<p>I recently got back my act scores, and i was somewhat pleased with my performance.
32 comp.
However; once again, i find myself perplexed with my writing score. I got a 9, which is somewhere around the 91st percentile i think?
I felt that my essay was significantly stronger than previous essays i had written for SAT/ACT (which had also been graded as 8's and 9's). I tailored my essay to fit the grading criteria the ACT specifies, yet my essay was judged to have been merely "adequate".</p>
<p>I guess i just feel that the grading process for the essay component on ACT/SAT is a bit jaded, especially considering that my score of 9 indicates that one of the graders gave it a 4, and the other gave it a 5. So, according to the "5"'s interpretation of the criteria and my essay, i am 98th percentile. It really just came down to chance that the other grader gave me a 4, and deemed me 81st percentile material.
It just seems wrong that the difference in two people's interpretation of the grading criteria can make a difference of 7 percentile points.</p>
<p>I feel your pain…
I have 2300 total on the SAT with 8 on the essay (750 on writing)
well can’t do anything now.</p>
<p>But are you saying you would rather that only ONE grader gave u a score and not two? The whole point of having two graders is to make the process more unbiased. You might have gotten a straight forward 4 out of 6 if there was only one grader</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. Colleges read the essays that you write on their application. Very few care what some “readers” subjectively thought of your timed essay. You have a strong ACT score - you are on your way!</p>
<p>Thanks for the input everone.
I would like to add that the above statement is directed towards everyone except Mr. mchammer.
moving on.</p>
<p>What im gathering from this is that the ACT essay is really not as useful a tool for college admissions as the test makes it seem? So what about the SAT’s essay? because it actually factors in to your score. For example, Impetuous’s situation.
Do colleges care so much about your writing section score on the SAT, since the essay, which is a bit too subjective of an indicator of intelectual competency, is automatically factored into your score?
and btw im pretty sure with my May 1st SAT, i just got a perfect score on the Math, 700+ scores CR and W, but my essay is destined, or should i say doomed, for a sub-8 score.
jeesh.</p>