<p>I’d like to know how admissions can put so much stock in an essay when they can not be sure that the applicant wrote it.</p>
<p>They talk to the counselors/check against the teacher recommendations if they have doubts.</p>
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<p>But “an educated speaking or writing style” isn’t the same thing as the writing style you get when you use a thesaurus to fill your essay with words you don’t really understand.</p>
<p>True fact.</p>
<p>Strong writing is the result of complex ideas represented in a clear manner. Writers with strong literary ability are able to carefully calibrate word choice, syntax, and tone in a way that is consistent and also clear. Students who refer to the thesaurus or litter their essays with SAT words tend to have difficulty elevating their sentence structure and tone to match the level of vocabulary presented. </p>
<p>So, unless your vocabulary is naturally large, or you use complex words as part of your normal writing voice, your best bet is to write an essay using words that you are comfortable with.</p>
<p>I was curious too. THanks for all the excellent advice folks.</p>
<p>That crossed my mind too.But I thought it better to be yourself.So I went along with the flow without using ‘big’ words.I hope that’s okay.I believe SAT scores convey the strength of our vocabulary fairly well.I have already written three essays and torn them to pieces.Hopefully,this one will work.</p>
<p>If it is easy and interesting to read and conveys what you want to convey pretty nicely, then it is not something to be worried about. I’d rather say that it is better that way!</p>
<p>As Einstein had said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” :)</p>
<p>If I read a stellar and perfect essay, the student better had the classes and grades to support it.</p>
<p>I actually just read about this. Basically that your essay is supposed to show your voice, not that you can use a dictionary.
Good luck!</p>
<p>Nice post . I like this forum!</p>