How did I get a 10 with 1.25 pages and barely any examples?? [essay included]

Test Preparation
1

<p>The prompt was, “do people work so hard in school and at work that they don’t have enough energy to be creative during leisure time?”. </p>

<p>May 2011 SAT essay-</p>

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2

<p>I got an 8 with, in my opinion, a very similar essay, my prompt was ‘‘can real success be achieved only by individual work?’’.
Perhaps it was my handwriting lol.</p>

<p>Here it is:
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<p>Please, criticize and advise.</p>

3

<p>your essay had two examples–eistein and kennedy–which is perfectly fine (some people get 12’s using two examples). the essay is organized well with transitions and nicely worded sentences. the thing is, though, in order for your essay to stand out, you need more sophisticated sounding sentences and stronger vocabulary. try varying sentence lengths, using transitional words, etc.
you got a 10 because you’re probably a naturally good writer. good substance is crucial, but remember, they’re scoring for quality writing, not brilliant examples.</p>

4

<p>Thank you for the replies. Next essay I write will have enhanced vocab and examples, I think those are my weak points.</p>

5

<p>Someone can correct me on this, but I think it would be more important to write more and fill up the whole two pages (with more examples or analysis) than to have enhanced vocabulary.</p>

6

<p>I think know why you did so well! your essay was succint and to the point. That is probably why you felt it was short. And from your essay i could hear your voice through it. You gave your own perspective instead of merely stating examples of people who did well even without or examples of people who didnt do well without schooling. Well i do agree that it feels kind of short though :P</p>

7

<p>nice handwriting</p>

8

<p>haha liv4physicz is that sarcasm?</p>

9

<p>kinda, it’s not terrible but it hurts my eyes trying to read it</p>

10

<p>in regards to cmonson, I actually did a lot of research on the essay grading and it turns out the legibility of your handwriting does have a lot to do with the scoring, interestingly enough.</p>