How is the essay score calculated into the over all writing score of the SAT?
As I understand it, two graders read your essay and score it out of 6 points. Those two grades are added together, so your essay score is out of 12 points. That counts for 30% of your writing grade, so the other sections must count for 70%. The The points 1-12 are probably converted into a scaled score, but I dunno how they do that. You can probably find out from their website. The grading of the essays seems to favor, pretty consistently, a direct address of the question, a well organized, clear sequence, and the use of some–but not too much–SAT vocabulary. The paragraph number doesn’t seem to count much, but the scores favor the use of fewer and longer, more developed paragraphs over many short ones or many long ones. Paragraphs have to be clear and cohesive. Grammar counts, but to a lesser extent.
