How accurate is the CB's essay grader?

Test Preparation
1

<p>What basis do they use when grading the essays? My first essay received a 10, when I thought it would receive an even lower score. I took another practice test and my essay score was a 12, when I thought it would be a 10 at best. If anyone could read/grade/comment on my essay, I would greatly appreciate it.</p>

<p>I didn't put very much detail in my examples, and I basically blabbed about them. I'm afraid this won't do on test day, so here goes:</p>

<p>Prompt:</p>

<p>People's lives are the result of the choices they make—or fail to make. The path one takes in life is not arbitrary. Choices and their consequences determine the course of every person's life. All people, whatever their circumstances, make the choices on which their lives depend.</p>

<p>Are people's lives the result of the choices they make? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.</p>

<p>Essay:</p>

<p>The choices that people make result in the lives they live. ALthough some may argue that one is born into a certain life or they can be pre-destined, ultimately only we can choose our destiny. This is evident throughout history, society, and even my own personal experiences.
The choices we make determine the course of history. An example that exemplifies this is evident in World War II. Hitler had full control of his army and the political platform, the Nazis. With the majority of Europe under his power, it was only a matter of time that he would ultimately control most of the Western world. Luckily, the United States had stepped in and interfered with the Nazi's plans. In hind sight, the United States government and people changed the course of hisotry, otherwise it is very well possible that our nation and world today would be under dictatorship. This event is like a maze. There are so many different possible outcomes of the situation. These choices have altered the lives of many by changing the course of history.
In our advancing society, we are growing away from social "castes" and growing towards social mobility, which allows even the poorest of the poor to grow up to be the richest of the rich through the choices we make. For example, the United States in particular supports democracy and capitalism. This allows many to choose which types of lives they want. Many can choose to go to college to further his or her education. Others want to take over a family business. These choices were not available many years ago, even today in some countries. However, we are able to choose our destiny, because changes in society have been assimilated it. It is evident that in many developed countries, the choices we make directly allows us to choose what type of life we want.
The things we do now are directly related to what we have done in the past, through recreations and hobbies. I am now an aspiring tennis player. When I was young, I had the privledge to choose between playing tennis and hockey. Though I loved both at the time, I ultimately chose to stick with playing tennis, because I had found more in iit. At first, I had only played on weekends and after school, but soon I was playing in tournaments. If I had no chosen to stick with tennis, I would not be surprised to find myself doing something else today. Even the small things we find pleasure in doing today have a great impact upon what we have in the future.
The choices we have made in the past are direct result of what we have today. This is evident but not limited to history, society, and even in personal instances.</p>

<p>Thanks for your time! What would a 12 essay + 36 Raw Score (10 wrong, 1 omit) have been on an actual test anyway? I think it would be in the high 600's.</p>

2

<p>For the writing: I got a 670 and here was my breakdown</p>

<p>41 right, 7 wrong, 1 omitted, raw score 39</p>

<p>essay-10</p>

<p>Hope this helps</p>

3

<p>That essay is 8-10, depending on how harshly the reader marks. It is definitely not 12.</p>

4

<p>Can I get some feedback. Anything but the obvious (grammar and spelling mistakes) would be most helpful.</p>

<p>I know my style is not perfect (however to my understanding the CB does not stress too much on it). Personally, I don't see it being as low as an 8, since I've gotten an 8 on the actual test and it was much worse than this (I didn't finish and it was barely more than one page). However, I can understand it being a 10. Any suggestions? Remarks without explanations cannot be less helpful..</p>

<p>By the way, how accurate is the CB essay grader? Did anyone get a 10 on the grader and get a 10 on the actual test? I hope I'm getting advice from experienced people who have actually taken the tests as opposed to those just making conjectures.. :o</p>

<p>Thanks :)</p>

5

<p>How does CB essay grader work anyway? How do they produce the scores that they do?</p>

6

<p>i heard they are more lenient with grading, especially for the march one since it was the first time. me and my friend LITERALLY babbled on and on for our prompt and we both got 11s. i am not exaggerating. she mentioned ipods and i think i vaguely recall putting in something about some kind of cartoon.</p>

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<p>also,i think the essay is like an 8 or 10 (examples are slightly weak and rambling at times)</p>

8

<p>I'm having a hard time thinking of good examples. I used every second of time, and I couldn't really think of any good examples. Help!</p>

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<p>mm, my best bet is no to personal examples. it's too risky. only use that if you're completely out of ideas. i would use literary and historical examples. your wwII one was good, but you need more specifics.</p>

10

<p>Yeah, all of my examples were basically saying one general thing: "The choices you make affect the future"... it goes without saying that it sucks, but I couldn't think of anything :(</p>