How to Score a 12 on the Essay -- A Miniguide

Test Preparation
1

<p>I scored a 12 on both the March and June SAT essays, so I thought I would write up some spicy tips for you all to do the same.</p>

<li><p>Read the Quote and the Question. Most kids open the first page of the question booklet and skip the quote, heading right to the question. The quote is there for a reason, though. It gives you some instant mental imagery, sets the tone for the question, and ignites your critical thinker. It is highly probable that you won’t know the author of the quote, but if you do, it would definitely be prudent to at least mention that person and his or her ideas briefly in the essay (on the same topic, of course). Read the quote twice if you have to. Otherwise, move onto the question. Read the question ten times if you have to, noting how it is phrased. Realize that the questions must be politically correct and are supposedly “philosophical,” which means they are questions of truth and knowledge. You must fully understand the question to proceed. If you misread it and write off-topic, the results could be disastrous.</p></li>
<li><p>Time is not on your side. The test prep books will tell you how to manage your time, but the fact is that there’s barely enough time for any type of planning. You do not have time to create an outline! Immediately after comprehending the question, begin your first sentence! You need every second possible. If, after reading the question, your mind begins to race with ideas (which is the best possible scenario), jot a few letters down in the test booklet to refresh your memory, but that’s it! The ideal situation is to spend just a minute or two on the quote and question, dive into writing, and have a minute to spare at the end to search for grammatical errors or to upgrade your word choice in a few areas. However, you don’t want to have to stop in the middle of a sentence when time is called, so bring a watch with a built-in stopwatch if possible. Try not to look at it for the majority of the essay’s duration, though.</p></li>
<li><p>Examples, Examples, Examples…and more Examples. This is the fuel of your essay. You need to keep thinking of examples as you write. Personal anecdotes will not work (e.g. At my school, I volunteer every week…). You need solid examples that carry at least partial academic weight (for instance, a well-known person, historical event, movie, philosophical concept, etc). The more examples you have, the more you have to write about, and the better your argument becomes. Many people have stated that since these essays are read by english teachers, it is a good idea to include books as examples. I think there is validity in this belief; however, you want the reader to think of you as a “culturally enriched” student, so draw from all types of examples, current events, entertainment, whatever!</p></li>
<li><p>Stay Focused. It’s easy to lose sight of what the question is asking. In each paragraph, re-read the question to tie it all together. You don’t want to write two whole pages only to realize that you digressed majorly and went off on a tangent. You can easily lengthen your essay by continuing to mention how your examples fit with the topic. </p></li>
<li><p>Content is King, but it won’t guarantee a 12. Ever since that MIT professor found a correlation between length and scores, everyone assumes that longer essays get higher scores. It’s true, but only because the more capable students usually have more to say and more to think about. Writing just to fill up space won’t ensure a high mark (in fact, the more a reader sees of your writing style or lack thereof, the more it may in fact hurt you). Many of my friends filled up both pages until the last line and still received 10’s. This reaffirms the fact that it’s what you write and not how much you write. (I will note, though, that I did fill up every line provided on both of my essays).</p></li>
<li><p>Prepackage, but also let it Flow. Think of some well crafted sentences and vocabulary that you know you want to use in the essay. Broad but insightful statements work very well as they can be applied to almost any essay the SAT writers throw at you. The readers <em>will</em> award more points just because there is an indication of planning. During the week or night before the test, lay out some vocab words which you are familiar with but which are still academic (don’t use anything too far above your level). You can also think of some broad examples (for instance, editorialist Thomas Friedman has been writing recently about how the world is “flat” since jobs are being outsourced to India and China – this could work for that job essay prompt, the majority rule question, practical skills, creativity…you name it!) Still, you should allow yourself a good amount of flexibility, so don’t try to memorize an entire 2 page essay – you could end up reading the question and panicking since your ideas don’t fit the topic.</p></li>
<li><p>Forget conventional American writing. The 5-paragraph essay format practically breeds mediocrity. It’s true that you need some type of introduction, and you will need insightful concluding marks, but anything in between should be up to you. On my essays, I had solid introductions but only a couple sentences for the conclusions. There are no rules, so as in the previous tip, let it Flow. If your ideas require one continuous paragraph for the whole essay, so be it. That probably isn’t a great idea, but you shouldn’t stress yourself out with having three main examples fit perfectly into three main body paragraphs. You are allowed to break a new paragraph just for one or two sentences if you so desire. Whatever you do, make sure it’s on your terms. In European countries and around the world, they use a “spiral” format, which uses the whole essay to discuss many viewpoints, and then they arrive at a thesis in the conclusion. For the SAT essay, it doesn’t even matter if your thesis isn’t the most prominent line – so don’t spend time crafting a perfect thesis.</p></li>
<li><p>Have a point of view. Go for a “nonconformist” view, even though that doesn’t mean taking an opposte side to the question. Go for the point of view that somehow embraces the beauty of life, succeeding, and progress (it sounds corny, but it works). Don’t depress the reader…impress him or her with a new and innovative direction on the prompt.</p></li>
<li><p>Write Legibly. If your reader has to squint to read your essay, it will slow the person down, paying more attention to grammatical errors and other inconsistencies in your essay. Write clearly so that the reader can zoom through and be “wow’ed” by the end of it. </p></li>
<li><p>Retaking the SAT? Recycle your essay thoughts. There are no rules against recycling your own ideas. It will be a different grader and a different test, so if you liked the essay you wrote from a past administration, feel free to use some of the same vocabulary, examples, or concepts. Obvious? Yes. Effective? Definitely.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I hope some of these ideas helped!</p>

