In order to get a high WS (R,S,T) ....

[SysBio]

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Assuming that you complete all 3 tasks (which is apparently the most important part), is it better to write an essay that is:

clever and really has an intelligent synthesis

OR

an essay that is flat out longer (has more words)


I guess I'm indirectly asking what confidence do you have in the AAMC essay marking process? I think most of us would agree that a more intelligent essay should score higher. But since some person is going to be scanning 1000's of essays, and a computer also marks it, a longer essay that is not that intelligent could score higher.

At the end of the day though, what should be my focus: making an insightful essay, or getting a whole lot of stuff on the screen (details on the examples, etc).



And please no "WS section doesn't matter" comments. 👎 🙂

 

[NickNaylor]

Is there really even a question here? You should make an insightful, well thought-out essay. That's guaranteed to score you great marks. Writing a bull**** essay with "more words" is a dubious strategy at best.

 

[Erythropoietin]

i think you can get a P easily by just answering the questions in 3-4 sentences

 

[SysBio]

I think this too actually.

I came out of my MCAT thinking I bombed the writing section.. I had a writer's block for both of the essays and was not able to come up with intelligent arguments OR even semi-decent examples. The only things I did right was that I followed the TAS structure pretty rigidly, never stopped writing until the time was up and I used proper spelling and grammar. I was being very generous with myself after the exam and thought I might get like a M or N.. ended up getting a Q. I know for a fact though that my essays and examples were pretty cringe-worthy and dry.

Don't purposely add in words just for the sake of having them in there. But don't bother trying to come up with a clever, intelligent and well-crafted argument at the expense of essay length either. One of the graders is a computer after all (and your human grader is not going to read your essay that carefully either).. If your antithesis paragraph is only three lines long, you bet they're going to notice that. Ditto to bad spelling and grammar.

Thanks for the replies y'all

Yeah seems that the only thing that is certain is that one must do all 3 tasks to get an average score.

However I've tried a few essays, and I find that after a basic outline, I can either: spend more valuable time really thinking about the underlying issues of the prompt and coming up with more insightful points to write....or....just start writing and spend that time adding details to examples, etc (essentially making the essay longer)

I guess just starting to write is the better approach based on how the essays are graded.

I wonder what the average length is for MCAT essays across each score...

 

[NickNaylor]

Thanks for the replies y'all

Yeah seems that the only thing that is certain is that one must do all 3 tasks to get an average score.

However I've tried a few essays, and I find that after a basic outline, I can either: spend more valuable time really thinking about the underlying issues of the prompt and coming up with more insightful points to write....or....just start writing and spend that time adding details to examples, etc (essentially making the essay longer)

I guess just starting to write is the better approach based on how the essays are graded.

I wonder what the average length is for MCAT essays across each score...

The type of essay that you're asked to write on the MCAT is so laughably simple that you could literally create a mad lib-style template and simply fill in a few blanks that incorporate certain aspects of the statement you're asked to write about. If you're a decent writer, then this should be absolutely no problem for you. If you're somewhat of a weak writer, then use an extremely formulaic format - that's essentially what they're expecting anyway.

The writing section really isn't something you should be stressing about. It's essentially meaningless anyway, and as long as you have a pulse and can write at a mediocre level you'll more than likely do fine.

 

[Erythropoietin]

Thanks for the replies y'all

Yeah seems that the only thing that is certain is that one must do all 3 tasks to get an average score.

However I've tried a few essays, and I find that after a basic outline, I can either: spend more valuable time really thinking about the underlying issues of the prompt and coming up with more insightful points to write....or....just start writing and spend that time adding details to examples, etc (essentially making the essay longer)

I guess just starting to write is the better approach based on how the essays are graded.

I wonder what the average length is for MCAT essays across each score...

Yes just start writing and it will come to you. Even if you are making grammar errors at the beginning just keep going, because the more you write, the more it will make you think, and the more examples you will be able to present. But if you just sit there and think, you start getting into stress as you see the clock going. Practice is the key.

 

[notbobtrustme]

I wrote a T essay without even seeing the criterion for the essay. I literally looked at the format the Wednesday before the test.

What I did was write a decent intro framing the statement in a frame for me to expound on. I wrote a pro-argument for the statement, expanded it with 2 or 3 examples, then a con argument with 2 or 3 examples then took the two statements and logically worked through them while stating my own preferance for what I felt was the correct stance. I used like 3 or 4 big words (aka pedantic or obsfucate). I wrapped the entire essay up with a conclusion paragraph re-stating the original statement, my two positions and concluded with something historical or allegorical that was in support of my argument. Took me 25 minutes on each essay and I used the last 5 minutes to proofread/rephrase unclear sentences.

 

[mitchlucker]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/e...l=1&adxnnlx=1322559046-C0ajxs1QdrhKjKM9sgScBQ

Article about the SAT essays being graded in accordance to the number of words.

MCAT is a different story (hopefully).

I agree with the others; the essays are so easy to write it's hard not to score Q+

 

[blessed1079]

Thanks for tips guys!