how much does the essay count on the sat

What Is the SAT Essay?

College Board

• February 28, 2024

The SAT Essay section is a lot like a typical writing assignment in which you’re asked to read and analyze a passage and then produce an essay in response to a single prompt about that passage. It gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your reading, analysis, and writing skills—which are critical to readiness for success in college and career—and the scores you’ll get back will give you insight into your strengths in these areas as well as indications of any areas that you may still need to work on.

The Essay section is only available in certain states where it’s required as part of SAT School Day administrations. If you’re going to be taking the SAT during school , ask your counselor if it will include the Essay section. If it’s included, the Essay section will come after the Reading and Writing and Math sections and will add an additional 50 minutes .

What You’ll Do

• Read a passage between 650 and 750 words in length.
• Explain how the author builds an argument to persuade an audience.
• Support your explanation with evidence from the passage.

You won’t be asked to agree or disagree with a position on a topic or to write about your personal experience.

The Essay section shows how well you understand the passage and are able to use it as the basis for a well-written, thought-out discussion. Your score will be based on three categories.

Reading: A successful essay shows that you understood the passage, including the interplay of central ideas and important details. It also shows an effective use of textual evidence.

Analysis: A successful essay shows your understanding of how the author builds an argument by:

• Examining the author’s use of evidence, reasoning, and other stylistic and persuasive techniques
• Supporting and developing claims with well-chosen evidence from the passage

Writing: A successful essay is focused, organized, and precise, with an appropriate style and tone that varies sentence structure and follows the conventions of standard written English.

Learn more about how the SAT Essay is scored.

Want to practice? Log in to the Bluebook™ testing application , go to the Practice and Prepare section, and choose full-length practice test . There are 3 practice Essay   tests. Once you submit your response, go to MyPractice.Collegeboard.org , where you’ll see your essay, a scoring guide and rubric so that you can score yourself, and student samples for various scores to compare your self-score with a student at the same level.

After the Test

You’ll get your Essay score the same way you’ll get your scores for the Reading and Writing and Math sections. If you choose to send your SAT scores to colleges, your Essay score will be reported along with your other section scores from that test day. Even though Score Choice™   allows you to choose which day’s scores you send to colleges, you can never send only some scores from a certain test day. For instance, you can’t choose to send Math scores but not SAT Essay scores.

Until 2021, the SAT Essay was also an optional section when taking the SAT on a weekend. That section was discontinued in 2021.

If you don’t have the opportunity to take the SAT Essay section as part of the SAT, don’t worry. There are other ways to show your writing skills as part of the work you’re already doing on your path to college. The SAT can help you stand out on college applications , as it continues to measure the writing and analytical skills that are essential to college and career readiness. And, if you want to demonstrate your writing skills even more, you can also consider taking an AP English course .

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Everything you need to know to get Accepted

April 12, 2014

How Does the Essay Affect Your SAT Score?

Although the SAT essay is going to be optional before long (when the test changes in 2016), as of right now it’s a must. So, love it or hate it, your essay will influence your SAT score, and the admissions offices at the colleges you’ll apply to will see that score. So let’s answer one key question: how much does the SAT essay actually count for?

The Numbers

First, the essay is scored according to its own grading system. There will be two readers—real people, not a Scantron machine!—who read and judge your writing, each assigning a mark of zero to six. Zero is the worst (in case that wasn’t totally obvious), but it’s only used for the absolutely ungradable essays. If you write on a completely different topic than what’s assigned, for example, you will get a zero. That means no memorizing a fantastic essay ahead of time! You have to write on the topic they give you. You’d also get a zero if you wrote in another language, say, or simply put no clear thoughts on paper.

A six, on the other hand, is reserved for long, structured essays that are full of clear, concrete ideas, high-level vocabulary, and correct grammar. There’s a bit more to it, but that’s the gist.

After each reader goes through and marks your essay, the two scores will be added to give you a score of 0–12 (if you actually wrote anything remotely relevant, that’s 2–12).

Then that score, in turn, is added to the raw score from the Writing multiple-choice questions, since the essay is just a part of the Writing Section. The multiple-choice sections count for more points, altogether.

Then, once they have the raw total of your essay score and your multiple-choice score added up, they convert that score into the scaled, 200–800 score.

The Importance of the Essay

The scaled score is a little bit hard to explain—how it’s calculated, I mean—and it’s not worth really getting stuck talking about. All that matters is the zero to twelve score ends up affecting how many hundreds are in that scaled score. And I did say that the multiple-choice counts for more than the essay, but that doesn’t mean the essay isn’t important.

In truth, the SAT essay score counts for around 30% your total writing score—in the ballpark of 200 points, altogether. It’s not the only thing, but it’s a significant piece of the puzzle.

And what about those who say the essay doesn’t matter? Simply put, they’re usually wrong . Most schools were really skeptical of the Writing Section when this version of the SAT first debuted it back in 2005. And sure, some are still not totally signed on, but for the most part it does factor into your admissions. And 99% of the time, you’ll have no idea how much that lady who works in the admissions office cares about your Writing score—you’ll just have to trust that a high score is better than a low one.

And for that high score, you need to put some energy into preparing to write your essay!

