Writing is important (my English teacher says so, and it is, after all, now part of the SAT), BUT

many colleges are not considering the SAT essay in the admissions process.

The very end of the article suggests that, despite the mixed messages, preparing for the SAT can be a positive experience, generally, and that preparing for the writing section, specifically, can help students improve their writing. I agree 100%. In fact, my own writing skills have improved since I began tutoring students for the “new” writing section a few years ago. (I admit my writing is not perfect, but it probably never will be!)

On a somewhat related point, I find it interesting that within the American school system, writing instructors stress clarity and brevity, yet most of what students are forced to read in their English classes is convoluted and difficult to understand. Talk about mixed messages.

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.

SAT Essay Rubric – Grammar and Word Usage (Transcript)

This is the last of five videos in which I discuss the essay gracing rubric. In the first 4 videos I discussed Development of Position, Organization, Use of Language and Sentence Structure. In this video I’d like to discuss Grammar and Word Usage.

Let me give you an example of poor grammar; If a person wants to become a tennis player, they should practice everyday. There is a grammatical error here; If a person – person is singular – If a person wants to become a better tennis player – they – they is a plural pronoun and a person cant be its proper noun antecedent. There is an inconsistency in number. A person is singular, and they is plural. The sentence should read; If a person wants to become a tennis player, he or she should practice everyday. That’s an example of a grammatical error.

Word Usage. When I hear Word Usage, I think of idioms. If you said in a sentence; Somebody was preoccupied in something, there is a word usage error. You’re not preoccupied in something; you can be preoccupied with something. So the word in is not right, with is the proper word. Somebody can be preoccupied with something. You want to watch out for Word Usage error.

Also in this category is Punctuation. When do you use a comma? When do you use a semicolon? When do you use a colon? My advice is this; if you feel like you’re not great at grammar, you’re not on top of your game when it comes to word usage or punctuation I think you should you work really hard on preparing yourself with the writing section of the SAT the multiple choice portion. If you go through those multiple choice exams, you launch yourself into review and you get some expert help and you learn the rules that are tested in the multiple choice section, this will teach you everything you need to know with regard to Word Usage, Grammar and Punctuation to nail the essay and score high in this category.

So again, if you feel that your grammar skills are not where they should be, word usage is something that confuses you and punctuation is something that you never got right, spend some time working on the multiple section of the writing test and you will get there eventually.

SAT Essay Rubric – Use of Language (Transcript)
This is the 3rd of five videos in which I discuss the essay grading rubric. In the 1st video I discuss the category Development of Position, in the second video I discuss the category Organization and in this video I’d like to discuss the category Use of Language.

Use of Language is vocabulary. I sometimes ask kids “What do you think is easier to notice a good bus driver or a bad bus driver?” After a minute, most kids come up with the right answer and it’s a bad bus driver. A bad bus driver is pretty easy to notice. Why? Because the bus gets jerked around, it’s an uncomfortable ride, and you might be thinking “What’s going on here? Am I in danger?” You definitely notice a bad bus driver. A good bus driver is not so easy to notice. Why? Because you get on the bus and it’s a smooth ride and you can forget that you’re on a bus. You can fall asleep, you can read a book, you can have a conversation, you can daydream. You can completely forget that you’re on a bus. So good bus drivers are not really noticed but bad bus driver are very easy to notice.

How does this apply to the essay and Use of Language? I’m going to tell you right now. If for example you are writing an essay and you want to use the word ecstatic because you think it’s the perfect word and you want to use it in your essay, but you say to yourself “ I’m not sure if I know how to spell ecstatic.” My suggestion is this – don’t take the chance. If you try to spell ecstatic and you get it wrong, you’re going to be like a bad bus driver – you’re going to be noticed. Your misspelling is going to jump off the page at the reader and you’re going to be noticed for something bad. If you don’t take the chance and you write the phrase very happy instead, that will probably go unnoticed by the reader. So rather than flag yourself for something bad, you’re better off playing it safe and saying very happy in the example I just gave.

The other thing is this. Don’t force vocabulary. If you have a sophisticated word that you want to use in the essay because you want to show off how smart you are, but you’re not 100% sure what the word means and your not 100% sure that the word actually works where you want to use it, you’re better off not taking the chance. You don’t want to come across as somebody who’s just trying to force these sophisticated and fancy vocabulary words into the essay almost gratuitously. They weren’t asked for, they are not appropriate and if you’re just kind of forcing them in, you are definitely going to be noticed if you don’t get it right – if you force the issue.

So when it comes to Use of Language, its all about vocabulary. And again my advice is this; if you’re unsure, don’t take the chance. If you’re not sure how to spell a word, use the less sophisticated version that you know how to spell properly. If you’re not sure what a fancy word is don’t take the chance. Put in the word that (1) you know works and that (2) you know how to spell. If you keep these 2 things in mind you will score very high in Use of Language.

