If your like one of the millions of high school seniors applying to college, chances are you are going to have to write a college admission essay. It will round out the rest of your application and help you stand out from other applicants. It is one of the only parts of the application you have complete control over, so thought and hard work will be required.
It will be one of the most important essays you will ever write, but its subject is something you should be familiar with- you. The college you are applying to wants to know something not mentioned by your SAT Scores, Transcript, and Resume. They want a chance to get to know your character/personality, and what makes you, well, you. By doing so, they will get to know the person behind the GPA, and if they like what they read in the admission essay for college, they will want you on their campus. Read more…
March 12 SAT Curve made news and controversies are still raging on. Students, parents and mentors blame the SAT paper setters of being insensitive towards the future of more than hundred thousand high school seniors who had prepared hard for their SAT exam, only to stare dumbly at the SAT essay prompt, requiring them to analyze the benefits of the reality shows to the society or the harms they cause.
However, we do not believe it was all that tough to write a comprehensible essay on one of the arguments given in the question. To prove our claim, we publish here a sample essay on the same March 12 SAT* essay prompt, which went like this:
“Reality television programs, which feature real people engaged in real activities rather than professional actors performing scripted scenes, are increasingly popular. Read more…
March 12 SAT Curve was not all that difficult but one of the SAT essay prompts not only proved to be unpredictable, but also took the candidates by surprise, leaving them in not a very graceful condition. The essay prompt that required the students to argue the viability of the reality shows on the television left the students nonplussed as the majority of them (who got that particular prompt) said that their high school curriculum and SAT preparation testing left them with hardly any time to watch television, much less the reality shows.
These students have been ever since expressing their dismay and dissatisfaction over the SAT essay prompts on the college confidential website, the infamous comment thread increasing beyond four pages. The students are in unison about the irrationality (or so they call it) of these kinds of SAT essay prompts. Throughout the year they read historical and literary information so as to be able to write a knowledgeable essay, that will fetch them the perfect score. None of them were prepared for a sting with the Biggest Loser or Celebrity Rehab. Read more…
Some of the SAT testing students who gave the March 12 test did not know what to say or what to think. The cause of their confusion and apparent disappointment was the SAT essay prompt that required them to analyze the social viability of the reality shows and explain whether they are harmful for the society or not.
Now, now, reality shows, did they say? The likes of Biggest Losers, Jersey Shore, American Idol, and Celebrity Rehab? Well, apparently they did have these very reality shows in mind and the most of the students who got this essay prompt did not know what to write, for the simple reason that in their high school years, their television watching hours had been severely restricted by their parents. Read more…
Do you know who GOBBLEDYGOOK is? Roger this: You are hereby prevailed upon to relinquish carrying out any intentional/unintentional attempt at answering the questions, designed to test your knowledge and understanding, in any way which is contrary to the regular ways as emphasized by ETS.
Did you understand what is trying to be said? The statement just means that students must answer the SAT exam by fair means. No cheating. Read more…
We were actually thinking how computers and other AI machines can be used to grade the SAT essays, and on Saturday, February 19, 2011, the ETS, Educational Testing Service spoke about its pilot project in collaboration with the New Jersey Institute of Technology, aimed at accomplishing automated evaluation and grading of the essays written by the students. According to ETS, the computer algorithm was indeed useful and succeeded in properly evaluating the essays, much as the human evaluators do. Read more…
1. In an argumentative composition, you are required to put forward your ideas and opinions on a controversial subject. It should consist of a central theme developed to an inevitable conclusion. First of all, decide what to say in the conclusion and then plan your arguments consistently leading up to the conclusion. Read more…
For some students, the essay writing part of the SAT exam is an ever-continuing nightmare, until the time they see the phantoms of their dreams right before their eyes in the form of the SAT essay prompt. Well, this was in no way meant to scare you. It actually summarizes the attitude of the majority of the test takers towards the essay writing aspect. Essay writing is pretty much interesting and you will find it hard to believe that the essay graders only want to test whether you are able to understand the prompt well, take a relevant stand, layout the reasons behind your yes/no and do all of this in a very lucid way.
Given below are few important points, which we refer to as the touchstones of a perfect SAT Essay:
- Understand the essay prompt properly and decide your stand on the topic. Interestingly, the tone of the prompt will help you determine the stand you are expected to take. Consider this- the invasion of iPads into the kindergarten has bereaved the impressionable minds from an opportunity to form the intended natural impressions. What is your take on the issue? Read more…
Writing an essay was never so easy. But do not worrrrry ! 
Research conducted at the MIT shows that high-scoring SAT essays follow at least 4-5 characteristics which the test graders look out for. Apart from the essay length, scholarly examples, explicit points there are other things a student must be informed about.
On the actual SAT two readers will rate your essay. Your essay score is the sum of their two ratings and could range from 12(the highest) to 2 (the lowest). The higher your total score between you are likely to do on the essay section of the SAT. The graders usually grade your essay holistically, rating it on the basis of their overall impression of its effectiveness. Practice is the key here and in-case you are into self studying or your teacher doesn’t have time to score your essay, here’s how you can do it yourself. The following scoring guide will help you to assess you writing strengths and weaknesses, so that you can decide which areas to focus on as you prepare for the SAT.
Position on the topic –
Tick 6 if your essay is clear, convincing and insightful
Tick 5 if fundamentally clear and coherent
4 for fairly clear and coherent
3 for insufficiently clear
2 largely unclear
1 for extremely unclear
Organization of Evidence- Read more…
So now you are ready to dive into the SAT Essay prompts practice session. If not, you may like to refer to some of our earlier posts on SAT Essay to gather information on this very first step of Critical Writing Section.
SAT Essay – Plan before you write
The SAT Essay: An Exploration
The Most Important Step Of Writing The SAT Essay
SAT Writing Essay: Make it consistent and complete
Since the SAT Essay was introduced in 2005, several archetypes have emerged. Some choices faced in these excerpts are regarding Individuality, Unique thinking, Questioning Positions in Authority, Moral Choices, Creativity, Motivation & Success, Hardship & Success, Self Determination, Conflict, Technological Progress, Loyalty and other Moral Values. Generic reading in Science, History, Famous Personalities & Literature is suggested keeping in mind the above key traits.
Here are a few Sample Essay Prompts for practice which have been released by the College Board since 2005– Read more…