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SAT Essay Scores Explained

On january 19th, 2021, college board announced that they will no longer administer the sat subject tests in the u.s. and that the essay would be retired. read our blog post  to understand what this means in the near term and what the college board has in store for students down the road., our articles on subject tests and the sat essay will remain on our site for reference purposes as colleges and students transition to a revised testing landscape..

Why are there no percentiles for the essay on an SAT score report?

No percentiles or norms are provided in student reports. Even colleges do not receive any summary statistics. Given Compass’ concerns about the inaccuracy of essay scoring and the notable failures of the ACT on that front, the de-emphasis of norms would seem to be a good thing. The problem is that 10% of colleges are sticking with the SAT Essay as an admission requirement . While those colleges will not receive score distribution reports from the College Board, it is not difficult for them to construct their own statistics—officially or unofficially—based on thousands of applicants. Colleges can determine a “good score,” but students cannot. This asymmetry of information is harmful to students, as they are left to speculate how well they have performed and how their scores will be interpreted. Through our analysis, Compass hopes to provide students and parents more context for evaluating SAT Essay scores.

How has scoring changed? Is it still part of a student’s Total Score?

On the old SAT, the essay was a required component of the Writing section and made up approximately one-third of a student’s 200–800 score. The essay score itself was simply the sum (2–12) of two readers’ 1–6 scores. Readers were expected to grade holistically and not to focus on individual components of the writing. The SAT essay came under a great deal of criticism for being too loosely structured. Factual accuracy was not required; it was not that difficult to make pre-fabricated material fit the prompt; many colleges found the 2–12 essay scores of little use; and the conflation of the essay and “Writing” was, in some cases, blocking the use of the SAT Writing score—which included grammar and usage—entirely.

With the 2016 overhaul of the SAT came an attempt to make the essay more academically defensible while also making it optional (as the ACT essay had long been). The essay score is not a part of the 400–1600 score. Instead, a student opting to take the SAT Essay receives 2–8 scores in three dimensions: reading, analysis, and writing. No equating or fancy lookup table is involved. The scores are simply the sum of two readers’ 1–4 ratings in each dimension. There is no official totaling or averaging of scores, although colleges may choose to do so.

Readers avoid extremes

What is almost universally true about grading of standardized test essays is that readers gravitate to the middle of the scale. The default instinct is to nudge a score above or below a perceived cutoff or midpoint rather than to evenly distribute scores. When the only options are 1, 2, 3, or 4, the consequence is predictable—readers give out a lot of 2s and 3s and very few 1s and 4s. In fact, our analysis shows that 80% of all reader scores are 2s or 3s. This, in turn, means that most of the dimension scores (the sum of the two readers) range from 4 to 6. Analysis scores are outliers. A third of readers give essays a 1 in Analysis. Below is the distribution of reader scores across all dimensions.

What is a good SAT Essay score?

By combining multiple data sources—including extensive College Board scoring information—Compass has estimated the mean and mode (most common) essay scores for students at various score levels. We also found that the reading and writing dimensions were similar, while analysis scores lagged by a point across all sub-groups. These figures should not be viewed as cutoffs for “good” scores. The loose correlation of essay score to Total Score and the high standard deviation of essay scores means that students at all levels see wide variation of scores. The average essay-taking student scores a 1,080 on the SAT and receives just under a 5/4/5.

College Board recently released essay results for the class of 2017, so score distributions are now available. From these, percentiles can also be calculated. We provide these figures with mixed feelings. On the one hand, percentile scores on such an imperfect measure can be highly misleading. On the other hand, we feel that students should understand the full workings of essay scores.

The role of luck

What is frustrating to many students on the SAT and ACT is that they can score 98th percentile in most areas and then get a “middling” score on the essay. This result is actually quite predictable. Whereas math and verbal scores are the result of dozens of objective questions, the essay is a single question graded subjectively. To replace statistical concepts with a colloquial one—far more “luck” is involved than on the multiple-choice sections. What text is used in the essay stimulus? How well will the student respond to the style and subject matter? Which of the hundreds of readers were assigned to grade the student’s essay? What other essays has the reader recently scored?

Even good writers run into the unpredictability involved and the fact that essay readers give so few high scores. A 5 means that the Readers A and B gave the essay a 2 and a 3, respectively. Which reader was “right?” If the essay had encountered two readers like Reader A, it would have received a 4. If the essay had been given two readers like Reader B, it would have received a 6. That swing makes a large difference if we judge scores exclusively by percentiles, but essay scores are simply too blurry to make such cut-and-dry distinctions. More than 80% of students receive one of three scores—4, 5, or 6 on the reading and writing dimensions and 3, 4, or 5 on analysis.

What do colleges expect?

It’s unlikely that many colleges will release a breakdown of essay scores for admitted students—especially since so few are requiring it. What we know from experience with the ACT , though, is that even at the most competitive schools in the country, the 25th–75th percentile scores of admitted students were 8–10 on the ACT’s old 2–12 score range. We expect that things will play out similarly for the SAT and that most students admitted to highly selective colleges will have domain scores in the 5–7 range (possibly closer to 4–6 for analysis). It’s even less likely for students to average a high score across all three areas than it is to obtain a single high mark. We estimate that only a fraction of a percent of students will average an 8—for example [8/8/8, 7/8/8, 8/7/8, or 8,8,7].

Update as of October 2017. The University of California system has published the 25th–75th percentile ranges for enrolled students. It has chosen to work with total scores. The highest ranges—including those at UCLA and Berkeley—are 17–20. Those scores are inline with our estimates above.

