Many students wonder how the SAT essay can be graded consistently across tests. Certainly, they understand how a machine can read the bubbled in answers on a data sheet, but what about a hand written essay? Rest assured there is a method to the SAT’s essay madness.
Your SAT essay will be reviewed and graded by two readers. All readers are thoroughly trained before they are actually permitted to review and grade real SAT essays. Most readers are professionals with backgrounds in English, writing, composition and/or the language arts in general.
The readers use a grading rubric and sample essays to guide them in their work. As mentioned above, your essay will be reviewed by two readers. Each will grade your essay using a 1 to 6 scoring scale, 1 being the lowest grade and 6 being the highest. If the two scores assigned to your essay differ by 2 or more points, a third reader is brought in to review and grade the essay. (Scoring a 4, 5 or 6 is generally considered good or acceptable.) You should know that, while 6 is considered a perfect score, an essay earning a 6 need not be perfect — just a perfect first draft. All essays are considered first drafts.
Your reported score will be between 2 and 12, inclusive. The reported score is simply the sum of the scores assigned by the two readers. Thus, a reported score of 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 is considered good.
By the way, there are three different ways to score a zero:
1. Do not write an essay at all.
2. Write an essay on a topic other than the one assigned.
3. Write an essay that is illegible.
I hope you now have a better understanding of the process used to grade your essay. In my next post, I will discuss the actual SAT essay scoring rubric. I am hopeful that a thorough review of the rubric will help you learn to write a high-scoring essay.
June 12th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
great advices
May 1st, 2009 at 9:06 pm
My daughter recieved a “8″ on her essay, and she still wants to do better
May 4th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Jass,
ePrep can certainly help your daughter with the essay.
October 4th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
on my essay, my score is 7…so that meani did good on it.
October 5th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Nou,
The highest essay score is 12, so a 7 is pretty good.
November 9th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
i got a 9 woohoo i rock
November 24th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
I got an 8 -__-
I’m so upset..
November 26th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Mallory,
An 8 on the essay is not bad at all.
December 4th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
I got an 11 for my first Sat essay with no Sat prep (cold turkey lol). Is that ok?
December 5th, 2009 at 10:22 am
An 11 on the essay is outstanding, Kyle. Congrats.
December 13th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
i got a 12 on my essay but a 1400 in total. is that good?
December 13th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
urloss,
12 is a perfect score on the essay. Congratulations.
When you say 1400, do you mean Math and CR or all three subject areas? A person who scores a 12 on the essay should be above 2000 overall.
December 28th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I got a 9 when I was in 7th grade. I’m in 9th grade now and am about to take the SAT diagnostics test. And I have no idea how to bring my grade up.
Help?
December 31st, 2009 at 3:13 am
Great tips.
But, I’m really not sure what I should do.
I’m a senior and I just took my SAT.
I’m embarrassed of my scores, but i want to share them with you and see what you all think.
So, for the essay part, I got a 7.
Writing, I got a 390.
Math, sooo low. I got a low score of 290.
and critical thinking, i got a 360.
this is horrible. I don’t think any colleges will accept that!
Please tell me what you think/tips will be appreciated. (:
January 18th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Kim,
Sorry for the long delay. If you select “Essay” among the “Categories” on ePrep’s blog site, you will be directed to a few videos that will help you increase your essay score. (The “Categories” in listed in a column on the right-side of the web page.
Karl
January 18th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
confusedsenior,
Don’t stress. The economy is bad and a lot of colleges are hurting for students. Your scores will get you into a few four-year universities and most junior colleges. Some people just don’t test well. That does not mean that you would succeed in life.
If you decide to take the SAT one last time this Saturday, you may want to watch some of the videos in ePrep’s The Night Before the SAT post.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:07 pm
I got a 6 as a 7th grader and my math=490, writing=520, and
critical reading=460. So I got a 1470. Is this good, for a 7th
grader?
January 21st, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Sania,
That is amazing for a seventh grader. Keep up the good work!
February 4th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
I’m a senior and I got a score of six. Is that good or bad? Also, is ther a way, other than using the prep book and paying attention in class,to imprrove? I unfortunately went into the test “cold” so I don’t know how much the book could have helped.
February 6th, 2010 at 10:19 am
Myranda,
Six is an okay score, but I’m sure you could score higher with a little guidance and some practice. I suggest you select “Essay” among the categories listed on ePrep’s blog site. Doing so will direct you to a series of video blogs on the SAT essay. The videos will definitely help you score higher.
February 11th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
I am a 11th grader and I got a 8 on my essay and I scored
A 1580 on my SAT, this is all 3 scores together. Is
this a good or bad score?
February 11th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Maya,
While the score is not bad, you should be able to do better with some practice. You should consider an ePrep course. Many ePrep students have raised their scores by hundreds of points. Please see our point-increase guarantees.
February 14th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
I am a junior, and i made an 8 on my essay. And for my actual scores, my reading=640, writing=580, and math=540. So my total score is 1760, will that be good for most colleges?
February 14th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Robard,
1760 is, indeed, good for most colleges. However, I think you will be better off if you break 1800. Doing so will help with admissions and might actually qualify you for some merit-based scholarships. Since you are only 40 points away, I encourage you to go for it.
February 16th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
I am in 8th grade and I got an 8 on the essay, 550 on reading, 560 on writing, and 420 on math. Are these good scores? How can I improve them?
February 19th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
A kid,
Great job for an 8th grader. Just keep working hard in school and your scores will improve. You’ll know a lot more in a few years when you take the SAT again.
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:31 pm
I am in seventh grade and i got a 7 on the essay, a 500 on the reading, a 540 on the math, and a 440 on the writing (AHH!). Is that good?
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:34 pm
By the way, that makes my score a 1480… wow… how can i improve cuz i need to break 1800 if i want to go to a really good college (i want to go to yale
)
February 25th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Kristen,
Your scores are very good for a 7th grader. To improve by junior year in high school, all you have to worry about now is paying attention in school. In other words, if you keep working hard in school, you will know a heck of a lot more in four years. Keep up the good work.
February 26th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
My son just did a mock SAT test, math (560), reading (520),
writing (480) and Essay (8). He however left many questions
unanswered in reading area because he ran out of time.
How did he do?
February 26th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
I forgot to mention that my son is a junior
February 28th, 2010 at 10:58 am
William,
Although some mock SAT tests are much more accurate than others, I’ll assume that your son took a good one. With some dedicated practice, he should be able to get the math and writing scores above 650. Because improvement in critical reading involves lots of additional reading and vocabulary building, critical reading scores are, generally, more difficult to change. Your son should make a big effort this summer to do a lot of outside reading and vocabulary building. I suggest he focus on math and writing for now. Both of those sections are rule-based, allowing for significant short-term improvement.
I hope this helps.
March 5th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Hello,
I am a junior student but I go to a French School
I took the SAT test in January and got 630 on Critical Reading,
620 on Math, 530 on Writing, 52 on Multiple Choice and 8 on
the essay. I am not sure if those grades are good enough for me
if I want to apply to colleges such as Harvard or Yale. What do
you think about it? Do you have any useful tips that could help
me get higher grades if I took the test a second time ?
In advance, Thank you for your advice.
March 7th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Laura,
In order to get into a school like Harvard or Yale, you will need SAT scores in the 700s. In addition to searching ePrep’s blog site for test-taking tips, you should seriously consider purchasing an ePrep study program.
Good luck.