<p>I have heard that the readers for this section do not need any qualifications other than a college degree in any field. This seems ridiculous because I wouldn't want someone who hasn't studied writing to be scoring my essay.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if this is true?</p>
<p>After three times taking it, it is my impression that some old lady glances at your sheet, and gives a score based on how much you wrote--not what you wrote.</p>
<p>The first two times I took it, I received an 8. I wrote two full pages. The prose was pretty much Hemingway. The third time? I wrote three and a half pages of complete crap. I scored a 10.</p>
<p>Write a lot = good score.
Write quality, yet not as much = bad score.</p>
<p>That is a minimum qualification. Nearly all of the scorers teach English, writing, or a related subject at the high school or college level.</p>
<p>I wrote less than 2 pages and got an 11.</p>
<p>Congratulations. You are an anomaly. Read around this forum and you will find many, many others like me.</p>
<p>few kids can write both succinctly and cover all the nuances of a discussion topic. Some can say one thing in 1000 words and others only need 250. Just because most 12s are given to long essays doesn't mean that readers judge based primarily on length. It's just that brevity is a skill most high school seniors haven't mastered yet.</p>
<p>i wrote an amazing 2 page essay .. got an 8
wrote a terrible 2 1/2 page one .. got a 9.</p>
<p>just saying ...</p>
<p>writing well does have something to do with it.. but seriously, length is apparently VERY important.</p>
<p>good 2 pages = 10
*** AM I DOING - 3 pages = 11</p>
<p>yeah.</p>