key to the writing essay - length?

Test Preparation
1

<p>hey, I'm completely done with the SAT II's, but my AP English teacher was talking about the writing essay today. He's an english phD who in the past had graded sat II essays and AP essays. </p>

<p>He says that graders will only give 1-3 to short essays, and 4-6 on longer ones. i.e., a long essay will get no less than a 4.</p>

<p>He even pulled out a book on the exact protocol for grading them, and he read us an extremely well written essay, but it was fairly short. The book said it was a 3, but everyone in my class was impressed by it, and he said all the other english teachers thought it deserved a 5 or 6.</p>

<p>And then he read a poorly written but verbose essay that got a 5. It used the verb to be almost every sentence, and wasn't full of the interesting vocabulary and metaphors that the "3" essay got. He explained this by saying that the grades have less than 2 minutes to grade each essay...</p>

<p>So I guess if you want a 10 or higher on your essays make sure its long. I got an 11 and mine was fairly long...</p>

<p>long = both sides of the paper given
short = only one side</p>

2

<p>Not true, many of my friends wrote a "short essay" and still recieved 10+. I still believe it is quality over quantity. However, the advantage of writing on both sides is that you have a better chance of expressing yourself fully.</p>

3

<p>11 here, took up the whole space. I think the content of my essay was pretty crappy so your statement might have some validity.</p>

4

<p>the only reason a long essay would get more than a short essay is because you haven't fully expressed yourself or there's more to say that you're not saying. If you have expressed everything that you wanted to say in a short essay, then I dunno i'm not an expert, but it doesn't seem logical that they'd take off points on short essays just for the sake of their being short.</p>

5

<p>Filled up both sides for a 10</p>

6

<p>I wrote a fairly long essay. . . I think counted it to be around 700 words. I scored quite well on the test despite missing a few questions when time ran out. I think this means I made a good choice in writing a long essay, but I'm not sure - I never received a score report. Collegeboard.com only says my total score. How can I find out my essay score?</p>

7

<p>i used 2/3 of the space available in november for an 8, but in december, i used up ALL the space available, so i hope i get a 10+</p>

8

<p>filled up every single line, even squeezed in a little extra under the last line- got a 12</p>

9

<p>Is this method only for the SAT II, or the AP also?</p>

10

<p>Wtf, I squeezed in an extra line too but I didn't get that elusive 12. Grrr :)</p>

11

<p>I didn't even squeeze in an extra line!!!!! Would I still get a 12???</p>

<p>LOL... :)</p>

12

<p>Again, does anybody know where I can find my essay score?</p>

13

<p>Your essay score is in the score report that is mailed to you. When did you take the test? I think the score report should reach you by now, except if you're int'l.</p>

14

<p>I took the test in October. I received a score report with my Literature result. My Writing score was still pending. I never got anything after that.</p>

15

<p>OH, that's why. If you take another test, then the score report that come with that test will show you your writing subscores. If October is your last testing, then you'll probably never get to know your essay score. I don't think CB will send you another score report except if you pay a fee. I'm sorry, Nom! I'd be very curious about my essay score, too, if I were in your situation.</p>

16

<p>Took it October, got an 11, filled it up. The prompt was "Name a great decision in history" or something like that. I put Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq and proceeded to write bad things about him :) </p>

<p>I am very thankful that the graders were not Republican.</p>

17

<p>Kudos to you for standing up to the question! I did something similar. I wrote about the unconstitutional suspension of civil liberties. As you might expect, Bush figured prominently.</p>

18

<p>Getting an 11 and getting into Yale or getting a 12 and getting deferred? I think you win athlon :) Have fun...</p>

19

<p>I took up 3/4 of the space and have not gotten it back.</p>

20

<p>BUCK FUSH. oh and you do need to write it very long. I wrote a long essay about love and shakespeare and they gobbled it up. Got a perfect score on the essay part. Put in some quotes. Even if they are fake, the readers wont know that, just make sure they arent outlandish. ie MLK wouldn't say "start the cross a burnin"</p>