How will colleges use the domain scores?

Colleges have been given no guidance by College Board on how to use essay scores for admission. Will they sum the scores? Will they average them? Will they value certain areas over others? Chances are that if you are worrying too much about those questions, then you are likely losing sight of the bigger picture. We know of no cases where admission committees will make formulaic use of essay scores. The scores are a very small, very error-prone part of a student’s testing portfolio.

How low is too low?

Are 3s and 4s, then, low enough that an otherwise high-scoring student should retest? There is no one-size-fits-all answer to that question. In general, it is a mistake to retest solely to improve an essay score unless a student is confident that the SAT Total Score can be maintained or improved. A student with a 1340 PSAT and 1280 SAT may feel that it is worthwhile to bring up low essay scores because she has previously shown that she can do better on the Evidence-based Reading and Writing and Math, as well. A student with a 1400 PSAT and 1540 SAT should think long and hard before committing to a retest. Admission results from the class of 2017 may give us some added insight into the use of SAT Essay scores.

Will colleges continue to require the SAT Essay?

For the class of 2017, Compass has prepared a list of the SAT Essay and ACT Writing policies for 360 of the top colleges . Several of the largest and most prestigious public university systems—California, Michigan, and Texas, for example, still require the essay, and a number of highly competitive private colleges do the same—for example, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford.

The number of excellent colleges not requiring the SAT Essay, though, is long and getting longer. Compass expects even more colleges to drop the essay requirement for the classes of 2018 and 2019. Policies are typically finalized in late spring or during the summer.

Should I skip the essay entirely?

A common question regarding SAT scores is whether the whole mess can be avoided by skipping the essay. After all, if only about 10% of colleges are requiring the section, is it really that important? Despite serious misgivings about the test and the ways scores are interpreted, Compass still recommends that most students take the essay unless they are certain that they will not be applying to any of the colleges requiring or recommending it. Nationally, about 70% of students choose to take the essay on at least one SAT administration. When looking at higher scoring segments, that quickly rises to 85–90%. Almost all Compass students take the SAT Essay at least once to insure that they do not miss out on educational opportunities.

Should I prepare for the SAT Essay?

Most Compass students decide to do some preparation for the essay, because taking any part of a test “cold” can be an unpleasant experience, and students want to avoid feeling like a retake is necessary. In addition to practicing exercises and tests, most students can perform well enough on the SAT Essay after 1–2 hours of tutoring. Students taking a Compass practice SAT will also receive a scored essay. Students interested in essay writing tips for the SAT can refer to Compass blog posts on the difference between the ACT and SAT tasks  and the use of first person on the essays .

Will I be able to see my essay?

Yes. ACT makes it difficult to obtain a copy of your Writing essay, but College Board includes it as part of your online report.

Will colleges have access to my essay? Even if they don’t require it?

Yes, colleges are provided with student essays. We know of very few circumstances where SAT Essay reading is regularly conducted. Colleges that do not require the SAT Essay fall into the “consider” and “do not consider” camps. Schools do not always list this policy on their website or in their application materials, so it is hard to have a comprehensive list. We recommend contacting colleges for more information. In general, the essay will have little to no impact at colleges that do not require or recommend it.

Is the SAT Essay a reason to take the ACT instead?

Almost all colleges that require the SAT Essay require Writing for ACT-takers. The essays are very different on the two tests, but neither can be said to be universally “easier” or “harder.” Compass recommends that the primary sections of the tests determine your planning. Compass’ content experts have also written a piece on how to attack the ACT essay .

Key links in this post:

ACT and SAT essay requirements ACT Writing scores explained Comparing ACT and SAT essay tasks The use of first person in ACT and SAT essays Understanding the “audience and purpose” of the ACT essay Compass proctored practice testing for the ACT, SAT, and Subject Tests

About Art Sawyer

Art graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, where he was the top-ranked liberal arts student in his class. Art pioneered the one-on-one approach to test prep in California in 1989 and co-founded Compass Education Group in 2004 in order to bring the best ideas and tutors into students' homes and computers. Although he has attained perfect scores on all flavors of the SAT and ACT, he is routinely beaten in backgammon.

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Hi! I’m a high school junior who took the October and November SATs. I got a 1500 on October and then retook it to get a 1590 in November. I’m very happy with my score, but my essays are troubling me. I got a 6-4-6 in October and thought I would improve in November, but I got a 6-3-6. I really cannot improve my actual SAT score, but I don’t understand the essay. I’ve always been a good writer and have consistently been praised for it in English class and outside of class. Is this essay score indicative of my writing skill? And will this essay hurt my chances at Ivy League and other top tier schools? None of the schools I plan on applying to require it, but, since I have to submit it, will it hurt my chances? Thank you so much.

Maya, The essay is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Honestly, a 6-4-6 is a fine score and will not hurt your chances for admission. It’s something of an odd writing task, so I wouldn’t worry that it doesn’t match your writing skills elsewhere.

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Tools & Calculators

Digital sat® score calculator.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: July 19, 2024

Are you preparing for the Digital SAT® (DSAT®) exam and curious about your potential score? You’ve come to the right place! With this interactive SAT® score calculator, you can predict how your raw score translates to your SAT® score to answer the common question, “Is my SAT® score good enough?”

