SAT Essay Frustrations

<p>First of all, I don't understand the legitimacy of the SAT essay. I've taken several "writing-heavy" APs including AP Lang and APUSH and managed to get 5s, and yet I've never gotten a 12 on the SAT essay.</p>

<p>On my first two SAT sittings, I got 10s on the essay. On my most recent sitting (which was my highest overall score, by the way) I got a SEVEN. That means I got a 3 and a 4. That's terrible. Do colleges see the SAT essay at all? I mean, my writing subscore was fine (I only missed 2 MC), but for some reason my essay sucked, even though I thought it was my best essay.</p>

<p>I mean, I don't wanna sound cocky, but I can write better than a 7. Can you appeal essay scores? Probably not, since two readers grade them...Meh.</p>