The SAT essay subscores range from: A
ighteen months ago, arguing that the revised SAT essay, which appeared on tests last week, is a superficial exercise that encourages students to write formulaically and adds little to a college application. Today, the good news is that fewer colleges are requiring students to submit an SAT or ACT essay score. The bad news for those that do is that the redesigned essays may be even worse than their predecessors.
ighteen months ago, arguing that the revised SAT essay, which appeared on tests last week, is a superficial exercise that encourages students to write formulaically and adds little to a college application. Today, the good news is that fewer colleges are requiring students to submit an SAT or ACT essay score. The bad news for those that do is that the redesigned essays may be even worse than their predecessors. Less than 9 percent of colleges require the SAT essay, and a similar share will require the ACT essay next year. This handful of colleges that continues to have faith in the essay tests should have lost it this past fall, when the ACT essay had a terrible rollout. Difficulties getting the essays graded delayed the delivery of scores in time for students hoping to be admitted through early-decision and early-action programs. As The Washington Post once the scores arrived, the news got worse. Scores, which on all ACT sections range from 1 to 36, came in surprisingly low for the essay. Students scoring in the 30s on the other sections were receiving scores in the low 20s on the essay. Less than 9 percent of colleges require the SAT essay, and a similar share will require the ACT essay next year. This handful of colleges that continues to have faith in the essay tests should have lost it this past fall, when the ACT essay had a terrible rollout. Difficulties getting the essays graded delayed the delivery of scores in time for students hoping to be admitted through early-decision and early-action programs. As The Washington Post once the scores arrived, the news got worse. Scores, which on all ACT sections range from 1 to 36, came in surprisingly low for the essay. Students scoring in the 30s on the other sections were receiving scores in the low 20s on the essay. On the other hand, Wai and his colleagues found that both sexes in the top 5% appeared to be more or less at parity when it comes to the verbal section of the SAT, though girls have gained a slight but noticeable edge over boys starting in the mid-1980s. Psychologist David Lubinski, who conducted longitudinal studies of seventh graders who scored exceptionally high on the SAT, found a similar result. Girls generally had better verbal reasoning skills and boys mathematical skills. This reflects other research on the cognitive ability of the general population rather than just the 95th percentile and up. Once you click View Details, you will see scores for each of the three Tests on the SAT: Reading, Writing and Language, and Math. These Tests make up the two Sections of the SAT: The Evidence-based Reading and Writing Section score is a combination of the Reading Test score and the Writing and Language Test score and the Math Section score is calculated based on the Math Test score (including both no-calculator and calculator portions). Each Test Score is based on a 10-40 point scale and is color-coded to show areas of strength and weaknesses. Scores reported in green meet or exceed the benchmark, scores in yellow are approaching the benchmark, and scores in red indicate areas where you need to strengthen skills to reach the benchmark. Subscores provide information about your performance in specific skill areas measured by the different sections of the SAT. These scores range from1 to 15 and include the following content areas:
What is a Good Score on the SAT Essay? | Love the SAT Test Prep
Good morning Art-
Thank you for the incredibly informative article! My son is a junior and took the SAT for the first time a couple of months ago – he did well in Math with a 750, but not quite as well in EBRW with a 660. However, he seemed to do quite well in the essay, with an 8/6/8 (22?) score. He obviously wants to take the SAT again with the hope of improving his EBRW score, but is pretty pleased with his Essay score. My question is this: Can he take the SAT again without the Essay portion, and have his 22 Essay score used with any combination of Math/EBRW scores that colleges may use in superscoring? Or, must he (shoud he?) retake the SAT with the Essay and hope that he holds/improves (not likely) his Essay score?
Thank you!
The SAT also provides subscores, which range from 1 to 15
Hello Art,
My son scored a 650 EBRW and 780 Math with a 6/6/7 essay. He is planning on retaking the SAT but without the essay. Will colleges superscore his SAT sections even though he didn’t take the essay the second time around?
Thank you!
[PDF] Understanding What Essay Scores Add to HSGPA and SAT - ERIC
If you plan to take the SAT again in the future, your subscores are a great source of information to help focus your studying. Look for skill areas with lower results than you wanted. During your next round of studying, be sure to drill those areas to improve your future scores.
Subscores on the SAT subject tests range from
Next, you’ll see multiple subscores for Reading, Writing and Language, and Math, all ranging from 1 to 15 points. Subscores provide more detail about student achievement, and are designed to provide additional insight on which types of questions within specific tests where students are over- or under-performing. Students should use this information to better focus their test prep by identifying weaknesses within certain concepts. For example, if a student’s Math score is being driven down by poor performance on Heart of Algebra questions, students can focus their prep on those particular problems as they prepare for the next time they sit for the SAT. Once again, scores are color-coded to show areas of strength and weaknesses. Here’s a list of the different Subscores and the Tests from which they come:
A. The SAT essay subscores range from 2 to 8, not 20 to 80 - Gauth
Hi.
I am a sophomore in high school from Nepal, and took the SAT on March 10th. I am satisfied with my composite score – 1540, but my essay score was dismal – 5, 4, 5. Is it worth retaking the SAT to improve my essay score?
I plan to apply to selective institutions in the US.