To a certain extent, I would say that the current sat, not the one that is going to change, requires you use some words that are not ordinarily use. words need not be difficult, just not ordinarily use. I came across some vocab in barron’s book that I thought was not difficult at all.
Well, you don’t have to be smart, you just need to prepare beforehand. I think preparing examples that can fit most prompts will save you a lot of time, hence you will be able to write more. Sadly, the length of your essay does affect your score to a certain extent. Just think of it this way, as a reader, you have about 3 minutes to go through the essay, would you give 10 to an essay that is only a page long or one that is one and a half page long, assuming both essays’ examples are relevant? first impression counts.
I agree that it is hard to write under pressure. If I did not prepare some of the examples beforehand, at most, I will only be able to write about 4 paragraphs.
I believe grammar is important, although some mistakes are inevitable. But having said that, if you make lots of grammatical mistakes in the essay, I believe it will affect your score, but I am not sure to what extent.
I am using barron’s book by the way. I started out with using I believe, but find it a little biased. But I think it all boils down to personal preference. So it should be fine.
I have another essay with four paragraphs, so you might want to help me to take a look at it?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1746104-please-help-to-grade-my-essay.html?new=1