<p>I find the SAT to be difficult too zoosermom. I scored just over a 1500 on all three sections, which is considered in the 'average' range. Most kids on this site pull off some extremely high scores though, which I totally admire. I have a 3.7 unweighted GPA with a tough curriculum, so I'm hoping that helps offset my horrible SAT scores.</p>
<p>yeah zoosermom, there must be something up with the essay graders. I'm not trying to be a pompous prick, but I think I'm a pretty good writer, and I got a 6 on the essay. To be honest, I wouldn't have cared this morning with my 1120 CR and Math if I scored at least a 10 on the essay (which is what I was expecting) because that's my true passion. I always score very high on the AP essays, and I got 64/80 MC right on the writing... but I got a 6/12 on the actual essay? I think the SAT must have some dopey ass graders in there.</p>
<p>Of course, I guess I could have gotten sidetracked as well... but I felt like it was a descent essay!</p>
<p>for the essay the graders care more about quantity than quality in my opinion, because if you see most sample essay which score twelves there usually alot longer than 11s, or 10s so you can have a great short essay and yet not score very well, so my advice is to write a long average essay instead of a short great essay.</p>
<p>Quality hardly comes into factor in the SAT I essay section; the graders are also far from qualified. My English teacher encountered an article in the paper recruiting SAT I essay graders with almost no prerequisites--basically almost any average joe can grade the SAT essay. They are given a set criteria of what to look for in the essay, and the style and quality of writing rarely, if ever, comes into factor. You could do well on the AP Language and Composition essays and still do mediocre on the SAT I essay.</p>
<p>the college board are a bunch of frauds. They put out an unfair test which purposefully tricks students (ie. Which of these is not not an opinion held by the author?).</p>
<p>With that large of a drop from one test to the other, I would suggest having it handscored. I know it's $50, & I really hate to give CB any more $ than I have to, but as we all know, they have made mistakes. We only know of the October disaster, and really don't know how many other times mistakes happen. If 2 kids who thought their schools were incredibly low hadn't paid for handscoring of the Oct SAT, noone would ever know of the mistakes.</p>
<p>Look on the positive side, the worst you loose if $50 - and if they were incorrect, they refund the $50.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>they do not refund. $50 is the processing fee. regardless</p>
<p>I feel the pain with the 6 essay :( I got it too lol. And I'm one of the best kids in our Eng class at essay writing. :(</p>
<p>i too strongly feel they messed up my scores. (CR)</p>
<p>that's bs, because my essay was short... but I swear it was a good essay.</p>
<p>that sucks. it sucks how this test threw off my whole day and made me reconsider my dreams for writing in and after college, especially since it's the one thing that's kept me on track with everything this year, in and out of school.</p>
<p>My CR was okay...not as high as I've gotten on the PSAT. This was the first time I took it so I had no comparision. My math was pretty low, but someone else told me their math dropped 90 points from the last time. </p>
<p>I got a 9 on the essay, which I am not that surprised about since I was a little sketchy on the topic and didn't have much of a conclusion and ran out time midsentence...apparently that didn't bring my Writing section score down that much? How do they do it? I wasn't sure if it was right because it seemed way too high to have gotten a 9 essay. It said 770 and I had a 79 on the first number that says it's from 21-80 and a 9 on the essay. So I probably could raised it from good to great but I am happy with a 770 if I am not misinterpreting it. I wish i would have known that because I was sort of unnerved after the essay not going terribly well and I had a math section first and I knew I could have done better on that section.</p>
<p>I got a 670 in math, and a 730 CR. That's not a terrible score but I thought I'd do a little better, about equal to my writing. I was a little surprised because I didn't really encounter many I thought I didn't know...although I don't think they messed up, I guess the curve was probably hard because I don't think I missed all that many.</p>