<p>So my SAT tutor said he thinks I should only use one example for the essay and divide it into paragraphs, and just develop it really well. I asked him whether he thought that the scorers would think I didn't have enough examples, but he said that they would see I had developed the idea really well and give me a high score. The test prep service also says you can write your essay as a personal narrative that implies an answer to the essay prompt, which makes me a bit skeptical. What do you guys think? Do you think it's always better to have two examples?</p>
<p>You can get a 6 with just one example but I always would have at least 2.</p>
<p>I got a 10 first time with 3 examples. I could have really developed two of them, but an entire essay based on only 1 reason would get too repetitive. I would have to just bs my way through it. For me, this would definitely not work, but if you think it’s enough to create a decent essay, go ahead.</p>
<p>i don’t know how to format a 250-word essay</p>
<p>Honestly, I think the only reason I got a 12 was that I used 3 examples. I had 2 good lit examples that answered the prompt but I couldn’t think of a 3rd and just put some b.s. about the boston massacre that didn’t even make sense. I think the fact that I filled up the space was what pushed me over to a 12 (before I would get 10s). </p>
<p>I’m pretty skeptical of your tutor and the prep company. A well thought out example can be good but who on earth can think of one really good example at 8 am under pressure? And you can not dance around the question. You have to very clearly answer the prompt so I doubt the readers will like the narrative (or appreciate the effort). The readers are reading hundreds of essays, they just need you to state your point so they can move on. And of all the sample essays I’ve seen that got at least 10, they all used 2 or more examples. I’d say one is risky. Two decent examples are good but three would be even better. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html</a>
^ This was amazingly helpful.</p>
<p>I would strongly advise against using only one example.</p>
<p>Well I’ll add that I used one example on the November SAT and score a 9. It’s really safer to go with multiple examples though.</p>
<p>I disagree. I had a 12 on both the October and November essays with one example. A well-thought out example is more highly favored if it can be elaborated on. Graders look for your ability to piece together a coherent organized essay. If one example is too difficult, it is likely that the student is thinking too superficially about that topic or the example isn’t suitable to the prompt. </p>
<p>People write 1000±page books about the most specific things you can think of. 250-300 words about one piece of history, literature, or personal experience is nothing. In fact, when I write on my one example, I actually have a difficult time weeding out information.</p>
<p>The first time I took the test I wrote a very clear essay on one personal anecdote. I received a 9.</p>
<p>The second time I wrote about two historical events and one literary event (from a fantasy fiction book that the readers almost definitely hadn’t ever heard about) and my introduction was very weak (although my thesis and examples were well written). I got a ten.</p>
<p>I feel like I wrote a better essay the first time, but on the second time I pushed myself to come up with three examples from history and literature rather than a personal anecdote.</p>
<p>Make of that what you will.</p>
<p>You can use any thing you want. Some people use the weirdest examples like… the Terminator and Star Wars! Don’t worry about it being too repetitious, they only have less than a minute to read the essay anyway. The key is to have a very strong introduction paragraph and always keep connecting each part of your one example to your main idea.</p>
<p>Essay readers are human also, this means they also get lazy. In the october test, I wrote 1.5 pages of just utter **** and received a 11… I was shocked. In the November test, I wrote 1.25 pages with nice SAT words, and sentences that actually made sense. I received a 10… As much I hate to say it but do fill up the page. Keep writing, and writing. My advice to you is before you get into that one example you talk about. Actually think about what to say. Sometimes, people do one example and just utterly blank out at the end of the first page because everything that was on their head is now on paper. Take that extra 30 seconds to your normal essay prep and think about everything you are going to say.</p>
<p>When I took the SAT, I used three different examples for the essay. My question was about whether it is best to rule by logic or by emotion, and so I was giving somewhat brief historical and literary examples of various combinations of the two. The historical ones were really, really cliched. We’re talking Gandhi for ruling with both, and Hitler for ruling with his idea of logic. I identified Colonel Aureliano Buendia from One Hundred Years of Solitude as the ruler by emotion. Using these three, I built my argument that it was better to use both - because Gandhi was awesome, or something. </p>
<p>Anyways, I finished with time to spare, had a good five or ten minutes to revise, and got an 800 overall on the writing section. Could I have written a 12 essay on that particular topic without those three separate examples? Probably not. But every topic is different, and the best thing to remember about an SAT essay is that you should only include what you need and can support. There’s no point stuffing references in if you can’t take the time to develop them. </p>
<p>Good luck with the SAT. :)</p>