<p>How hard is it to get the twelve? I assume difficult. I am trying to get a sense of what percentage actually pull a twelve. And is it better to have 3 examples than 2. Can you get the twelve with just 2 examples?</p>
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<p>I doubt in the extreme that the graders count examples like that.</p>
<p>You can get the 12 with just 2 examples.</p>
<p>Yup, I got a 12 with two examples. One history, one literature. I personally can’t do good personal examples to save my life, so I figured I’d just ditch that part. Obviously, it turned out okay :D</p>
<p>Hmm, just eyeballing the graph, I came out with about 1.4 million test takers and 7143 12’s (I eyeballed the 12-bar to be about 1/7 way to 50,000). Thus, approximately 0.5% of test takers receive a 12 on the essay. One out of every 200. That’s less than I thought. I would have estimated around 1 out of every 100 or so.</p>
<p>yay i’m one in 200. =D</p>
<p>ya, don’t get ur hopes up for a 12. unless ur an absolutely extraordinary writer(i mean like 1/5000 or something ridiculous like that), its pretty much a crapshoot. think about it, if u scored an 11 u could have scored a 12 depending on the readers or u could have scored a ten, altering ur score very significantly by mere chance. this part of the test is ridiculous.</p>
<p>I got a 12 on my essay and my girlfriend got a 12 both times, and I don’t think we’re such English prodigies. I wouldn’t say you have to be such an amazing writer vocabulary-wise. Just set it up with an encompassing, meaningful, defendable thesis and use your points to effectively support it. Really isn’t any harder than that… just hopefully you can write quick enough to finish in time. Sacrifice handwriting for speed… works for me haha</p>
<p>^ yeah seriously, and i didn’t write my essay on anything of any literary merit.</p>
<p>just sex and the city and myself.</p>
<p>I’m not sure it’s all random. As long as you fill up both pages, use a wide range of vocabulary, and show examples that CLEARLY support your argument I don’t see why it could get anything other than a 12.</p>
<p>That’s how I got a 12. ^-^</p>
<p>Only .5%? what? It can’t be that hard even I got a twelve.</p>
<p>^Look at the graph yourself. I may have slightly underestimated but it’s not over 1% for sure.</p>
<p>I also find that weird because, IMO, it’s really, really formulaic…I just did
Intro/Thesis
Example from literature, example from history
Insert 3 Big Vocab Words
1 sentence to sum everything up</p>
<p>IDK, maybe it was luck, but frankly, I felt it was more following the formula than being a good writer…</p>
<p>12’s are really really easy to get if you just FOLLOW THE FORMULA. I know you may be tempted to add your “own” piece of “zesty” writing to the essay but resist the urge. After learning the correct formula, I boosted my SAT essay from an 8 to a 12. It’s really really easy and simple. I used McGraw Hill SAT 2009 to learn my technique and it really helped, I reccomend the same for everyone else.</p>
<p>ya i’m fairly sensitive on this issue cuz I am seriously shocked by the fact that I’ve always been praised for my writing, scored an 800 in CR, and got 9’s on BOTH of my essays. WIth no offense at all intended toward the amazing peeps that get 12s, I really think it’s about filling the 2 pages and not about being an exceptional writer.</p>
<p>An additional proof I’ve seen of this is a negative correlation I’ve seen between the essay and grammar portions of the writing sections: most students do well on the multiple choice and not so hot on the essay (me), or ace the essay and are disappointed with their multiple choice performance. If this section of the SAT were legit, wouldn’t there be a positive correlation between these two skills, writing and structure/grammar?!</p>
<p>soserene, it’s not about filling pages, it’s about persuading the reader</p>
<p>and logically it’s easier to persuade someone with five good arguments than one?</p>
<p>eh?</p>
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<p>I’m sure College Board has conducted validation studies of the new SAT Reasoning Test writing section (which is, after all, patterned after the former Writing SAT Subject Test) and I’m sure that it has found such a correlation. There would, of course, be some exceptional cases who might be all the test-takers you know personally.</p>
<p>Im sure someone had said this somewhere is this forum but it say it, The SATs essay is a joke, all you have to do as much as possible in the time avaliable, stay in topic, and do 5 paragraphs, try not to make any easy grammar mistakes (they read like 1 million of these, the dont even check for commas).
Intro ( it can be 5th grade type)
3 examples that prove your point.
Conclusion (In conclusion will be fine)
It does not matter if you lie, for heck, you can make up your own history, ex: and that is how the soviet union won the Cold War.</p>
<p>The SAT Essay does not test the quality of your writing; it tests your aptitude at writing the SAT Essay.</p>
<p>An 11 or 12 can be gotten if you have an introduction with a thesis, 2 body paragraphs with several sentences, and a conclusion that rehashes everything appropriately. As long as you don’t make technical mistakes, you’re pretty much golden. (I got an 11 when I took it…)</p>
<p>12’s aren’t that difficult to get.</p>
<p>I use just one body/example on every one of my essays because multiple bodies/examples can only hurt an essay.</p>
<p>Just have a very strong argument.</p>