<p>To all out there, I am sure that most of you guys have used either Gram or RR essay strategy. </p>
<p>Gram guarantees a perfect 12 if done correctly, but it seems to me to me that Gram has a very risky essay approach that might easily backfire to a 6 or 8.</p>
<p>RR's strategy is more conventional, but RR only guarantees a high score, but not a perfect 12. In fact, RR explicitly goes DIRECTLY against Gram's strategy (that of writing about personal experience).</p>
<p>I am inclined to use RR's essay strategy, although I am afraid that I will hit only a 10 (I know 10 is a very good score, but well you know...CCers...). Anyone used Gram's strategy and got a 12? Anyone knows of anyone who used Gram's strategy and backfires?</p>
<p>I combined the strategies; I used Grammatix's intro/conclusion and 1 personal example, and RR's strat of having academic examples (1 history, 1 science). I'll see how I did in less than 24 hours, and post it later in the day.</p>
<p>i have never read RR's strategy, but i do follow grammatrix's. I used that method for SAT, and got a 8, and used it for ACT and got a 10. i just re-took the ACT yesterday, and this time, from what i'm reading, i did a combination of both. I used the intro and conclusion of gram, used 1 personal example, and two academic examples.</p>
<p>I used the intro of gram with SAT words from RR (proficiency, explicitly, etc.). Then, from RR, I used 2 literary and 1 historical example, and I also used its transition sentences. At the same time, I used grammatix's strategy for examples; I was pretty straightforward. I just explained how they proved the point. I used the conclusion of gram because I was running out of time.</p>
<p>Any strategy that tries to apply itself for all 1.3 million test takers is not woth very much. There are some interesting ideas in both Gram and RR, but both are flawed and both were written, if i'm not mistaken, before the March test was actually given. You have to find a strategy that works for you. Looking for short-cuts is a great way to underperform on the essay.</p>
<p>out of the three times i've taken the SAT's, i've gotten 2 12's, and one 10
and i didn't use any of those books
you basically need to follow a few guidelines
this is basically a very generic version of my recipe for success:</p>
<p>indent paragraphs to the halfway point of the page
have 5 paragraphs (intro, 3 body, conclusion)
body paragraphs deal with an example from literature, history, and current events, respectively
use a few 50 cent words whenever you can -- beware, dont use a word incorrectly, that would hurt you
...and write continuously for 25 minutes. from my experience, you need to fill up the first page and get down probably about 80% of the second page, at the least. it's hard to do that if you aren't writing continuously. That's why when i'm writing, i'm always thinking about the next sentence as i'm writing. i just keep writing, shake my hand out every now and then, and just keep writing.</p>
<p>also, another important thing that helps things move along is writing a very quick prewrite in the beginning. when i say prewrite, i mean write literature -(), history - (), current events - (), and jot down your example in the space next to it. it organizes your ideas and keeps the thinking to a minimum throughout the writing of the essay. and the prewrite should not take more than 2-3 minutes. once you read that prompt and get your three examples down, write like hell.</p>
<p>write like hell. those are my personal words of wisdom for the essay.</p>