SAT Essay Rubric – Organization (Transcript)

This is the 2nd of 5 videos in which I discuss the essay grading rubric. In the first video I discuss the category Development of Position. In this video I’d like to discuss the category Organization. To me, Organization means a few things, but it first means that you need to write in paragraph form. When the reader picks up your essay and first glances at it, they should see paragraphs. That is the first indication that you’re organized. You want to indent clearly and write in paragraph form.

Now lets talk about the different paragraphs you should have. The first one you should have should be your introduction. In your introduction the fist thing you want to do is to make a clear Statement of your Position, you want to say something like I believe that hard work can be disastrous . Period. Keep it simple. Clear Statement of Position. After that clear Statement of Position you may want give your reason or reasons for holding that position, you may want to tweak the topic a bit or you may to begin to introduce your examples. So that’s what the introduction contains.

The second paragraph is going to be your first body paragraph. This contains your first example. And what I would do is launch right into the example – My uncle worked so hard that he neglected his family and even though he achieved financial success he was miserable and had a disastrous life because his wife left him and his kids wanted nothing to do with him . You want to give an example of somebody who lived through something, who had an experience that bears out your position . That’s what an example is. So your second paragraph, which is your first body paragraph, should contain your first example and again, an example needs to support your position, it needs to be consistent with your reasoning and it needs to be an example – not just more reasoning, not just opinion and not just a hypothetical situation you’re making up. It’s got to come from your personal experiences, from literature , your studies, your observations, from history, wherever, but it must be an illustration of somebody living though something that bears out your position. So that’s what you want to do in your second paragraph.

When you get to the 3rd paragraph you want to add your second example. And the way I usually I begin the 3rd paragraph is by saying another illustration of and then restate your position .if you do that it’s going to remind you to stay on topic and its going to remind the reader that you’re staying on topic. So when you being your 3rd paragraph – which is your 2nd example – you may want to start with something like: Another illustration of why I believe that hard work can be disastrous comes from my readings .” And then you can launch into a discussion of a book that you’ve read that supports your position.

The last paragraph – the 4th one – should be your conclusion and there is nothing wrong with starting that paragraph by saying In conclusion , hard work can be disastrous. You can then recap or summarize your examples or you can summarize your reasonings and you’re done. It’s that simple. If you stay organized you’ll be on your way to scoring a very high essay grade.

SAT Essay Rubric – Development of Position (Transcript)

This is the first of five videos in which I discuss the essay grading rubric.

A lot of kids don’t know it, but the people that are paid to grade SAT essays are given a rubric to help guide them through the scoring process and that the rubric has 5 different categories. The first category, and the one I want to discuss right now, is called Development of Position.

During the SAT you are given an assigned topic. It might be something like “Can hard work be disastrous?” The first thing I want to point out is there is no right answer and there is no wrong answer; there is no good position and there is no bad position. You just have to pick one. You might say, “I believe that hard work CAN be disastrous.” In other words, your gut may tell you that that’s the way you want to argue.

So, after you’ve picked your position, what you want to do is ask yourself WHY. Why do I feel that way? Why do I hold that position? And the answer to that question is what I would call a REASON. And remember, you’re going to want to support your position with reasoning and examples. So the reasons are the “whys” behind your position. I feel that if you work too hard and stay too focused you may neglect important things in life and that will lead to a disaster. Because if you neglect important things in life you’re going to lose things that are important and you’re going to find yourself in a disastrous situation. That’s my reason.

In an essay I would clearly state my position in the introduction – in the first sentence. I would say that I believe that hard work can be disastrous. I would then state my reason for that: If you work too hard and you focus on something, you’ll neglect important things in life and you may lose those important things and that will in turn lead to disaster. What you then want to do is come up with examples that support your position and that are consistent with your reasoning. This is where a lot of kids mess up. They don’t really understand what an example is and so they start their second paragraph – which is the 1st body paragraph – just giving more opinion and more reasoning. Don’t do this. You must come up with one reason, 2 reasons tops, and then give examples that are consistent with those reasons and again that support your position.

What you want to do in the 2nd paragrapgh is to describe a situation from a book, your real life, from your studies or from history of somebody living through something – an experience – that bears out your position. You want to describe somebody like an uncle who worked so hard and was so focused that he neglected his family and by the time he achieved financial success, his wife had left him his kids didn’t want anything to do with him and he found himself in a miserable situation – a complete disaster. That’s what an example is. It’s an illustration of somebody living through an experience that bears out your position.