Educators : Albert offers free trials to all qualified schools and districts!

SAT® Score Calculator

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Digital SAT® Legacy Pen-and-Paper

Looking for SAT® study materials for the new digital format?

What is the digital sat® when is the sat® going digital.

The Digital SAT® (or DSAT®) represents a significant evolution in how the College Board administers and scores the SAT®. Starting in Spring 2024, this new format leverages the benefits of digital testing and adaptivity to assess a student’s capabilities better. Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming test format:

Reading and Writing Modules:

• Module 1: You will answer 27 questions; your raw score will be the number of correct answers.
• Adaptive Component: Your performance in Module 1 influences the difficulty of the questions in Reading and Writing Module 2, which also contains 27 questions. Your raw score here again depends on the number of correct answers.
• Scoring: The raw scores from both modules are combined and converted to your Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Section Score, ranging from 200 to 800.

Math Modules:

• Module 1: This section includes 22 questions, with your raw score reflecting the number of correct answers.
• Adaptive Component: As with reading and writing, your performance in Math Module 1 determines the question set in Math Module 2, which also has 22 questions. Your raw score is based on correct answers.
• Scoring: The raw scores from both Math modules are combined and converted into your Math Section Score, ranging from 200 to 800.

Revised SAT® Score Calculation:

With the introduction of the DSAT®, the calculation of scores are now:

• Reading and Writing: The raw scores from both Reading and Writing modules are added and converted to the section score.
• Math: Similarly, the raw scores from both Math modules are totaled and then converted to the section score.

The total SAT® score, combining the Reading, Writing, and Math sections, will still range from 400 to 1600.

What’s the difference between SAT® raw scores and SAT® scale scores? How do they calculate each ?

Raw Scores: These are simply the number of questions you answer correctly across the modules. There is no penalty for guessing, so your raw score is the total count of correct responses.

Scale Scores: The raw scores are then converted to scale scores for each section. These are between 200-800 for the two sections, to give you a total SAT® score between 400-1600. 

Understanding Raw Scores and Scale Scores in the Digital SAT®

For the DSAT®, this conversion will consider the adaptive nature of the test, ensuring that scores are comparable across different test forms and difficulty levels.

The new Digital SAT® is adaptive. This means that the difficulty of the questions in the second module will be based on your performance in the first module. This ensures a more personalized test experience and allows for a precise measurement of your skills and knowledge.

As we prepare for the launch of the Digital SAT®, we’ve updated our SAT® score calculator to reflect these changes. This tool is invaluable for assessing students’ readiness and predicting their potential performance.

What is a good SAT® score? Decent score? Bad score?

A good SAT® score really depends on the student and their aspirations. For example, if you’re applying to Harvard and have a 1200 SAT® score, you’ll unlikely get in since Harvard’s average score is typically over 1500. However, i f you’re applying to Michigan State University with that same score, that would be competitive for your college application. 

Generally, anything that falls into the top 30% of graduating high school students should be considered a good SAT® score. When you review the 2019 SAT® score trends , you see the nationally representative sample average SAT® score is 1120. The 70th percentile SAT® test taker is 1170. 

The former number compares how students did on the SAT® to an overall sample of all students grades 11-12, regardless of whether or not they took the SAT®. The latter number applies the actual scores of students in the past three graduating classes to the latest SAT®. 

A decent SAT® score would probably be something around the 50th percentile. Using the nationally representative sample, you’d find this to be a 1010. Looking at just SAT® test takers, the 50th percentile SAT® score is between 1050 and 1060. 

A bad SAT® score is quite subjective. But, i f you were looking at it from a percentiles standpoint, it could be any score below the 25th percentile. Looking at the nationally representative sample, this is between 870 and 880. For just SAT® test takers, it’d be a 910. 

Is 1600 a good SAT® score?

Yes! 1600 is not just a good SAT® score; it’s a perfect SAT® score. Like the ACT®, depending on the particular test, there is sometimes leeway on getting a perfect SAT® score. In other words, there are edge cases where you may be able to get one Reading question wrong and still get an 800 for your section score. 

How hard is it to get a 1400 on the SAT®?

It can be pretty tough to score a 1400 on the SAT®. Scoring a 1400 means you’re in the 97th percentile for the nationally representative sample and the 94th percentile among SAT® takers.

Furthermore, if you were to assume you wanted to score a 700 in both sections and you play around with the score calculator above, you’d see that to score a 700 in math, you can only miss around s eve questions on average. 

Then, to score a 700 in Reading and Writing, you’d only be able to miss around seven questions in SAT® Reading and Writing.

Is 1200 a good SAT® score?

A 1200 is a good SAT® score. Reviewing the 2019 SAT® score trends, you’ll see that 1200 equates to the 81st percentile for the nationally representative sample and the 74th percentile for SAT® test takers. This means scoring 1200 on the SAT® puts you in the top quartile of high school students taking the test. 

What is the average SAT® score?

The average SAT® score is typically between 1010 and 1060. This is pulled from the SAT® score trend data in which the 50th percentile for the nationally representative sample was a 1010, and among SAT® test takers, the 50th percentile fell between a 1050 and 1060.

Why is the SAT® exam curved?

The SAT® exam itself is not curved relative to test takers. However , the College Board puts each test through an “equating” process. This process ensures no student receives an advantage or disadvantage from taking a particular for on the SAT® on a particular day. 

