<p>I don't think my essay is the problem, as I got an 11 on the most recent June SAT.</p>
<p>However, 70 MC scaled score...definitely not good enough for a perfect writing score. It seemed to me like the identifying sentence errors (which btw is my worst section - usually I can get the sentence correction/paragraph corrections perfect) on the June 07 SAT had errors that were not mentioned in many of the prep books I've looked at. I can't remember any specifics, but I bet some of the questions are on that 125930432 page June SAT thread - I just remember discussing some very nuanced answers there.</p>
<p>For those of you that did get an 800/really high score in writing this past SAT...
1. Do you remember any of those tricky errors that most people probably put "no error" on?
2. How did you study for it? Is it just instinct/outside knowledge, or did you have some resource that taught you those grammar tricks?</p>
<p>I know practice is probably the best solution to something like grammar - and (from what i've seen) probably the easiest section to bring up your score if you have the time/materials. But to get an 80 MC score...what's the secret?</p>
<p>Just practice and review all the answers you get wrong. If you do that, since the errors are repeated on nearly every test, you will eventually be able to identify 98% of errors correctly. That's what I did, with minimal grammar review.</p>
<p>ye once you get down to the -1 to -3 area, then i think it's just luck, unless you're really good and can spot errors everytime. I didn't study for june, but i think i was just lucky and my instincts helped me choose the right choices. I got a 74 and 11 essay, up from 70 raw last time</p>
<p>Well, I think you can get past the -3 area with more than luck. But if you're at -1, then it is a lot of luck. There are always a few odd questions that can throw you off. But with enough studying -3 can be avoided 95% of the time.</p>
<p>mm i got an 80 MC and a 12 essay on the January SAT I
and without a doubt a lot of luck was in play (in practice tests I always got 3-5 wrong in the MC .. and mid 700s for a final writing section score)</p>
<p>personally what I did was just go through a lot of writing section work books until you can categorize almost every single type of error and why.</p>
<p>what my tutor made me do was make big note cards of each type of error (i think they were listed in the barrons writing book, i forget) and put 3-5 examples of each whenever they popped up in practice tests. I think that helped a lot. </p>
<p>in terms of workbooks.. if you have time.. and you really want the 80 MC.. i'd go through all of the books (kaplan, princeton review, barrons, blue book, etc) and just get a lot of practice and pray that you are lucky on the test day. </p>
<p>good luck! =) if you have any more questions, feel free to pm me</p>
<p>edit: for the no errors.. as I went through the writing sections during the SAT, I left ones that I wasn't immediately able to categorize into a certain error types blank (when you do like 102910349 problems.. this should come easy). and then when I reached to the end of the section, I counted how many I left blank and if I left like more than 5 blank, I took a second loook to see if I could categorize it again but if I left like 3-4 blank.. I just put E's for all of em'. I know this seems kinda "unscientific" but hey it got me an 80 MC haha</p>
<p>sorry if my answer seems all hazy and confusing.. im at my internship working -_-</p>
<p>To me, it's mostly just what sounds right. If something sounds awkward in my mind, that's the answer I pick. If nothing sounds awkward, I read it through a few times to look for subject/verb agreement and things of that sort. If I find nothing wrong, I put no error.</p>
<p>I think that's a vast oversimplification of how most people do well, but it worked for me.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the feedback!
Most of what has been said is what I thought - I guess people get a "sense" of what's right and wrong, either by just being good at grammar, or practicing.
I was hoping someone might reveal one of their top secret methods :P</p>
<p>Btw, -1 on MC + 11 essay is still an 800 isnt it?</p>
<p>For me I'd agree with the "sounds right" comment above. I can normally just pick out the wrong answer. Also, I reviewed basic grammar a bit before the test and that helped I guess.</p>
<p>I got a 780 on the December one (9 essay, missed 1 on MC) and an 800 (11 essay, missed none) on the June one, which is a really big surprise because I remember feeling like I failed the June writing sections. One of my extra sections that ETS stuck in just for kicks was a grammar section. It totally sucked, because I ended up having so many "none of the above is wrong" answers. I even considered erasing some, because none of the practice tests I ever took had so many, but I just stuck with what sounded right, and it worked. </p>
<p>I had a grammar packet that really helped. Basically, get to know the "categories" that they might test you on like subject/verb agreement, diction, idioms, etc. For me, the idioms was the hardest since I don't speak English at home. Even though I'm fluent in it, I sometimes miss out on the smaller details in English grammar, stuff like talking "to" someone instead of talking "at", or walking "toward" someone instead of "towards" (no such thing as towards). Just familiarize yourself with as many grammar "rules" as you can.</p>
<p>And of course, when you're testing, focus. Whispering the setence to yourself under your breath helps too. And don't get flustered when you think that it doesn't sound right. Go with your instinct. Hope that helped a little.</p>
<p>I just got a 770 on writing on the June exam (74/80 MC and 11/12 Essay)</p>
<p>I used the formulaic essay and just went over a few basic rules (dangling modifiers, semicolons, more/most, I/me) the week before the test.
First read the sentence to see if it "sounds correct." If you don't see an error, go through some of the rules. The McGraw-Hill 2nd Edition has a nice set of rules to review.</p>
<p>hey,
I got an 800 (80 MC/10 Essay) for the June test, but let me tell you, I thought that writing was the hardest section of the test. I had an experimental writing section and I thought it was equally as hard as the real writing section. I definitely think I got lucky and I was not expecting an 800. </p>
<p>This is how I studied though:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Seriously, focus on the MC. if you get a perfect score on it and a 9 or 10 on the essay, then you will get an 800.
-I did TONS of practice for the MC...packets and packets. Mark what you got wrong and understand WHY you got it wrong. Then, type up a list on Microsoft Word "SAT I Writing Notes" or something, and just jot down notes of errors you made/grammar rules that can be applied/problems you missed/etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Top 10 Categories list for Sentence Error ID goes something like this:
Pronouns, verbs, parallelism, modifiers, fragments/run-ons, comparisons, idioms, word choice, redundancy, adjectives/adverbs
-if you want, when you practice Sentence Error ID, write down the category the error applies to</p></li>
<li><p>I can't help you much on what to do for Improving sentences, since it comes naturally to me..I guess being a bookworm helps.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Don't focus on the essay - it's difficult to do well in 25 minutes, especially if you're nervous, and your ability to succeed depends heavily on whatever the prompt happens to be. You'll be more secure if you focus on MC.</p>
<p>Read Strunk & White's Elements of Style. It's short, everything is clear and concise, and the first and third chapters cover about 85% of the MC topics in twenty pages. If you enjoy the style, the rest of the book has composition tips that may help with your essay as well.</p>
<p>Wow, I didn't expect so many good tips. I'm going to have my hands full for quite a while :)<br>
It seems like there's definitely resources out there, much more than those for the CR and M sections.</p>
<p>I always knew Elements of Style was basically the magnum opus for grammar/writing, but I never thought of it as an SAT study aid...thanks a lot quaere!</p>
<p>One of the best Writing workbooks is the Barron's SAT Writing Workbook. The Barron's overall SAT book is not bad for practice, either. Start with those.</p>
<p>Make sure you do well on the multiple choice! Many people just focus on the essay, end up with an 11 or 12, but bomb the MC and don't get a very high score.</p>
<p>I'd put the problems you're missing on flash cards--photocopy 'em and cut 'em out--and go over and over them until you don't miss them. You just need to be able to recognize all those errors automatically, and flash cards are good for that.</p>