<p>how long was your essay?</p>
<p>I know you weren't asking me...but I'm pretty surprised that I got an 11. My essay was probably 1.75ish pages long, and I know SAT graders tend to not give 12s to any essay that isnt the full two pages...</p>
<p>1.25 pgs? :O
Is it really largely based on length?
It may be better in that case 'cos then I know how to improve my score. haha.</p>
<p>ye seriously, writing i'd say is the easiest section to study for and do well on. Just learn all your grammar, trust it, and just go with what sounds good.</p>
<p>I got a 76 MC and 10 essay = 770. </p>
<p>I actually didn't study at all... but I can tell you that you just need to be able to identify a few basic things in the sentence. They only test like 7 different rules, so just memorize those. Last time I got a 70 MC, so I guess this time was just easier.</p>
<p>If you study Kaplan / Princeton's Review, and do about 3 practice SATs from each book, then it really just comes down to time. If you spend a lot of time on these questions, you won't be able to finish. For me, I just zoom through them, then once I reach the end I check for mistakes.</p>
<p>It's really just a speed test, when it comes to writing MC.</p>
<p>In response to the question about the essay, there are a couple of things that can get you a good score pretty easily.
1) Vary your sentence structure. Start sentences with "Although" a few times (eg. Although Michel Foucault was French, he didn't wear a beret.) and you should be good.
2) Throw in a few "big" words, but don't make them seem like you're using them on purpose. As a general rule, if it would be in a hard completing-the-sentence question on CR, it would be a good word to use in your essay.
3) Try to sound smart. Never use the second person (this may sound hypocritical but I don't write like this on my SAT essays), and only use the first person if you're talking about a personal experience. If you feel the urge to say "you", replace it with "one" or "a person". For example, instead of saying "If you really want to change the planet, you should listen to Simon and Garfunkel", say "If one wants to change the planet, he or she should listen to Simon and Garfunkel".
4) ANSWER THE QUESTION THE PROMPT IS ASKING YOU DIRECTLY. While content of the essay isn't really important, be sure it has a strong link to your thesis, and make that link as explicit as possible.
5) Be mechanically sound (self-explanatory)</p>
<p>That's what I did and it got me a 12. There may have been a lot more to it as well, but at the moment that's what comes to mind.</p>
<p>For the essay, you must read the RocketReview essay-writing guidelines. (this book: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/RocketReview-Revolution-Ultimate-Guide-New/dp/0451213114%5B/url%5D">http://www.amazon.com/RocketReview-Revolution-Ultimate-Guide-New/dp/0451213114</a>)
It tells you EXACTLY what to do for the essay. I followed it and got a 12. The night before I reviewed the basic plot and characters for a few classic books I had already read for examples in my essay. Good luck!</p>
<p>bump...the mods should sticky this imo - lots of helpful tips.</p>
<p>I haven't read the entire thread, but I got an 800 on writing in March (only score I have so far; 80 MC 10 essay). Something I imagine would trick people up is I vs me. People want to say me is incorrect, but take out the second subject (John and I) and see if I or me would work by itself.</p>
<p>I got an 800 on the SAT writing on the June 2007 exam. I think that the writing section is the easiset of all to study for, since the question types are predictable and the SAT test makers often recycle the same question-types in different forms. Do not do essay prep, unless you feel especially shaky on timed essay writing. The best advice is to study the Collegeboard Blue Book and do all of the practice exams...FYI, the SAT recycled some of the vocab from the CR practice tests and used the words in the June 07 test.</p>
<p>bump, anyone want to contribute after the october test? It will be really useful for those of us taking in November. Also do you guys have any tips for errors involving idioms? The ones I miss are usually those.</p>
<p>A couple of very important tips for the essay from someone who scored a 10 without finishing:</p>
<p>Make up stuff. For example, my prompt was, "What is identity?"</p>
<p>1) So, I made up a book about the Indian caste system and talked about the details of the book, such as the fact that most individuals are afriad to stray far from their socio-economic class. I compared it to the freedoms we have in America, and concluded by saying that one's country is an exogenous factor to one's sense of identity.</p>
<p>Also, I ended with a made-up quote by a made-up UCLA professor. Lol.</p>
<p>2) Go out of your way use big words. In the example mentioned above, I compared "exogenous" factors to "endogenous" factors. The word "collective" always sounds good (if it works), IMO.</p>
<p>3) In the end, it's all about style. Instead of saying "A is because of B" say "Because of B, A happens" or "B consistently precedes A". Know what I mean?</p>
<p>Big words are only good if you know how to use them o.O</p>
<p>Amen to the making stuff up part though. Even review books acknowledge this. Just don't make stuff up about classics like The Odyssey or Pride and Prejudice.</p>
<p>^ Yeah, you need to make sure of that, obviously. But if you can change the phrasing of a sentence to add big words--you should.</p>