In other words, it ensures a test score of 500 equals a test score 500 on an SAT® from another day. 

How do I read my SAT® Score Report?

The College Board provides a helpful short video on how to understand your SAT® score report here .

The first step is navigating to studentscores.collegeboard.org . 

Upon logging in, you’ll see your total SAT® score, which combines your Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Section and Math Section score. 

In your SAT® Score Report, you’ll also find specifics on your test scores (number correct and incorrect in each section), cross-test scores (how you analyze texts and solve problems that are interdisciplinary with Science and History) and subscores (how you performed on specific key concepts). 

The report color-codes each section so you know exactly where you need to improve. 

You can review the College Board’s PDF resource on reading SAT® Score Reports here .

Why should I use this SAT® score calculator?

We’ve crafted Albert’s SAT® score calculator to align with the latest official practice test curves provided by the College Board. This ensures our calculations are as accurate and current as possible. With the new Digital SAT® format launching in 2024, we’ve updated our calculator to reflect these changes and provide you with reliable score estimates.

We developed this DSAT® score calculator to go beyond the static tables typically used by others. Our interactive tool, complete with sliders, offers a more dynamic and engaging way to visualize your scoring potential. It’s not just about crunching numbers; it’s about providing a motivational and insightful experience to help you identify where you can make the most impactful improvements in your SAT® preparation. With our calculator, you can experiment with different scenarios and see how changes in each section could elevate your overall score to meet your SAT® aspirations.

How do you figure out your SAT® superscore?

To figure out your SAT® superscore, you’ll need to first compile all of the test days you took the DSAT®. Next, look for your highest scores for SAT® Reading and SAT® Math.

So for example, if you earn a 700 on one SAT® Math test, and a 750 on another, you’d choose the 750.

Finally, total your highest scores — this is your DSAT® superscore.  

Looking for extra SAT® practice?

Albert provides hundreds of Digital SAT® practice questions with detailed explanations and full-length practice tests . Get started today!

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SAT Essay Score: Does It Affect Your SAT score, How Many Points is it and What is a Good Score?

How Much Is the Essay Worth for a SAT Score?

On the old version of the SAT, the essay was required. Now, it’s optional. However, if you think that means you can skip it, you might want to think again.

Some colleges still require you to submit a standardized test essay, like the one on the SAT, but other colleges don’t. If you want to keep your options open for where you can apply to college, sign up for the essay portion of the SAT and make sure you do well. Even if they say they don’t require the essay, some elite schools may still take your SAT essay score into account on your application.

Has There Always Been an Essay on the SAT?

When the College Board created a new version of the SAT in 2016, they changed a lot of things. The SAT writing score now counts for less of your overall SAT score because the two main sections of the test are now the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section and the Math section. Your SAT writing score comes from the multiple-choice part of the exam, while your SAT essay score is derived from a new part of the exam. That is the SAT Essay section, which stands on its own and does not affect your score in either of the multiple-choice sections .

You will have 50 minutes to complete the new version of the SAT Essay section. During that time, you will have to read and analyze a text and then you will compose an argumentative essay that examines and explains the effectiveness of the rhetoric in the passage you just read.

For this portion of the SAT, you will be scored on the SAT Essay rubric to earn a score out of 24 points. This score is separate from your 1,600-point score from the rest of the test . This section is also optional and costs an extra $11.50 in addition to the standard test fees.

Do Colleges Want Your SAT Essay Score?

All colleges want your SAT writing score, but that isn’t the same as the essay score. Some colleges want you to complete the essay, others recommend it and still others neither recommend nor require it. All in all, it depends on the college. When in doubt, contact the admissions office of your prospective college for more information.

A few elite colleges continue to require the SAT essay in its current form. Some of these colleges are in the Ivy League, notably Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale. So, if you’re planning on applying to Ivy League colleges, make sure you take the SAT Essay section seriously.

Even if you’re planning on applying to state schools, you still may want to take the SAT Essay section. Both the University of Michigan system and the University of California system require SAT Essay scores from applicants who apply to any of their schools. On the other hand, some state schools like the University of Illinois only recommend that you take the essay, while other state schools have no stance on the section and most likely won’t take your score into account during the admissions process.

Why Do Some Schools Want the Essay?

We already know that some schools want the essay and others don’t, but why is there such a divide? The schools that do want the essay have several reasons for requiring it. The first is that they want students to understand that writing is an integral part of college coursework, and students who don’t have proficient writing chops will find themselves struggling with their college classes.

It also helps that the new version of the SAT essay lines up well with colleges’ expectations for clear writing and independent thinking skills. The new essay asks students to read and comprehend an argument and then synthesize one of their own based on the effectiveness of the passage’s rhetoric. The new SAT essay not only shows colleges that applicants can write, but it also shows them that applicants can think critically and recognize effective writing techniques as well.

The third reason some colleges may want the SAT essay is because they want as much information on each applicant as they can get. Sometimes, college applications provide an incomplete picture of the students who are applying. The essay gives colleges additional data that can help in choosing between two nearly identical applications, with the student who writes the best, of course, rising to the top.

Why Don’t Some Schools Want the Essay?

One of the main reasons many schools don’t require the essay is that it provides information they already have. Most college application requirements include the submission of a personal essay written by the student applying. This writing sample helps college admissions officers get to know the applicants on a personal level, sure, but it also gives students a chance to let their writing talents shine. So, giving admissions officers more data on writing is unnecessary.

