<p>Only less than one month for my SAT test!! Getting nervous!!!
In several recent essay practice, my teacher only graded my essays mostly at a score of 3~4!!
But as I have perspectively comprehended the sample essays on the SAT Official Guide, I think that I can at least reach a score of 5!!! I have explicit examples and details, and I try my best to use apt vocabulary, but my teacher says they are still too "conventional"... How can I make it?</p>
<p>well, I only have hand-writing versions of my essays~~ So I really want someone to provide me some excellent examples...</p>
<p>Take a position on the issue raised in the prompt. Be clear in your thesis statement which side you come down on (It doesn’t matter which side). Support your position with three examples(from your life, history, literature or make them up - it dosn’t matter) Make good transitions from paragraph to paragraph. Write a clear conclusion that is consistant with your thesis. Write with clear penmanship. Leave some time to proofread to edit stupid spelling, gramatical or punctuation errors. You’re done.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know what you mean, but there are only 25 damn minutes!!! I find it really hard to composite more than two examples. Usually, my essay consists of 2 examples, one is a historical event, sth. about literature, etc.;another is my personal experience…</p>
<p>Er, speed is definitely my major headache, sometimes when the topic is complicated, I don’t have time to demonstrate all the examples specificly, or even I can only come up with one example…</p>
<p>By the way, my essays are always one and a half pages, how about yours?</p>
<p>The strategy in the thread above is brilliant. I’m surprised it’s not stickied.</p>
<p>Though the essay is actually quite (remarkably so) dependant on the mass of text you mange to get on the paper. You want to use up ever ounce of space, which is usually just over 1.5 pages. So you should be alright.</p>
<p>You do NOT have to write well. Writing well will help to impress the scorers but they are instructed to use a very cold and noncreative rubric. Basically you need the three examples, you need an intro and conclusion, you need a thesis (a clear stand on the issue in question), and you need to make sense. That’s it.</p>
<p>If you’re doing this and you’re getting 3-4’s, you’re teacher is grading on creativity and ingenuity - two things you can easily do without during the SAT essays. All of this because you’re only given 25 minutes. They can’t expect anything more from you. School writing, however, is much less formulaic and much more writing prowess involved. Your teacher probably isn’t making the distinction well enough when grading your essays.</p>
<p>I got a 12 on mine there is actually a fairly simple formula. Write alot-- that’s basically it if you fill up the pages they take the length. do 4 paragraphs, intro , 2 examples as opposed to three(more detail but dont get caught up in yourself) and a conclusion. Personal experiences are usually good and about how it could have affected you. Or a book, Ive seen that almost every essay Moby Dick would make a great example for</p>
<p>82% of people who receive 11s or 12s write in cursive, so neat handwriting helps. Write as much as possible. And use specific real life examples that have happened (i.e. don’t say “a political candidate”, use a specific political candidate in an example).</p>
<p>It’s really all about following a simple 5-paragraph essay format: opening paragraph, 3 body paragraphs with 3 points to back up each topic paragraph, and a closing paragraph. I got a 9 on my generic and immature 8th grade essay, but I got an 8 after 11th grade and a year of AP English Language. Go figure.</p>
<p>I have decently neat handwriting, and I suppose that probably helped me.</p>
<p>The important thing is stick to the basics. SAT writing is graded MUCH more liberally than AP English writing, for starters. Don’t just write blindly. Actually take a few minutes to plan your essay around a major example or two. Make sure you answer the question (state it explicitly, like "I believe X). too, instead of some brilliant philosophical, wishy-washy sorta kinda maybe answer. And specifics.</p>
<p>Force out a bit of vocabulary. We all have our normal writing vocabulary. Just kick it up a notch: we all know more words than we think. When you have adjectives, think of a better alternatives with some sort of connotation that works. These add a sense of depth to your article. </p>
<p>But really, don’t force too hard. I know in my AP lang class last year, some people used all sorts of big words the wrong ways-- it made me cringe. </p>
<p>An example that seems to work for most SAT’s I’ve taken (practice ones included) is Romeo and Juliet. Don’t know why, it just does.</p>
<p>If you would like, I could share my essay with you.</p>