<p>Hey guys, I have a couple of basic questions I'm hoping you guys can help me with!</p>
<p>1) Are there any differences between the essays? Do you still need academic proof?</p>
<p>2) Is there a penalty for guessing?</p>
<p>3) How is the essay graded/How does it affect your overall score?</p>
<p>That's all for now, thanks in advance!!</p>
<ol>
<li>There is no penalty for guessing. They actuallt tell you before you tske your test that it is in your best interest to answer ALL questions. SO GUESS!!</li>
<li>Not sure how they do the essay. But, the more ypu support yourself and, the bigger words you use THE BETTER YOUR SCORE. The ACT seperates your english and essay score. Then, at the bottom it is averaged. So, it does but doesn’t affect your overall score.</li>
</ol>
<p>For me the ACT essays seem less philosophical. For example my last SAT prompt was whether society puts too much trust in experts, while my last ACT prompt asked whether restaurants should be required to display nutrition info. They should be written in a smilar style, but I have found applying literally examples to be hard.</p>
<p>The essay is also graded on 12 scale by two readers. It is not used in your main score though put you are given a separate score. The main “composite” score is reading+math+science+writing and the other one is essay+writing.</p>