2

<p>Thank you verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry much!!!</p>

3

<p>Eepiyk, please enlighten us with your 12 scoring essays as examples of what you just instructed us to do. Thanks a bunch for your insight!</p>

4

<p>Great job, Eeepiyk! I am especially glad you corrected the false notion that test takers should spend a few minutes jotting down an outline. This is the advice given by test prep authors and teachers who have not actually written a 25 minute timed essay in a group setting. I have to be honest and admit that I was nervous as I opened the June test booklet and read the question. I felt enormous pressure to put something, anything down. There simply is no time to calmly write down a few notes much less an outline. I began writing after about one minute. I wrote two pages and had 1 1/2 minutes to check for egregious errors and add in a stronger word or two.</p>

<p>Examples, Examples, Examples. Your right, but there is another approach. Take a look at the essays by Shoegal2 and BamBAM on the "Official Essay Thread." They are currently the last two essays. Both had the same March topic (Is the opinion of the majority - in government or in any other circumstances - a poor guide?). Both received a 12. Yet the two essays are based upon very different strategies. Shoegal2 uses brilliant historic examples to illustrate her point of view. In contrast, BamBAM uses a personal example. But what BamBAM lacks in academic examples he makes up in great vocabulary and meaningful variety of sentence structure. Note his use of parallel structure and punch line sentences. In short, there is more than one path to a 12.</p>

5

<p>You can find Eeepiyk's impressive essay and a dozen others on the "Official Essay Thread." Check them out there is much to learn!</p>

6

<p>There is more than one way to compose a successful 12 essay; however, not everyone can create a wonderfully compelling story in 25 minutes. In addition, not everyone can recall historical events always. The best approach, I think, is to reach out to a broad range of media for examples. Perhaps a movie, current event, or famous scholar. A fantastic method of "searching" for ideas while you write is to pan through your school classes. If you have Psychology, you can utilize the many different biological, cognitive, or social concepts. History is inimitably useful. English, mathematics, science, many different areas of knowledge on the spectrum of learning. You can touch upon rational, metaphorical, and empirical concepts. Just because you take a position, nothing precludes you from considering other perspectives.</p>

<p>Bottom line: there are many different approaches, so always expand your ideas and consider alternative concepts!</p>

7

<p>Actually i would argue that you get a somwhat sort of idea before starting because if you messed up, you can't go back and restart...</p>

8

<p>I don't agree with some of the points on this guide.</p>

<p>A quick outline (<1 minute) of your examples is a great way to clear your mind and focus on your writing--rather than multi-tasking while you're working.</p>

<p>Quality trumps quantity. I wrote 1 1/2 pages, didn't finish my last concluding sentence, and landed an 11.</p>

<p>As far as examples go, it's best to do what you're comfortable with. If you like the three body paragraph style, do it. If you'd rather focus on one example with a detailed analysis, do it. Even if you choose a personal quasi-narrative style, work it to the best of your ability.</p>

9

<p>Interesting point. Did you jot down a brief outline? Would you consider posting your essay on the "Official Essay Thread?" Trying hard to compile a nice collection of essays for present analysis and future reference. Only have two 11s. So yours would be a nice addition.</p>

10

<p>good message.</p>

11

<p>Yes, I did jot a brief outline. I posted my essay on the thread.</p>

<p>My outline, if I remember correctly looked a bit like this:</p>

<p>-"Fool me once"
-Frankenstein
-Bush doctrine
-Personal example (I forget what it was now)</p>

<p>I ended up running out of time and so I erased the last example out of my thesis statement--easy enough to do.</p>

12

<p>Thanks for including your essay. Wonder why one reader gave it a 5?</p>

13

<p>Thanks!! This should be made sticky.</p>

14

<p>Rule 1 - Carefully reading the assignment question is imperative. But, I am not so sure about your view that it is important to read the prompt. Personally, I skipped it for two reasons. First, didn't want to spend the time. And second, the prompt would send my mind into a different direction. The prompts are all academic quotes. Since my game plan was to go with a personal story I didn't want to be distracted by the prompt. Wondering what others think.</p>

<p>Rule 10 - agree 100 percent. When all is said and done the questions are generic. That is they revolve around decisions - personal, historic or literary. As a result, it is possible to recycle your ideas from previous drafts. My ideas were lined up on a shelf and as I was writing I reached up and grabbed some of them. Eeepiyk, I know that you practiced what you preach. Wondering if you would share your second essay so we can see how you recycled your ideas.</p>

15

<p>Sure thing, sunnyboy! I'll type it up later today if i have time. However, I did grab many elements from my March essay.</p>

16

<p>I just know that I wrote about controversial issues in both of my essays, strongly stating my opinions about both.</p>

<p>In March, the issue of "truth", I talked about the Bush Administration and how things that seem to be always aren't.</p>

<p>In June, the issue of "memory", I talked about Rwanda and then Sudan and how it seems that history has repeated itself.</p>

<p>Pretty much, I assumed that I would get a liberal grader.</p>

<p>10 in March.
12 in June. (It was a stronger essay the 2nd time around)</p>

17

<p>continue please.</p>

18

<p>bump bump bump</p>

19

<p>Does the thesis have to be like: "This is evident in example 1, example 2, and example 3."</p>

<p>Or can be like: "This is evident in a 'general category'"</p>

20

<p>no personal anecdotes? i see them on 6 essay examples from various sources like kaplans, collegeboard</p>