[GL0W*]

For the essay on the SAT, how long does it have to be?

I'm used to writing three paragraphs for it (one for intro, one for a strong example, one for a conclusion), and my SAT prep teachers have been perfectly fine with that...

But today, my English teacher was being all anal about the minimum-five-paragraph-for-an-essay-to-work rule - she said that it was required for us to have five paragraphs on the SATs, or else the graders are going to apparently toss my paper away...

Five paragraphs for an SAT essay is a little hard for me, especially under twenty-five minutes I can do three paragraphs perfecly fine though.

So, again, how long does the essay have to be? Does it HAVE to be five paragraphs?

[thelivinlegend21]

Simply put...

no.

just write as much as you possibly can in an organized manner. 3-4 paragraphs should be adequate. i personally scored 10/12 by writing 4 paragraphs. what really matters is that your points are coherent, and that you answer the prompt correctly.

[heartdrops]

You don't need five paragraph essays.
5 paragraph essays would be nice but you don't get rewarded or points deducted if you don't.
What matters is that your examples are relevant and you explain them well.

[cyberfruit]

No, the essay can be filled with however many paragraphs you want.

I threw the 5-paragraph rule to the wind, wrote two pages, and got a 10 out 12.

Just write.

[stoner beans]

yea, usually its like 4-5 papragraphs, but its paragraphs that will help you convince and sell your point, so if you can do it in three, its fine.

[Avex]

Let's use common sense in SAT grading.
What everybody said is common sense. Use your common sense

http://www.grammatix.com/manifesto/
http://www.grammatix.com/sat-sample-chapters/

There was an article actually written about how SAT essay grades correlate to length; the longer, the likely the better. But quality, if you use common sense to think about it (I hope you do, b/c the SAT is all about common sense that is hard to realize), is better than a long essay that may not have the amount of quality the shorter essay has.

[x kisekiboshi]

Don't listen to your teacher. She's wrong.

My SAT teacher showed us an essay that was only four paragraphs and it got a 12.

Like Avex said, there have been studies that essays that are over a page do get higher scores. But as long as if it's not like a quarter page filled with loads of grammar mistakes, and has a very strong start, middle, and end, you will get a good score.

[hpnotiq]

Quality & not quantity.
You don't HAVE to write 5 paragraphs.
Just write whatever you have to write.

For my SAT essay I wrote 4 paragraphs, & got a 11.
My friend wrote a 3 paragraph essay, & got a 12.

[dohee]

dont do 5 paragraph essays
i wrote a 4 paragraph essay and got a 12

most people tend to write 4 paragraphs
in my opinion... trying to write a 5 paragraph essay in 25 minutes is unrealistic.. and actually hinders you from developing ur ideas...
so i say stcik with 4 and be more indepth rather than trying to cram a 5 pargraph esay in 2 lined pages.

[ji-hae]

i got a 10 writing a 5 paragraph essay.

if you can form ideas and support them then go for it. otherwise, stick to 3-4.

my essay was something i related to and i had 3 good examples to back up my thesis.

as long as you write a good essay, you should get a good score