SAT OG essay sample score 6

I admit with pride, that I am a perfectionist. I see it as the force which motivates me to achieve high goal; I owe my good grades, my success as a dancer as well as my organized room to my drive to be perfect. However, others view my perfectionism as a flaw. Others see me crying over the “B+” I received on the math test and blame my “emotional instability”, as they call it, on my perfectionism. Whether one considers it is a vice or a virtue depends on his or her point of view.May is AP test season and for me that means severely high levels of stress. I could be spotted walking down the halls of the school with my Barron’s AP World History book under my right arm and a highlighter in my pocket. It was imperative that I study hard enough to receive a grade of “5” on the test. All my stress and constant studying gave me dark circles under my eyes and a bad cold. One day, shortly before the test, my French teacher approached me and asked me if I was all right. I explained that I was just tired and stressed from studying for APs. She paused when I finished speaking. Then she stared me straight in the eye and said, “everyone chooses their own position.” I was dumbfounded. What did she mean? Then it dawned on me; she sees my drive for perfectionism in the spring that feeds my ultimate downfall. My perfectionism is my vice, according to her and yet all this time I thought it was my greatest virtue.Now I understand that my perfectionism is not “all good; it was after all responsible for the lack of plenty of sleep as well as being responsible for my head cold. However, I maintain that it is not “all bad” either. I continued to study for the AP World History test and although the scores are not back yet, I have a hunch I did well on it. So is perfectionism a vice or a virtue? It depends on whom you are talking to.There is always a “however.”Each situation has its benefits and its drawbacks. In the field of market finance, we find a compelling example that supports this thesis.The Roaring Twenties was a decade during which the American economy saw a rapid boom. In fact, America’s bull markets, such as the New York Stock Exchange had become so financially inviting by 1927 that even America’s middle class poured its money into America’s financial forums. Unfortunately, on October 4, 1929 the Booming Twenties came to an abrupt halt when the New York Stock Exchange crashed.The crash had many consequences. Most notably, the stock market crash of 1929 launched America into the Great Depression, a time of starvation and unemployment for millions of American citizens. The widespread optimism of the 1920s quickly turned into an almost suicidal pessimism. Indeed, the Great Depression represents a crippling consequence of the stock market crash of 1929.However, Franklin Delano Roosevelt established institutions and regulations to prevent future economic catastrophes. Cognizant of the crash’s causes, such as pool corruption, over-priced stock values, and margin buying, Roosevelt implemented the Social Security Act, the FDIC, andstricter rules monitoring credit. His aggressive policies not only ameliorated the uncomfortable climate of the Great Depression, but also laid the groundwork for a safer, more successful economy.The American public also realized the many positive results of the stock market crash of 1929. In particular, American citizens now have an entirely different fiscal outlook from the one they had before the crash. Speculators have proven to be more prudent and insightful, as they often research market trends before investing. Perhaps most importantly, American investors are not as easily swayed by popular optimism and eager advertisement.While the stock market crash of 1929 was the embryo of the Great Depression, the crash also set the foundation for a sounder economy. If we recognize the good and the bad of the crash, we are destined to make fewer economic mistakes.Sample Essay - Score of 6What motivates people to change is a relentless and innate desire for self-improvement. Rarely ever has history seen a man or society kick back, relax, and say “Well that about does it. Not much else to do here!” Within every person is the potential to achieve greatness in some form; be it athletically, mentally, spiritually. This inherent potential demands that people continue to explore and change both their environments and themselves throughout their life's course. Never should a man be idle for too long. After acknowledging the changes a man has already made to his environment, the pursuit of self-improvement will once again stir within his soul and call him to action. This internal desire, this pursuit of challenge and perfection, does not prohibit man from being happy with his status and achievements. On the contrary, the device serves more to allow the man to constantly strive for greater change, newer innovation. What motivates people to change is the ongoing need to redefine people's lives and identities –to elevate them to higher levels of eminence and sucess.A good example of this can be seen in clinical psychology. When patients seek therapy for difficulties that have encumbered their daily functioning, they most often arrive for treatment voluntarily and willingly- they consciously accept the necessity of therapy and so participate without any duress. During the course of clinical therapy, the patient's concerns, anxieties, ideas, emotions, and fears are brought to light. However, the clinician does not try to alter the beliefs, feeling, and sentiments of his client; rather, he simply illuminates them in order to provide the patient with an accurate view of himself. The process, of raising concerns and ideas to the surface of conscious awareness, is known as clarification. Modern psychology is a far throw from the psychoanalysis of Freud's time, in which psychologists attempted to “interpret” pre-and unconscious feelings that had been repressed by the patient. Because clinicians only clarify, and not dissect, alter, or interpret a client's inner desires and emotions, the client himself is responsible for instituting change. If he is to change, he must dictate the course of therapy, and make the conscious choice to improve himself. This widely used approach is called “client centered therapy.” If the client's ennui or ill feelings are due to situational factors or internal designs （as oppose to biological changes that wouldqualify for a diagnosis of psychopathology （mental disorder））, he must change them on his own accord to precipitate change within himself. The therapist will not “cure” him in any way. He alone must answer the call within himself to refine and redefine his identity and place in society. This need, of self-improvement, also initially brought him to the therapist. He was able to recognize the disorder of his environment and acknowledge his own negative feelings. This in turn brought him to therapy, where he was guided through a process of introspection that ultimately enabled him to improve himself, assuage his anxieties, and rightfully continue on his lifelong pursuit of even greater achievements.。