<p>Ok, I need to compile some tips that would help me obtain at least a 10+ essay in June.</p>
<p>So far I have:</p>
<ul>
<li>Give 3 examples</li>
<li>Fill as much of the 2 pages as possible</li>
<li>Avoid the use of "I" or "me"</li>
<li>Use examples from history, literature and personal experience</li>
<li>Avoid famous examples such as the Great Gatsby</li>
</ul>
<p>What else?</p>
<p>3 and 5 are absolutely wrong. Use “I” as much as you want, personal experiences are not discouraged at all. And while it might help you to be original (albeit very slightly) using famous examples like Jane Eyre or Great Gatsby or whatever can’t hurt you, and they’re usually more relevant than other examples, so it can actually help you. As long as you know how to write with good grammar and show a logical progression of thoughts in the essay (provided you have good examples) your essay will be scored fine.</p>
<p>Plus, you don’t HAVE to use 3 examples, unless you really can’t develop one to the point where it fits most of the 2 pages. If you can, it’s probably better you focus on developing one really good example really well. I got a 10 on the Jan. essay (which I though I wrote horribly) using examples of Newton and Socrates, I think. Didn’t divide into 3 paragraphs even.</p>
<p>Thanks. I posted the essay that I wrote for my May SAT. I did bad in that essay and it was what caused my Writing score to fail.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/933943-what-would-you-give-essay.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/933943-what-would-you-give-essay.html</a></p>
<p>I want to see what people think it deserves before I tell what I actually got.</p>
<p>I critiqued your essay in the other thread, but I wanted to echo what Jimmy had to say - it’s fine to use I and me, and an example being ‘famous’ is totally a-ok.</p>
<p>One thing you <em>do</em> want to stay away from is using phrases like “I feel…”, “I believe…”, or “I think…” - they simply water down your argument. Just state what you have to say without making it ‘just’ your take. </p>
<p>And yeah, two examples is fine, as long as you fully flesh them out and they are highly relevant to answering the prompt. Another tip I’d give is that the conclusion is completely optional- nowhere in the SAT essay grading rubric is the presence of a conclusion mentioned. If you have time/space, great, but if you feel like you can flesh out your examples more, do that instead of a conclusion.</p>
<p>Im on the same boat here. I desperately need a 10 or more for my june sat. In may my writing score sucked because I got a terrible 7 in my essay, so even though I had only 3 mistakes in the multiple choice questions, I got a mediocre 640…</p>
<p>I did not follow 1, 3 or 5 and received two 12s. Make sure the examples supporting your argument are extremely relevant and you provide enough information on each example.</p>
<p>I had three examples for the May SAT but I ran out of time. Spent about 10 minutes procuring 3 examples and then only managed to put 2 down before time ran out. Still managed to fill 1.5 pages but my hand writing was large so I guess I didn’t have as many words as I thought.</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I can tell you it is not THAT hard to get an 11/12 on the essay. On the May SAT essay I wrote about 3 “historic” examples but they were pretty much general info that everyone knows (ie: the abolition of slavery, etc). I seriously thought I was going to get a 0 because I thought I misread the question and the whole thing was off-topic. I was gonna cancel my scores but kept them and got an 11 :D. So basically incorporate something you know a lot of information about… like technology, or something in history or a book that you’ve read. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>And it doesn’t necessarily have to be 3 different things, like a different thing for each paragraph. It can just be based on one experience, research, knowledge, etc.</p>
<p>I think that the use of “I” makes your point weaker when you use it in a phrase like “I believe that” or “I think that,” especially when you’re writing your intro/conclusion paragraph. Instead of “I believe/think that,” use something like “it is true that” or “these examples show that” for more powerful sentences. Throw in a “definitively” or an “undoubtedly” if you want to be a bit snarky (i.e. “[list of examples] show beyond a shadow of a doubt that people must eat more oranges than lemons to be smarter.”)</p>
<p>Write alot, at least fill up 1 1/2 pages. Examples doesn’t really matter as long as it fits the context and related to prompt. again, write ALOT and avoid informal speech.</p>