How to get a 12 on the Essay ????

<p>ok can someone give me the exact formula to getting a 12 on the SAT Essay, i know that everyone says that there is no formula and it comes from the heart and other crap but serious for us illiterate people who aren't Shakespeare can someone please tell us how to get a 12??</p>

<p>Tell us exaclty what our study routine should be and what we have to write, how long we should make it and what we have to include????????</p>

<p>If you know about any site or link , book , study material please help us kids that can't write for crap</p>

<p>Honey, if it was that easy, don't you think we'd all be clamoring over the formula now? Take one look at the rubric that SAT readers get, and make your own judgment. It's holistic and somewhat subjective. I honestly can't even tell you that they want just the written word written well.</p>

<p>Opening, brief outline, example one, tie it into your point, example two, tie it into your point, conclusion, tie it together, strong ending remark.</p>

<p>i think only 800 people got 12s last year. i could be wrong, though. in other words, it's a lot harder than you may think</p>

<p>
[quote]
Honey, if it was that easy, don't you think we'd all be clamoring over the formula now?

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</p>

<p>Hey, you need to use the subjunctive, not the past tense there.</p>

<p>haha, good one dumbone</p>

<p>Never claimed to be a grammar queen.</p>

<p>Damn 760 in Writing!</p>

<p>i got a 12 without any prep. i took the sats cold in november (well, i did the one practice test from that little pamphlet for the psats they give out).</p>

<p>all i can say is be clear. don't write a bunch of overgeneralizations and give too many examples that cloud your thesis. be concise as well. my essay was really long (i had to go back at the end and erase three lines so i could fit lines on top of each other, literally) but it wasn't florid. </p>

<p>uh, i don't know who says it has to "come from the heart" , but that's definitely not true. my essay, i thought, was pretty crappy in comparison to what i normally write. just remember: the ets isn't looking for brilliance. they want efficacy and competence. </p>

<p>also, i got 3 multiple choice questions wrong (ugh) and scored a 750, so obviously a 12 doesn't guarantee you a 800 by any means. i thought the curve would be a little better and a 12 essay with 3 q's wrong would be a 770 at least but guess i was wrong.</p>

<p>My teacher suggested this:</p>

<p>-WRITE. Don't stop. Write as much as you can in the 25 minutes.
-If you need examples, make them up. The graders won't know (a man on the streets of LA told me this one proverb...)
-Don't use the AP English type of writing. Stick to college-prep, high school level writing. The graders want to read something straightforward and concise.
-Organization. Five paragraph essay. </p>

<p>Haven't tried it yet, but hope it works!</p>

<p>yup, that sounds about right. emphasis on the third bullet.</p>

<p>if u follow tubaman93's method I guarantee u a 10>. (well, it depends upon how good u can write too w/ in just 20 minutes!) I find it irritating to write essay at the very beginning since our brain usu takes sometime to start thinking hard! If the essay comes at the middle part or just two sections after, it would be easier for us (for me atleast) to write a better, organized essay when our mind will be moving at a fast pace.</p>

<p>Oh, and also, your examples should be specific. Like romarose mentioned, no overgeneralizing. Hypothetical situations like "If someone did this..." won't really cut it. Also, after some research, usually examples from literature, history, and personal experience can earn pretty high scores. I always do one with literature, even if I have to make the example a stretch. Ditto with personal experience, which I find the easiest to do, since I can make up whatever I want, and no one will know. History examples are sometimes useful, but not always.</p>

<p>You really want a 12...?</p>

<p>Think of three - four solid examples and incorporate them into all of the SAT essay prompts available. Approach each essay as you would the real thing and then have someone critique / grade the essay.</p>

<p>From what Princeton Review told my S, the graders spend no more than 20 seconds on each essay. So obviously they are only looking for key information.</p>

<p>what a lie. they spend 90 seconds reading each essay.</p>

<p>the way you get a 12 on the essay is to have about 3 concrete examples, preferably literature and history (try not to use overused ones like the great gatsby, scarlett letter, world wars....) and then write as much as u can. have an okay thesis statement and make sure u can pull ur examples to tie into ur thesis. try to finish about one and a half page and sprinkle in 2-3 vocab words per paragraph. and that should give u a 12</p>

<p>note that a 12 doesnt guarantee a perfect score. infact i got a 12 and ended up with a writing score on 620 :(</p>

<p>Also, the most important thing is the conclusion. It will be the last thing SAT graders see, so be damn sure that it screams "I proved my point."</p>

<p>yeah, that's true! I believe an awesome conclusion can easily raise ur score even if u can't start it nicely. Conclusion===the most imp. part. Many tend to spend too much time on how to develop points and express them w/ enriched vocab. Yes, that's imp, but be sure to alllocate enough time for a nice, FINISHING CONCLUSION (lol! I've no idea what do I mean by that!)</p>

<ol>
<li>Fill up both pages</li>
<li>Really strong intro and conclusion paragraphs (I've heard that readers concentrate more on these.)</li>
<li>three good examples (try to have different ones..i.e. literature, history, current events etc.)</li>
<li>obviously, legible handwriting (sharpened pencil is a must)</li>
</ol>

<p>I took the SAT for the first time this past December and scored a 12 on the essay. However, I only got a 770 on the writing section..</p>