Help with writing section!(Essay)

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Hello everyone, I have a question that have been banging me since I started studying for SAT: How much do you really write for the Essay?</p>

<p>Well, I've looked through lots(I mean lots) of prep books, (PR, Barron's, Kplan,OG just to name a few) but they all seem to have conflicting views on how much you really have to write for an essay. PR says that 4 good paragraphs are better than 5 rushed ones, Barron's says you need to do what ever it takes to write 5 paragraphs, and Kplan so forth.
(I guess looking at so many prep books is kind of weird, but I really just buy them to practice.) What's your opinion on how much you really have to write?
And what does it really mean to "fill two pages"? I counted the lines given in the OG essay part, 53 lines, let's say we average 10 words for one line, that will make 530 words. But most 12 essays count to only about 300-400 words. does this mean you just really have to write bigger or leave out more spaces between each words? (I have no problem cranking out 340 words in 20 min but 530 words is a bit too much)</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>check out the forum I wrote:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1525053-defeating-sat-essay-2-days.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1525053-defeating-sat-essay-2-days.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>That’s one of the most confusing issues about SAT essays, so of course you would be confused. I know statistically that most of the essays that scored the highest had 4 solid paragraphs rather than 5, because within 25 minutes, you just can’t write that much. Also, you don’t really need to fill two pages completely, but a lot of the high scoring essays have about 1 and a half pages or more.</p>

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<p>Well thanks alot for the reply, it helped me out alot. I was always worried when I couldn’t really fill up two pages, and also get nervous when I couldn’t come up with a third really good example.
I’m taking SAT for the first time in Nov.3 Hong Kong. mind if you can tell me which vison of SAT we’re going to be using? I guess it’s the international one,(but what the difference?)
wonder if there is already a thread about the Nov. test.
Thanks again man.</p>

5

<p>You asked how much you need to write. Here’s the short answer:</p>

<p>Write enough to answer the question thoroughly.</p>

<p>If you can accomplish this in 300 words, great. If doing so requires 412 words, then that’s what it requires.</p>

<p>Those books won’t help much unless they include instructions on HOW to write effectively.</p>

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<p>By the way, how many words do you write per line? I always tend to cramp 12-14 words in one line(I have this really small handwriting I somehow inheritated from my parents),and feel kind of wierd when I write in really large letters(from my point of view), so subconciously my words start to become smaller again. Any help on that?</p>

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<p>You’re worrying about the wrong things. Focus on the quality of your writing rather than on penmanship, word count, or anything else.</p>