<p>Just wondered if anyone had any suggestions?</p>
<p>My son just got his June scores back (670 reading, 660 math) but needs to work some on his writing.</p>
<p>Writing assistance would also benefit him, since that's an area he needs some work in, generally, in school. Recreational reading is not a problem--he needs writing work.</p>
<p>He's got a good bit of time before the -real- SAT, since he's just finished 8th grade. So, the plan can be long term, although he needs to improve writing for upcoming HS.</p>
<p>well, he could actually try on those stupid timed writtings that he is bound to do in hs. Once you learn how to effectively bs those timed essays in school, you are probably going to be getting a 12 on the essay. </p>
<p>Also, a prep book would be the best since most of the writting section is grammar rules. </p>
<p>Other than that, with those scores as an 8th grader, what are you worrying about? By junior year, he is going to be getting in the high 2300's. There is no doubt about it. Plus, it is only one test. You should be more focused on what he does inside and outside of school, grades and ec's, not what he does on a saturday morning test.</p>
<p>Thanks, enzo. He does need to learn those skills re: essays, that's something that middle school didn't cover.</p>
<p>And--oh yeah, we are certainly thinking about things other than the SAT! He just had to take it recently to qualify for a summer gifted program next year.</p>
<p>Actually, right now he just wants to think about having summer fun! lol</p>
<p>If your son need MC question practice I would reccommend the Barrons SAT II Writing guide. That test is discontinued now, but I found the guide to be very good. It gives you 20 or 25 practice essay topics too, but I found preparing for the essay hard. It does give useful advice about writing a short essay though, and all of it is applicable to the SAT I writing section.</p>
<p>Thanks, jmarsh! The Elements of Style was something I hadn't thought about! Appreciate the suggestion, also, bjc---I'll check out the Barrons SAT II as well. Any advice on structuring/writing essays would be good. Son refuses to outline, as of now. lol</p>
<p>I also need to improve on the writing section of the new SAT. But the only part that brought my score down was the essay. I got 80 MC subscore (1 wrong/0 omit), but somehow they only gave me a 7 on the essay. This brought my score down to a 740.<br>
I consider myself to be a fairly good writer, but apparently I don't know how to beat the 25-minute SAT essays on random and vague topics. I think my major problem is coming up with adequate examples to support my theses. I truly hate the topics CB proposes. They are always biased towards people who have had experience with the subject at hand.<br>
Another problem I have is with making up fake examples. For all of my writing experience except that of the SAT essay, inventing completely false data has been strongly deterred. So when I go to write an SAT essay, I am very hesitant to fabricate evidence, even though I know it will help and I truly hate College Board. I really have to get away from that tendency...
I plan to take the SAT again to bring up my Writing score (and math score from 770 to 800) in October.
Do any of you have suggestions of how to beat the SAT essay? Any techniques, advice, words to incorporate, ways to think of appropriate examples, etc. would be highly appreciated.</p>
<p>Actually, I am a terrible writer, and I got an 11 on the essay. Its just like a game that you need break. I feel that two personal examples (dont have to be real) and a book or a history example is ample. For the March SAT the topic was about passion or drive or something, so I wrote that my grandfather was an archeologist(he really worked in a toy store lol) and if he didnt have the drive and the passion hed never succeed. I also wrote how my parents didnt let me go to a bday party, but I didnt really care that much so I gave in. Then the next time when I REALLY wanted to go to a superball party I had so much drive that I got them to let me go. Then my third example was about Bell and the telephone. Some of this may sound a little iffy but thats because I dont remember exactly. Basically I use 5 paragraphs, and in my conclusion I use the quote to back me up. Ive never gotten less than an 11 on the essay.</p>
<p>I just have the opposite problem, I never do well on the MC part of the english section. With my 11 on the essay I sitll got a 650 on writing :</p>
<p>The SAT obviously only has certain mistakes in the writing section. Passive voice and etc. Don't study the element of style book because you'll be over doing it. Instead, learn which grammar mistakes the SAT puts on its tests and memorize them. Its very easy.</p>
<p>One way to improve the essay score is to simply write, write, and write some more. Give your English teachers your papers and ask for their input. It's what I did, and I improved my essay from a 6 to a 10</p>
<p>It also helps if you are a naturally good writer and/or if you have to write a lot of "timed essays" for school. We had daily essay quizzes in APUSH, so I was used to writing 3/4 page essays in 10 minutes.
Just remember to do lead, link, thesis for intro. My teacher told me that the difference bt a 10 and 12 was the transitions of the paragraph. Make sure they are smooth and coherent.
Always remember to
1. OUTLINE!! Usually for each paragraph, I make three bullets. One is my intro sentence, the middle are my examples, the last is the sentence that will make the transition.
2. it's ok to make up stuff. For one SAT, I wrote about the tsunami and made up charity groups that volunteered. It's not about the facts in you paper, it's just about how strong you can make those facts shine in your essay.
Also, make sure to elaborate why/how this piece of "evidence" relates to your thesis. Pretend you are a lawyer trying to prove your thesis. this is done by your evidence.
I'm in the opposite boat as you. 12 essay, 690 writing. (screw you identifying sentence errors!)</p>
<p>Reading good literature will help when you are stuck for examples to use in writing. You do have to think about what you read though, not just read it, because if you don't process it you won't know how to apply it. Current affairs sort of stuff is useful too.</p>
<p>Tiss229, I would have to say that I don't think the actual format (no. of paragraphs, types of examples and no. of each type, etc) has much to do with your score. I had the official SAT guide and looked at all the online sample essays that go with it... the highest scoring ones were often very unconventional. Some had only one example. Some were what you would fail for if you did it at school.</p>
<p>I concluded (from reading those essays and looking at the CB scores for them) that on the SAT I they are looking for critical thinking skills and the ability to show what you mean. Critical thinking skill to analyse and apply what you know to argue a point. If you can do that, then you will be able to SHOW what you mean thru your examples, instead of just spelling it out. But of course that takes a lot of skill.</p>
<p>I can't bear outlining for a short essay so I basically just think of my examples, how I will apply them, and then start writing. I got a 10 in the end... I wish they would give personalised feedback so you could improve.</p>