SAT Essay Score Lowers Chances?

Hi, I took the SAT twice, both times with the essay. I got a 1540 and a 1510; however I received a very low essay score of 16/24 (6/4/6) on both tries. How much will this lower my chances for getting accepted into some of the top colleges? Can I make up for this with a good application essay? And will this affect my chances for colleges that don’t require the essay, like Cornell?

I don’t think that it will lower your chances too much. If you get a good score on AP Lang and write good essays in your application, then they probably will not even look at your SAT essay.

This evidence is all anecdotal^^ take it with a grain of salt

@pianoswim Thanks for the advice! I only got a 3 on the AP Lang Test (I’m not a fast writer) but I think if I have time I can make my essays good for the applications.

@ACTscienceprep Thanks! I will work hard on my essays to make up for those low grades.