How long should my essay be?

[raghudevramaiah@yahoo.com]

I am good in written english.I would like to know how long my toefl essay should be, generally.

Also , is it better to take one side of the argument or both sides of the argument if u want to(for example,for a topic like is it better to study in large university compared to a small one?)

[Erin]

250-400 words is a great length, and, as a rule of thumb, the longer the better!!

Hope that helps!

Please post further questions here.

Erin

Please search this newsgroup for FAQs & search TestMagic.com from the bottom of every page.

TestMagic.com
San Francisco, CA USA

[cinderellahn]

250-400 words is a great length, and, as a rule of thumb, the longer the better!!

Hope that helps!

Please post further questions here.

Erin

Please search this newsgroup for FAQs & search TestMagic.com from the bottom of every page.

TestMagic.com
San Francisco, CA USA

Oh, why the longer the better??? So, if my essay is only about 250 words, I won't have the highest score (6), right?

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[davvy]

i cant say of the lenght but what i have observed after getting disappointing score in essay ( 5.0 ,total 640( 275 cbt)) is that they hardly look for content. instead what they look for is, general organization and how clearly one has presented the views. i guess too much impressive language and twists harm rather than help.
so try to be simple ,direct and use normal language. the bottomline is, u should be able to present the views clearly.

now coming to my score ,can anybody opine if my essay score looks unimpressive?. actually my gre verbal is 710( total 2200) and i never expected less than 280/5.5 in toefl.
i will be taking gmat soon and after getting my unexpected scores in essay , iam getting worried. i have no illusions that i write like rushdie or roy ,but still i always thought i write better than many of the indians. after getting 5.0 in essay iam wondering what are my chances in AWA part of gmat. i need atleast 5.5 in that and before getting my essay result of toefl i thought i would definately get that much. but now it seems i have to some preparation for that, anysuggestions are welcome. genrally what they look for in AWA?

[Vaya]

Welcome to forum davvy!

But please don't say that again:

i cant say of the lenght but what i have observed after getting disappointing score in essay ( 5.0 ,total 640( 275 cbt)) is that they hardly look for content.

I would be very happy to get the score of 250 ctb (600). Thus, please don't say that you are unhappy with your score! It makes me feel so stupid. Your general score is very good, your essay score is normal (isn't very good, but also isn't very bad).

Anyway, some your points about essay scoring perhaps is true, I believe you , but I want to know one thing: do you always write in such manner (no capital letters and crazy punctuation)? If the answer is 'yes' so maybe that's why you got the 'disappointing' score?

Renata

personal statement. I don't even know what AWA is

[davvy]

hi vaya
iam sorry if u felt stupid because of my post. blv me, i never expected that my post will rub anybody the wrong way. actually i really felt disappointed after getting my essay and final score. u see, i have got 710( 97 %ile) in gre verbal and more importantly i will be taking gmat soon - where i have to write some essays- , so hoping a 6 in essay was obvious. i had this notion after seeing some earthlings who are real bad writers and still they ended up with 5 or even 5.5 in essay.

some observations regarding the toefl:

it is one of the easiest exams on earth , which led many to take it lightly and then pay for it.
1listening: if u cant understand what they say , u dont ought to be in usa . well, concenteration is imp in this section as a brief lapse of concenteration can cost u whole conversation.
2reading: it's soooooooooooo easy and boring. just pray to god that u dont fall asleep during this section.
3 essay: now iam sure that they just look at basic organization. no hi fi fundas are needed in this section.
and vaya i dont write like this in formal writing. as for crazy punctuations, what u mean? i write adhering to the rules of standard written english.
now i have heard about this rescoring of toefl essay. can anybody suggest if i should go for it and generally, do scores improve?. what if a bigger jerk gives 4.5 this time

[Vaya]

Hi there!

iam sorry if u felt stupid because of my post. blv me, i never expected that my post will rub anybody the wrong way.

I forgive you , because it isn't big deal and I understand your situation, but sometimes you should think more about others. I believe in progress so I won't tell you that after arrogant

some observations regarding the toefl:

I felt stupid again...

and vaya i dont write like this in formal writing. as for crazy punctuations, what u mean? i write adhering to the rules of standard written english.

Well I hope then you write your essay you write in formal english, all the word, and use capital letters.

Crazy puntuation is:
I like cats,dogs , birds ,and turtles.Do you like them?Oh , yes I do !
Good puntuation is:
I like cats, dogs, birds, and turtles. Do you like them? Oh, yes I do!

So, maybe that was your problem?

Best, wishes - Renata

[Erin]

Davvy, Renata is right. Try copying your essay or post into Microsoft Word or another word processor with spell/grammar checking to see the green and red squiggly lines. They do a great job of catching the kind of mistake we're talking about.

FYI, we have discussed "crazy punctuation" many times in these forums, and Renata has pointed this out many times to various people.

Let me know if you can't find the topics, okay?

Erin

[Miss Avni Bhatnagar]

Hey !
I'm supposed to handwrite my essay!What do I do?I've posted one essay and I'm waiting for Erin Sir's reply to it with an estimate score.Mr. erdtrek has disappointed me but I think negative comments on my essay will help me!
Sorry erdtrek but I felt too bad!Anyways,I accept all the comments.
Avni...