SAT Essay Question

[carrot red]

How would you answer the new SAT essay question?

Do you have to be competitive to be successful? Does being competitive mean you will be successful?

[Beldaran]

I almos retook the SAT's just for fun so I could write a bunch of crap on the essay.

I would submit the following argument, though in a perhaps more well written way:

Each person defines what sucess means to them. For some, success means beating the competition in the work place, or making a certain amount of money. For others, it is having healthy relationships and a loving family. No matter how individuals ultimately define success, the over-arching theme as an abstract concept is that we use that which we value about ourselves and about the world to formulate our ideas of what success is. In my own life, I consider reason to be the only tool worthy of using to bring these ideas together.

Using reason to aquire and understand my values is how I formulate my notion of sucess. While my specific idea of success will differ from almost everone else's, it will definately be something that makes me happy and leads to fulfilling life, because I have rationally appraised my life and sought the highest within myself. By seeking a form of personal greatness; striving for excellence in every area of my life, I am apt to surround myself with people and things that reflect this desire for the highest worth. This driving sense of self esteem and forward looking vision of improvement makes me happy, and when I live up to the expectations of my values, I consider myself successful.

Sometimes I must compete with others to achieve this success, but it is not accurate to say that I must always compete with others. The only competition I am involved with is a competition with my own sense of excellence. I am constantly pushing myself harder to make my life a better reflection of what I believe a great person is.

Being competitive does not mean you will be successful, since competitiveness without a rational values framework is an endless treadmill of empty victories and draining defeats. However, a strong value architecture must have a competitive fire, a desire to succeed against a contrary force, in order to have successful endeavors resolve into happiness. I would therefore say that you must be competitive to be successful, but simply being competitive does not mean you will succeed; much in the same way you must eat to stay alive, but eating will not keep you alive by itself.

[fatcatfan]

Dilbert, upon being told by his PHB that his salary increase would be "competitive", responded that "competitive" means it isn't the best. "Competitive" means it is on par, around average, neither excessively less nor excessively more than the norm. Personally, I'd rather be "above average" than "competitive".

[AtmaWeapon]

Competitive when used as an adjective is what fatcatfan mentioned. It means that rather than doing your best, you are performing either as well as the competition or slightly better.

When we speak of "competitive" as a state of mind, it is impossible to determine whether it is vital for success or not without evaluating the context of the individual's goals. What if no others share your goals? There can be no competition and therefore a competitive spirit is not necessary. Consider humanitarian work. While large organizations certainly compete for funding, the individuals who perform the work for the organization do not. A competitive spirt would get in the way and possibly hinder the process of rendering aid to the needy. The individual would want to help more prominent individuals since they would spread the word and increase the reputation of the individual. On the other hand, some goals require a competitive spirt. What if your goal is to be a successful software developer? You are in a field with several million others, competing for the same jobs they want. You must find some way to make yourself stand out as unique and deserving of employment. In this case, a competitive spirit and the willingness to make choices based on the result rather than the action are vital.

Essay questions such as this are the easiest to write for, but I hate questions on issues like this. There isn't a "right" answer. I can choose to say that competition is not required for success, and provide examples of successful individuals who did not compete for their success such as Mother Teresa. On the other hand, I can choose to say that competition is vital to success and name people whose competitive edge is the sole reason for their position: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and George W. Bush are just a few examples.

However, I find great irony in discussing the importance of competition on a standardized test. The only reason you take the test is for placement in a university, which is a competition in itself. When answering essay questions, the competitive individual will realize that the typical response will accept a polarization of the issue based on personal ethics. This is motivated by the need to quickly answer the question. The average student wants to finish the essay quickly and will choose the first response that comes to mind. The competitive individual knows that no points are gained by choosing a response the question leads you to. Indeed, the highest scores will be awarded to those who successfully take a stance that is not immediately indicated by the question. The 5 minutes of critical thought make the essay deadline tighter, but the advantage gained is worth more than time itself. I would structure my essay as follows:

"Essay questions on standardized tests are a fair example of a realm where competition is key. Every year countless students pay to take standardized tests, and in many cases a student will take the test multiple times in an attempt to make a higher score. Because multiple-choice questions provide a significant advantage to a student who guesses, essay questions were created to judge the student's ability in an environment where luck does not play a factor. Essay questions are carefully chosen to provide an issue that has two obvious sides; the student selects a position based on personal feelings and writes an argument for their position. However, polarization of issues clouds one's mind and presents the appearance that only one choice can be made. The value of a competitive spirit varies based on the goals of the individuals and the environment in which the goals must be acheived. Competition can be either vital or nonvital in any context, but in all cases how the competitive spirit manifests itself greatly affects the general perception of success."

Paragraph I: Competition is necessary
Paragraph II: Competition is not necessary
Paragraph III: Discussion of how competition can help or hinder progress.

"Competitive spirit is an integral part of human nature. A competitive spirt can provide an advantage vital to success. However, in many circumstances a competitive spirit can hinder progress towards a common goal. In other cases, a competitive spirit can damage one's reputation and taint any success that is achieved. Care must be taken to control one's competitive spirit to fit the context of one's goals."

I guarantee you they'd eat that up.

Think different :)