To avoid a dreaded zero, be sure to avoid three specific mistakes when writing your SATessay. In this video, I discuss the three ways to secure a zero.
Oh yeah, in this video I also discuss the characteristics of essays that received the “perfect” score of six.
The SAT Essay: What Not To Do (Unless You *Want* a Zero) (Transcript)
I want to talk a minute about Essay Scoring. There are 3 different ways to earn a score of zero. You can get a zero if you fail to write an essay. If you just leave those 2 pages blank - you don’t write the essay - you will get a zero. That kind of makes sense, don’t you think? Another way to get a zero is if you write so illegibly that the reader cannot read your handwriting. You could also get a zero for that. A third way to get a zero is if you write on a topic other than the one assigned. So if you have this pre-canned essay that you think you are going to write and wow the reader with, but it has nothing to do with the topic assigned, you will get a zero for that.
The next thing I want to do is talk about the Score of Six. Two people are going to grade your essay. They will each score you from zero to six. You are going to get a zero, one, two, three, four, five or six from each of the two graders. Six is the highest score you can get from any one grader.
But what does a six mean? A six does not mean that you have written a perfect essay. You are not being judged as if what you wrote is an essay, You are being judged as if what you wrote is the first draft of an essay. So a six is actually a perfect first draft of an essay.
Why am I saying this? I am saying this because I think there are some kids out there who think that in order to get a six you need to write a perfect essay. You don’t have to write a perfect essay, you can make some mistakes; everybody will have some mistakes and things that they can improve upon in a first draft.
Don’t put pressure on yourself to get everything perfect. You can make a few minor mistakes and still get a six, because again, you are being graded as if what you’ve written is a first draft. So a six is a perfect first draft, keep that in mind and I think you can find a way to cruise through the essay and get the high score that you want.
October 19th, 2007 at 1:09 am
Hey Karl,
Once again, you composed a fantastic video on one of the many attributes of the SAT Essay. Your videos are extremely informative and captivating to the audience. Keep up the good work!
Well, I’m due to take the November Exam in about two weeks, so I’m quite nervous. I was just wondering if I could ask you a quick question - I know how busy you are these days, so I will make this short and sweet:
When I was taking the SAT for the first time in June 2007, I had asked you a couple of days earlier about the questions in the Math sedction that I should start paying more attention to in case any hidden tricks go unoticed (This was on that Autopilot post, remember?). Then, about one day before the test, I asked you about the questions that I should start paying close attention to when working on the Writing Section (Identifying Errors/Improving Sentences/Improving paragraphs) in case of any tricks. I never got a chance to get an answer, so I was hoping you would be able to answer this one for me ^-^;;.
I’m also curious about the questions in the Passage-based portion of the Critical Reading Section and the Sentence Completions.
I hope my question is understandable..thank you in advance, Karl. I’m so sorry if I’m being such a nuisance; I know how busy you are these days since the launch of “ePrep for the SAT”.
Thanks!
- Maha
P.S - I never got to say this, but thank you for posting Mr. Betterton’s response to my financial aid question earlier. It helped a lot! =D
October 19th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Maha,
Thank you for your kind words. As you probably know, each SAT test section will start off with relatively easy questions. These are also known as “warm-up” questions. As you work through a section, from beginning to end, the questions will increase in difficulty. My advice regarding when you need to start looking out for tricks is as follows:
20-Question Math Section: Be on guard from #7 onward. If the problems at the end seem ridiculously easy, you probably missed something. (Note: If they are easy because you devised a crafty way of doing them, you will likely get them right. If they are plain old easy, however, you definitely missed something.)
18-Question Math Section: #6, 7, and 8 are always pretty tough. If you cannot get them, simply leave them blank. #9, 10, 11, and 12 — the first four free-response questions — should be relatively straightforward. The final group of questions should be more difficult, but you should answer them even if you are not sure. (Remember, there is no penalty for a wrong answer in the free-response section, so you might as well go for it.)
16 -Question Math Section: Be on guard from #6 onward.
When it comes to Writing and Critical Reading, simply remember that the first few questions of each question type, or the first few linked to a given passage, should be “easy” or “medium” in difficulty. I would not waste too much time double and triple checking myself when doing those problems. I would save my time and energy for the more difficult ones at the end.
I hope this helps, Maha. Good luck. Talk to you soon.
