<p>I think using politics is fine. In my essay (prompt: Is it better to be optimistic or realistic) I spoke about how it's better to be realistic because we were optimistic when we went to Iraq and we expected a quick victory, but we overlooked the fact that there were warring factions that did not want our presence, etc.</p>
<p>Just make sure the politics that you're taking about is definite and undeniable (so don't talk about the atomic bomb droppings being a bad thing, because that's debatable).</p>
<p>i think probabl some ofyou may know that some MIT professor basically plotted length versus score and had an incredibly high correlation.</p>
<p>I guess to maximize score on your SAT is to really <em>make it look like an essay</em>, first and foremost. intro, three paragraph body, conclusion strutured and indented will go a long way of convincing your essay examiners (who really, in effect just "skim" through your essay) that you are writing an english essay. clear first lines of the essay, capitalize a word or two in the middle ("Hitler", "To Kill A Mockingbird" (underlined), "Tesla") of the paragraph to make it look like you've drawn upon some important and useful examples, killer first line philsoophical (second what may ppl up there said) and there you go.</p>
<p>and make sure you write as much as possible. needless to say i took the SAT twice, using this approahc - and promptly scored 10, twice.</p>
<p>it seems i ONLY know how to get 10 (and not 12). I think there's a magic formula for getting a 12, like something more profound than what i've written above; a guy who really does not know how to write (hesin my eng class, and believe me he can't write) but took tons of private prep got a 12 for his essay.</p>
<p>I know that our AP Lang & Comp teacher showed a sharp correlation between length and score. So I'm not surprised this is also the case for the SAT. Anyhow, I have said it before and will say it again, after doing those AP essays, these essays seem like the easiest little things in the world. Even english regents (its a NY thing) essays are harder than the SAT's essays. Most kids in my AP class got scores above 700 w/o studying, when we had this mock sectional test thing in our class.</p>
<p>should i start with the thesis? Can someone give an example of a philosophical line? Should the the thesis be a complex sentence, or just simply state your side of the prompt/question?</p>
<p>don't you think that trying to come up with an elaborate, complex, philosophical thesis statement, then resuming to write in your normal method would make the essay look a little fake?</p>
<p>A thesis can (and sometimes should) be really simple, as long as it is solid, and you stick to it throughout your entire essay. You certainly go off on branches, but then you have to come back making the connections. And be sure not to make thesis statements that just list what you are going to write about, like laundry lists. They are too mechanical and often too hard to write an essay on.</p>
<p>The NY regents is harder than the SAT essay! Please maybe they are at the same level, but in no way is it harder. My friends got 99's on the Regents and then 9's on the SAT essay...</p>
<p>I'm not using a personal example because I did well on both:)</p>
<p>No, the Regents is harder (maybe, just maybe equal in difficulty). Perhaps your friends just had a psychological disadvantage when taking the SAT due to the x-factor.</p>
<p>You see, you have proven my point. People expect to get 100's on the Regents, and are freakishly scared when taking the SAT. The SAT prompts are really easy, and writing a 25 min essay cannot be any easier. How LONG were those Regents essays? Like hours and hours.</p>
<p>Didn't you ever hear of the true story about a woman who thought she was pregnant, even though she wasn't, gave a "childless birth". It's all about the mind, naidu, all about the mind.</p>
<p>The Regents is also formulaic, you have to follow a general structure (at least how my teacher taught us, and I got a 100, so I guess it was right). And I didn't make that story up, my phys ed teacher was talking about it last year.</p>