SAT Essay Secrets?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>I've been spending a lot of time reading this forum and it is great! You guys have tons of knowledge and it is awesome you share them.</p>

<p>I have been reading that the essay scores better if more is written. Is there any evidence to back this claim? Would a mediocre, 2 page paper outscore a high quality, 1 page paper; have any of you gotten 12s with full length and lower scores when you didn't hit full length?</p>

<p>Any other secrets are welcome. Things such as "don't waste time on the intro" or "write X body paragraphs with Y length each" or "skip the conclusion(?)" will help a ton!</p>

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<p>What you said about length is true. An MIT guy did a study years ago and found that scores could be improved just by writing longer. If you fill up both pages completely, you will get at least a 10, barring everything else is mediocre. I think the readers really just skim your essay because they are paid by how many they grade, so length and big words are the most important thing.</p>

<p>Check out this thread for more specefics though: <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&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Here is a hint: watch a lot of crap TV.</p>

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<p>There’s more to it than just length and it’s definitely not true that any crap essay will get a 10 if it fills two pages. Of course there’s a correlation, though. You’re being evaluated on how well you craft an argument, and it’s difficult to craft a very good one without using a bunch of space. Some kids have very tiny handwriting, and I have seen them get 12s without filling 2 pages, but they definitely still wrote a lot.</p>

<p>What I’m trying to say, I guess, is that writing a lot is necessary, but not sufficient, for a good score. You don’t have to fill the pages completely, but you do need to create a convincing argument, and that requires more than a few sentences.</p>

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<p>@greedisgood</p>

<p>People write LOL all the time – but your post really did make me laugh out loud…</p>