Another reason some colleges don’t want the SAT essay is because they don’t require the writing portion on the ACT . Requiring the SAT essay might give an unfair advantage to students taking the SAT instead of the ACT, or it could also disadvantage students who do poorly on the SAT essay if it was required but the ACT essay was not.

Additionally, some experts believe that standardized test essays are not a good measure of future college success . This means that while the essay section does provide additional data, some colleges aren’t sure if that data is valid. Still, other schools are wary of the additional cost of the SAT essay, thinking that having to pay more money may represent a burden to underprivileged students.

Understanding the SAT Essay Rubric

To know how high you have to score, and to understand how to succeed on this portion of the test, you’ll have to take a closer look at the SAT essay rubric. On the rubric, your score comes in three parts: reading, analysis and writing . You can earn from one to four points on each part, which are then multiplied by two for your score. You can earn up to eight points in each part for an overall score of up to 24 points .

Earning Points for Reading

To earn the full eight points for reading on the SAT essay, your essay has to demonstrate:

• That you understand the passage
• That you can clearly communicate the passage’s main idea as well as its details and how they relate to the main idea
• That you can interpret the ideas of the passage without errors
• That you can both paraphrase and quote textual evidence with skill and ease

Earning Points for Analysis

To earn the full eight points for analysis on the SAT essay, your essay has to communicate:

• Insightful analysis of the passage’s key features
• A thorough evaluation of the author’s choices, especially in regard to rhetoric
• Thoroughly reasoned claims that are supported by evidence from the text
• A focus on the most relevant parts of the text instead of delving into extraneous features or tangents

Finally, the writing itself should be free of errors, precise and effective and should demonstrate a sophisticated command of standard English.

Related Articles

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How to Write Conclusions for Expository Papers

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How Many Essays Does the GED Have?

• PrepScholar: Does the SAT Essay Matter? Expert Guide
• CollegeBoard: SAT Essay Scoring
• Kaplan: New SAT Essay Scoring Rubric
• Khan Academy: The SAT Essay: Overview

Rebecca Renner is a teacher and college professor from Florida. She loves teaching about literature, and she writes about books for Book Riot, Real Simple, Electric Literature and more.

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How Does SAT Essay Length Affect Your Score?

SAT Writing

True or False : Since essay length is not mentioned in the SAT essay grading rubric , it doesn’t matter how much you write in your essay.

Answer : True...but also false. Read on for an explanation of why and how the length of your SAT essay can affect your score.

feature image credit: How long by Martin Abegglen , used under CC BY-SA 2.0 /Cropped & modified from original.

UPDATE: SAT Essay No Longer Offered

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In January 2021, the College Board announced that after June 2021, it would no longer offer the Essay portion of the SAT (except at schools who opt in during School Day Testing). It is now no longer possible to take the SAT Essay, unless your school is one of the small number who choose to offer it during SAT School Day Testing.

While most colleges had already made SAT Essay scores optional, this move by the College Board means no colleges now require the SAT Essay. It will also likely lead to additional college application changes such not looking at essay scores at all for the SAT or ACT, as well as potentially requiring additional writing samples for placement.

What does the end of the SAT Essay mean for your college applications? Check out our article on the College Board's SAT Essay decision for everything you need to know.

Why Does Essay Length Matter?

Why would you think that essay length even matters in the first place? As I said in the introduction, it's not as if the SAT essay rubric mentions essay length at all.

Well, there's at least one good reason to think this: essay length is positively correlated with essay score .

Ever since the essay was added to the SAT, current MIT research affiliate (and former director of the MIT undergraduate writing program) Les Perelman has been vocal about how the longer an essay is, the more likely it is to get a higher score. According to this 2005 New York Times article by Michael Winerip, Perelman analyzed the lengths and scores of 54 SAT-approved sample essays and found a nearly 90% correlation. The shortest essays (around 100 words) received the lowest possible score, 1 (or a combined score of 2 out of 12), while the longest essays (around 400 words), received the highest score, a 6 (or a combined score of 12 out of 12) . Based on these findings, representatives of the CollegeBoard stated that they would be releasing shorter examples of higher-scoring essays.

This controversy first erupted in early 2005, right after the new SAT essay was introduced. To see if there had been any changes since then, I did my own analysis of the essays in the CollegeBoard's essay scoring guide that were all written in response to the sample prompt. Take a look at what I found:

Bonus graph reading practice for you in this, an article on essays. You're welcome.

As you can see, as essay length (measured by word count in the graph above) increases, the score also increases .

Just because longer essays tend to score better, however, doesn’t mean that you should just write the word “ideology” over and over again to fill up the page. The reason longer essays tend to score better is that students who write longer essays provide more support for their theses.

If this is the essay prompt:

"Is it important to question the ideas and decisions of people in positions of authority,"

and all you write is the following:

"It's important to question authority because sometimes authority stops you from doing things you want. Like getting a pony. I want a pony. I want a pony. I want a pony. I want a pony."

for two pages, you'll still get a 0. Maybe a 1, if the grader is feeling generous and thinks that you made some attempt to write about the issue discussed in a prompt. For more on the thought process of essay grading, read our article about insights from real SAT essay graders .

