<p>Ok so, I just took the October exam (my first SAT), and while I feel good about most things I am positive I completely screwed up my essay. As in, stated my opinion but didn't even support it and started talking about a related but slightly different topic. I know I have more chances, but I'm not so much disappointed as terrified that when colleges see my scores, they'll look at the top scores but then see this essay and be like "oh, well, you did so terrible on this essay that you must be really stupid." I seriously think I am going to get a zero even tho in my classes I've been scoring consistent 11s. </p>
<p>Sigh...I'm not too worried about getting a good score (for now; I will do better in the future), but I've heard that colleges will be able to see all of the attempts you take at the SATs, and I'm aiming at an Ivy league schools like Columbia and UPenn and if they see a 0 on a past essay, how damaging would that be! Will colleges be able to see all of your attempts? If you do horrendously terrible on one SAT, despite doing spectacularly well on another, will their opinion of you be damaged? Will they flag you? I'm just scared that my rly bad scores on this one will completely ruin my chances of going to a good school. I'm taking the IB program and my grades are good. I swim competitively, write for my school newspaper, and volunteer at a local animal shelter. </p>
<p>I know SATS aren't everything, but like I said before, will one extremely horrendous essay (as in a score of 0-6) on a first SAT essay smudge the impression that colleges will have for me after looking at my top scores? I am confident that I can score an 11 on future essays, but will my attempts afterwards be in vain due to my one screwup in the October test?</p>