October 19th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Karl,
Thank you for the quick response. Your post helped me a lot, and your quite welcome. =)
Maha
October 20th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Hello again Karl,
I just have two more quick questions to ask you:
1. I have about roughly two weeks left until my second SAT in November. I’m currently using “ePrep for the SAT” as part of my preperation, but the thing is, I have about five more tests left to complete/watch videos for (I also have some other videos left to watch from Test #1). When I review a section, I like to watch all the videos (including the correct ones), so it takes me quite a long time (I start with the incorrect/skipped videos first though). Do you have any advice as how to go through each video in a section more quickly but still learn the material efficiently? It takes me really long to finish reviewing one section, and I like to review my correct answers as well, in order to get a solid grasp at some new techniques. What should I do in such a short period of time? (I would also like to cover all the remedial videos as well before test day - I’ve started on some though).
In short, this is how I review an incorrect answer/watch a video:
- I watch a video about twice.
- Then I watch the corresponding remedial videos twice (if I come across one I’ve already watched, then I only watch it once).
- Then I redo the problem again without looking at how to solve it, watch the video one last time, and move on.
As you can see, my method of review takes quite a bit of time, so I was wondering if there was a faster and yet efficient way of covering a section.
I’m just wondering, since I’m aiming to complete one practice test a day, while reviewing my answers the next day.
2. Are the difficulty levels on the practice tests for “ePrep for the SAT” the same as those found in CollegeBoard’s tests (i.e. would an ePrep test score closely resemble the score I would get on test day)? Or are they slightly harder/easier than them?
Thank you so much in advance, and sorry if this post is a bit long! ^_^;
October 21st, 2007 at 10:05 am
Wow, Maha, you are incredibly dedicated and willing to put in the time and effort it takes to succeed. I’m sure your family is very proud of you.
First comment: Please review the answer explanations immediately after taking a given practice test. You will learn much more efficiently if you do so.
Second comment: To speed things up, you can always fast-forward through my introductions and simply skip my closing comments.
Final comment: Do not burn yourself out. As the time for the test draws near, you should seriously consider simplifying your review - watching only the videos associated with problems you skipped or answered incorrectly. Sometimes, if you study too much detail, you essentially know nothing in the end. Be careful not to lose sight of the big picture. Part of your goals as a student should be learning with the intention of becoming a more interesting person. And becoming a more interesting person is supposed to be fun. As I work on ePrep, I continually remind myself to have fun. If you do the same, you will be much happier and better off in the long run.
I hope my advice helps. Good luck.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Karl,
Thank you so much for your kind comments, tips, and advice. I guess you’re right - I will mainly focus on the problems that I got wrong/skipped, with exceptions to questions that I got right but that I am curious about. I will do my best to follow them in the remaining 10 days before the exam. Your videos are a lot of help to me; I learn a great amount of information in such a short period of time.
I wish my motivation wasn’t so unbalanced though..
I will keep you posted if I have any more questions (I’ll try to ask as much as I can before test day!) Thank you and keep up the great work!
Maha
October 27th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Karl, I just want to thank you for all your help. I’ve watched nearly all of your videos and I managed to improve my score greatly (1330 to 1520 on the old scale) though a lot of practicing and realizing the SAT is not THAT hard of an exam. So once again, thank you and I hope your business does well.
October 28th, 2007 at 1:35 am
Hey again Karl,
I have a couple more quick questions to ask, but I’ll post them tomorrow morning, seeing as it’s pretty late right now. I just wanted to drop by a quick inquiry:
How accurate are the total and the subset (M/CR/W) scores for ePrep’s practice tests as opposed to the scores you get on one of the CollegeBoard’s practice tests? As you know, the scores you get on CB’s practice tests somewhat resemble what you would get on test day..at least that’s what many people say. ^^; I was just wondering if this is the same case with ePrep. If I got, let’s say, a 1650 on one of ePrep’s practice tests, does that mean I would get something close to that score on test day? Or is it a different case (e.g. ePrep’s Practice tests are harder than the real thing, easier, etc.)
I’m just curious, since I’ve made some “goal” scores I want to reach for M/CR/W, and so, I want to know if the practice tests accurately predict my improvements or not. =)
I hope this isn’t too much of a personal question. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.
Oh, and congratulations on the score increase Kevin! I hope that my encounter with the SAT next Satuurday will be my last one.
Thanks!
Maha
October 31st, 2007 at 7:00 am
Congratulations, Kevin, and thank you for your kind words about ePrep. I’m glad we played a small role in convincing you that the SAT is not really that hard.
Maha, ePrep’s scale is very similar to that used by the College Board. That being said, I tried to make the tests at the end of ePrep’s course mildly harder than real SATs. I hope this information helps you gain some perspective on where you are in the preparation process.
November 13th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Nice!