Similarly, if you try to drag out one example by writing larger than usual and restating the same facts and information over and over again, it won't automatically get you a higher score. In fact, you may lose points if either of your essay's graders think that your repeating of information leads to lack of coherence in your writing.

In any case, unless you have extremely small handwriting, it’s very difficult to write an essay that presents a thesis and supports it with at least two specific examples in less than one page.

So How Long Should Your Essay Be?

Many factors go into determining essay length, which makes it difficult to give a blanket length recommendation. Here are the most important factors when it comes to length of your SAT essay:

• Vocabulary. Often, the more advanced vocab you use, the fewer words you’ll need to get the job done, which might result in a shorter essay.
• Handwriting size. Students with larger handwriting will naturally take up more space on the page than students with smaller handwriting. This doesn't necessarily mean students with larger handwriting have an advantage, however; in fact, students with larger handwriting tend to run into the issue of having filled two pages and not finished saying everything they needed or wanted to say.
• How fast you can write and think. If you need to take longer to plan out your essay, you might end up writing a shorter essay, simply because you don't have as much time to write. That doesn't necessarily mean that you'll do worse on the essay - since an organized essay with strong specific examples will score better than a disorganized one without specific examples - but it does mean that you might end up with less time to write out your ideas.
• How much time you leave yourself to write (vs. how much time you take to plan). This is something you need to figure out for yourself through practice and observation. Over the years, I've realized that I can write fairly quickly, which means that it's okay if I take a little more time to plan out my essay - I'll still be able to fill up those two pages. On the other hand, if you find that you're a slow writer, you might not be able to write enough unless you get very fast at planning your essay.

In general, assuming about 150 words per handwritten page, you need to write at least a page and a half (1.5 pages) to get a 3 or above on your essay (or a combined score of 6 or above). You'll need at least that much space to say what you need to say and support it clearly with concrete examples.

What’s Next?

Want to find out more about how to write a good SAT essay? Watch us write a top-scoring essay step-by-step , then check out our tips on how to write a long SAT essay as well as our more general SAT essay tips .

Discover the secrets to getting a perfect 12 on your SAT essay here .

What if you're planning on taking the new SAT? Read our breakdown of the new SAT essay here .

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Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.

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SAT Scoring - How SAT Test Scoring Works

Before your child takes the SAT, it's a good idea for him or her to be familiar with how the SAT test scoring works. Here is the information your child needs to know.

Scoring for the Math and Evidence-Based Reading & Writing Sections

• Students earn 1 point for each correct answer
• Students neither earn nor lose points for questions skipped or answered incorrectly
• Scores for each section range between 200 and 800. Total scores range between 400 and 1600

There is no deduction for incorrect answers, which means students should answer every single question. For most sections of the SAT, questions get more difficult as you work through each type of question in a section (except for Evidence-Based Reading questions). This means that the first few questions will usually be easy for most students, and the last ones will usually be extremely difficult for all but the most advanced students. The SAT is designed to challenge students at every level, so the average student is going to face a lot of tough questions in a very short period of time.

How in the world are are students supposed to answer all of those questions?

By guessing! The goal is to answer as many questions correctly as possible, but there will always be some questions so difficult that students won't have a clue as to how to answer them.

One of the greatest advantages of taking a multiple-choice test like the SAT is that there is more than one way to arrive at the correct answer. In school, students are used to working and working until they find the correct answer or until they get frustrated and give up. On the SAT, there is another option: get rid of all the incorrect choices you can until you have just a few (or maybe even one) choice(s) remaining. It may sound strange, but identifying the incorrect choices on the SAT increases the chances of finding the correct answer.

For more information about SAT scoring, visit the College Board website .

Scoring for the Essay

The SAT essay requires students to use a passage as the basis for a well-written and well-thought out argument.

• Two readers read and score each student's essay. Essays are scored based on three categories: Reading, Analysis, and Writing.
• Each reader gives the essay a score ranging between a 1 and 4 points in each category, for a total possible score of 8 points.

For more information about SAT Essay scoring, visit the College Board website .

Related Topics

• Find out why StudyPoint recommends viewing SAT scores before sending them to colleges. Visit our Sending SAT Scores page.
• For more specific information about the SAT format and question types, visit our SAT Test page.

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How Is the SAT Scored? Read This Guide to Find Out.

Here at CollegeVine we’ve met a lot of students over the years, so we know that there are some universal questions that come up for serious students undergoing the college application process. One question that we hear frequently from one eager student after another is “How is the SAT scored?”

Some students wonder if the SAT is scored on a curve. Others wonder what the physical procedure is for scoring the SAT. Still more want to know how their SAT score is actually calculated from the raw data that is gathered from their tests. In all cases, the answers are fairly straightforward, though not immediately obvious to the casual SAT taker. In this post, we answer the question of how is the SAT scored and explain each step in the process.

Is the SAT Scored on a Curve?

First, let’s dispel the common myth that the SAT is scored on a curve—it’s not. In fact, the scores of other test takers taking the same SAT on the same day as you are entirely irrelevant to your score.

Instead, the SAT is scored according to a scale of difficulty that is independently determined ahead of time by a precise algorithm. When you take the test, your score does not depend on how the greater population performed on the same SAT, but rather on how difficult your version of the SAT was determined to be. This is to ensure that there is no advantage to getting an easier test and no disadvantage to getting a harder test.

