<p>It's my first time actually trying to write a full SAT Essay. If anyone could give my essay a score and provide some advice for future essays, that would be great. Thank!</p>
<p>Prompt: Should students who work very hard in a course earn very high grades, or should achievement rather than effort determine students' grades?</p>
<p>Essay:
Although it may seem right to reward people who work in a course with corresponding high grades, achievement is still a more effective criterion for determining the grades. Grades are meant to show how well one has mastered material, and serve to give feedback to a student. If a student receives lower grades while he is working hard, he realizes that whatever effort he is putting in is not effective, and can redirect that effort to make it more efficient.</p>
<p>In my days as a high school student, I have often experienced how low grades helped me. After taking a test on the Odyssey in my English class, I was shocked to learn that I had received a D. I had expected an A or a B, since I had studied very hard for the quiz. The night before, I had spent a couple of hours carefully reading and memorizing the events and characters of the story. When my teacher handed out the quiz essay prompt, I felt that I had nailed the question, since I had provided many detailed examples to support my ideas. When I received my graded test, I was frantic to find out how all my effort had failed. The next lunch period, I asked my English teacher to explain to me what I lacked in my essay. She proceeded to say that I had indeed fully grasped the shallow part of the Odyssey, the events of the plot. However, I had missed deeper components, such as analyzing the author's meaning, and carefully looking at the symbolism present. With this knowledge, the next time that I studied for a test on an English book, I was careful to interrogate the text for meaning. On this next test, on Hemingway's Farewell to Arms, I was able to do well, having noted the symbolic significance of rain in the story.</p>
<p>Although I was initially discouraged by my low grade, it helped me to realize what I had missed in my studying. If my teacher had given me a good grade based on my misguided efforts when studying, I would not have realized the importance of analyzing and finding deeper meaning in text, and I would not have been able to improve that skill.</p>
<p>Grades should indeed be based on achievement. Even though low grades may discourage hard-working students, the can stimulate these students see what they lack for greater achievement. When grades are based on solely the quality of work, they are made more significant, and reflect both hard and correct work.</p>