Come up with 2 examples like that and then come up with a conclusion. The conclusion should look a lot like the introduction. I always tell kids that if they’re not concluding what they introduced, they’ve in a sense failed the assignment. So make sure that you re-read your introduction before you write your conclusion. Those two paragraphs should look a lot alike.

One last thing, a lot of kids feel that they need to appear balanced in their essay, otherwise the reader is going to think that they are an opinionated, obnoxious person who deserves a low score. It’s not going to work that way. You’re asked to take a position. You do not need to acknowledge the other side. You do not need to argue the other side. You only have 25 minutes. You only have two pages and that only enough time and enough space to argue one side of an argument. And, again, you do not need to acknowledge the other side. Trust me, you will not come across as one sided – you’re supposed to be one sided. So pick a position, come up with some reasons, come up with some examples that support your position and are consistent wit your reasons, and you’ll nail it. And if you do that, you’ll score very high in the Development of Position category.

When researching and applying for scholarships, be wary of unscrupulous hacks attempting to swindle unsuspecting college bound kids and their parents under the guise of scholarship services. Detecting bogus scams can be tricky, but the FTC has a list of warning signs to help you steer clear of scholarship cons. Avoid scholarship services that claim any of the following:

• “The scholarship is guaranteed or your money back”
• “You can’t get this information anywhere else”
• “I need your credit card or bank account info to hold this scholarship”
• “We’ll do all the work — for a fee”
• “The scholarship will cost some money”
• “You’re a scholarship finalist” in a contest you never entered.
• Out of the blue “You’ve been selected by a ‘national foundation’ to receive a scholarship”

Finding suitable scholarships takes time, but the reward can be cold hard cash you can use to cover some college fees. Check out the following reputable resources for researching scholarships:

• Your local public library
• Your college’s financial aid office
• Collegeboard.com
• Students.gov
• Ed.gov

It’s a question that appears to have some magical, formulaic answer. For better or for worse, it doesn’t. A Princeton graduate and accomplished writer, John McPhee (‘53), gave the best answer to this question: “Perseverance.” Of writing, McPhee said, “You have to stay with it.” Great writing doesn’t simply happen; it takes time, struggle, and a willingness to accept that sometimes you won’t know where you’re headed.

When will I know when I’ve gotten there (to where my writing is “good”)?

As in any other pursuit (baseball, ballet dancing, painting, playing guitar), there is never a time where the mastery of the skill is “over.” Similarly, the challenge of being a better writer will never cease to present itself to every single one of us. McPhee puts it more eloquently when he says, “Writers are unique. It’s like DNA, a snowflake, or a thumbprint; there are no two writers alike. Therefore a writer can only grow as that writer.” Thus, you should never compare your progress as a writer to anyone else’s, but you should understand that if you don’t write, you’ll never improve at writing.

What makes a good academic writer?

Do you have a sense that to be a successful academic writer, you will have to ramp up your use of five syllable words? Or perhaps you think that the less intelligible your writing, the more likely it will be classified as “intellectual”? It’s okay if you answered yes to either of these questions. We seemed to have created a culture where one is presumed to be more intelligent the less accessible one’s writing is to a reader. Have you ever heard someone remark: “Oh, he’s brilliant. I can’t understand a word he says.” It’s humorous, but guess what? You may have fallen prey to it in your own writing (or, at least, have been tempted to). We all have. But try to remember this pearl of wisdom from New York Times correspondent Chris Hedges: “There’s nothing intellectually humiliating about writing clearly.”

Our education in writing has stressed the complicated over the simple. But good writing is not decoration; it invites a reader to belong to something significant through the clear expression of original ideas. Sometimes we use that decoration to hide the absence of an original idea. Worse yet, we believe that this decoration is equal to if not more important than the idea(s) conveyed. Thus, good academic writing requires the accomplishment of a two-fold task. Chris Hedges (again) said it best with a second simple declaration: “It is not enough to write well; you have to have something to say.”

In sum, it takes practice to improve as a writer, and that practice can at times be difficult and frustrating. But however frustrated and difficult you may find the task of writing, if you are invested in it and write around ideas you care about, your writing will move you to a place of deeper understanding—not just as a writer but as a person of the world. When you write more, you begin to notice more, and when you begin to notice more, your world takes on a whole new depth of meaning. That’s worth something, isn’t it?

I just came across this WSJ.com article on the college essay. Thought it might be of interest to ePrep visitors. The WSJ writes:

College essays give students a chance to set themselves apart from thousands of other applicants. But where should students start when every word counts? The Wall Street Journal Online emailed admissions directors at three universities and asked for their take on college essays, including what role they play and how admissions committees go about reading all those essays. Brown University’s James Miller, Harvard College’s Marlyn McGrath Lewis and the University of Virginia’s John Blackburn gave us their answers.