If you happen to take an easier form of the SAT and receive a higher raw score, the equating process will account for this when converting your score. Any mistakes that you make on the easier test will count more than a mistake would count on a harder version of the it. Similarly, the equating process is more forgiving for students who take a more difficult version of the test.

To learn more about how SAT scores are equated, check out our article How Does the Curve Work for the SAT?

What Is the Scoring Procedure for the SAT?

When you take the SAT, you actually take several, smaller subject-specific tests. On the current version of the SAT, these include the Math test and the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Test, which actually contains separate sections for Writing and Reading.

After you take the SAT, your test along with everyone else’s from your test center is sent to a scoring facility. Here, your answer sheets for each section are scanned through a scoring machine. This is why it is so important that you fill out your answer sheet correctly using the appropriate writing utensil (a #2 pencil!).

The result of this machine scanning your answer sheet is commonly referred to as your raw score. A raw score is simply the total number of correct answers you submitted in each section. For some students, it comes as a surprise to learn that the average SAT taker never sees his or her raw scores. While the physical scoring process ends at the raw scores, there is still work to be done before you receive a neatly packaged score report.

Discover how your SAT score affects your chances

As part of our free guidance platform, our Admissions Assessment tells you what schools you need to improve your SAT score for and by how much. Sign up to get started today.

How Is My SAT Score Calculated?

Raw scores are converted to section scores ranging from 200-800. This process is called equating.

Equating takes into account the specific difficulty of each version of the test. Because several different test forms are given at each test administration, the specific equating process for your test will depend on the specific version of the test that you took, and it may be different than the equating process applied to the tests of people sitting next to you.

These scaled scores make it possible to compare your score to scores obtained from different versions of the SAT, regardless of any variable difficulty. You can get a better idea of the exact process by reviewing the scoring procedure for official SAT practice tests prepared by the College Board. Check out the Raw Score Conversion Tables beginning on page seven of the packet Scoring Your SAT Practice Test #1 .  

What If I Believe My SAT Was Scored Incorrectly?

Millions of students take the SAT each year. While scoring errors are uncommon, they are not impossible. If you receive a score that seems completely out of line with what you expected, there is a process for requesting a review.

The first and simplest step you can take is to request a Student Answer Verification. This service includes an overview of the difficulty of each question answered correctly, incorrectly, or omitted and of the type of test questions. If your SAS report reveals that you got every difficult question wrong, it’s likely that your exam was graded correctly, and you just didn’t realize how hard those questions actually were.

This answer verification service is not designed to be used as a test prep or practice tool.The fee for this service is $13.50. See the SAT Answer Verification Services Order Form for more information.

If you still don’t think your test was scored correctly, you may request a score verification. This is a good idea if you believe you may have made an obvious mistake in marking your answers, or if your essay appears blank or completely illegible when you view it in your online score report. In this case, you may have written your essay in ink (which does not scan properly), and it would not have been assessed appropriately.  

You may request a Multiple-choice hand score verification and/or an Essay score verification. Each service costs $55 (or $27.50 for fee-waiver users). Your score verification fee will be refunded if your score changes because of an irregularity in the College Board’s scanning and/or scoring processes. If your score does not change, if it changes due to an obvious error you made in marking your answer sheet, or if you wrote your essay in pen or otherwise failed to follow directions for marking your answers and completing test information, your fee will not be refunded.

For more about score verification services, check out the College Board’s Important Information for Using the SAT® Score Verification Service .

Preparing for the SAT? Download our  free guide with our top 8 tips for mastering the SAT.

Want to know how your SAT score impacts your chances of acceptance to your dream schools? Our free Chancing Engine will not only help you predict your odds, but also let you know how you stack up against other applicants, and which aspects of your profile to improve. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account today to gain access to our Chancing Engine and get a jumpstart on your college strategy!

To get started with your studying, check out these free CollegeVine SAT study resources:

• Ultimate Guide to the New SAT Math Test
• Ultimate Guide to the New SAT Reading Test
• Ultimate Guide to the New SAT Writing and Language Test
• Ultimate Guide to the New SAT Essay
• 10 Tips to Prepare for the SAT
• Five SAT Strategies You Should Know

To learn more about the SAT, check out these CollegeVine posts:

• So, What Is the SAT Anyway? (A Newbie’s Guide to the College Board SAT)
• ACT vs SAT/SAT Subject Tests
• Are PSAT Scores Related to SAT Scores?
• What Should I Bring to My SAT?
• A Guide to the New SAT
• The CollegeVine Guide to SAT Scores: All Your Questions Answered
• How to Register For Your SATs

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

How the SAT Is Structured

The digital SAT is composed of two sections: Reading and Writing and Math. Students have 64 minutes to complete the Reading and Writing section and 70 minutes to complete the Math section for a total of 2 hours and 14 minutes.

Each section is divided into 2 equal length modules, and there is a 10-minute break between the Reading and Writing section and the Math section. The first module of each section contains a broad mix of easy, medium, and hard questions. Based on how students perform on the first module, the second module of questions will either be more difficult or less difficult.

Compared to the ACT ® , the SAT provides 68% more time per question:

Most of the questions are multiple choice, though some of the math questions ask you to enter the answer rather than select it.

On all questions, there's no penalty for guessing: if you're not sure of the answer, it's better to guess than leave the response blank.