all that the essay portion actually tests you on, it is how well you can manage your time. Having a list of references such as literary or historical examples allows you to spend very little time to brainstorm or to outline. Thus, it will take no more than a minute or two to get started, which leaves you around 23 minutes for the essay itself.</p>
<p>Since timing is very important, you should have a good feel of how long it takes you to write a conclusion so that you won't have to rush through at the very end. I normally allocate 5 minutes for the introduction and conclusion, 17 minutes for the body, and around 1 minute for proofreading.</p>
<p>I'm just going to reiterate that the most important thing is to really write well. I know you called yourself an average writer, but if you work on your writing by focusing on your weaknesse, you can improve greatly. For example, looking at a friend's 10 essay, I found that his sentence pattern was very boring:</p>
<p>"JFK was a good man. In addition, he fought for civil rights. Moreover, he promoted patriotism in the U.S."</p>
<p>Obviously, this is an exaggeration; however, his writing was extremely bland and I encouraged him to vary his sentence structure. Use semicolons (correctly! Confirm it with your English teacher, because nothing is more painful than incorrect semicolon usage), make compound sentences, use gerund phrases (look it up if you don't know the word).</p>
<p>Another thing is length - the Collegeboard.com example for a 6 essay is extremely lengthy. It requires a LOT of writing. Although the examples are unrealistically long, the SAT readers definitely want to see that you have enough substance to support your argument. Part of that can be attributed to prepping beforehand and cutting down on brainstorm time, but it's imperative that you write enough to put you in the ballpark for a good score.</p>
<p>i got a 12, used 2 examples and just elaborated and connected it back to my thesis repeatedly..one example was from history, one was from my personal experience which i lied about</p>
<p>write very profoundly, i usually start my essay with a broad generalization: "Throughout all of time, people have blahblahblah..." so I sound like all philosophical and everything</p>
<p>also, always say what would happen if the opposite of what you support happened. for example, if you were saying "advice from friends is important," stick somewhere in the essay that without advice, we would always be making the wrong choices and the world would end, etc, etc</p>
<p>i used a personal example that i made up and one from a well known novel like huckleberry finn.</p>
<p>another good novel for examples could be great expecttaions.</p>
<p>Write about something you love/know a lot about. I did this with history and got an 11, and I talked about Hitler and Mussolini for half the essay O_o</p>
<p>Bottom line is really making a case and supporting it with 2-3 good examples.</p>