Will a bad SAT essay make colleges think that I cheated on my application essay?

Test Preparation
1

<p>This are my SAT scores
CR - 780
M - 770
W- 680(E8)
Total - 2230</p>

<p>I'm very happy with my CR and M, but the 8 on my essay is annoying me, especially after when my friend told me that if I write a bad SAT essay and write a really good application essay, the colleges might think I've cheated on my application essay.</p>

<p>I'm looking to apply to the top colleges (Princeton, Dartmouth, Amherst etc.) so my essays have to be good, given my "mediocre" SAT scores.</p>

<p>How far do you think my friend is correct?</p>

<p>PS. If it's any help, I'm a Korean international student, pretty confident in my extracurriculars(basketball, choir, band, Captain of School) and is almost always first in a class of 27 students.</p>

2

<p>I absolutely don’t agree with your friend! There are many factors (such as you didn’t have the time to finish or correct, or you didn’t like the essay prompt, etc etc) that they need to be considered with a score of 8. Don’t worry, just do your best with your application essay, your friend is probably “jealous” of your excellent scores.</p>

3

<p>Well thanks for that, the only thing is that this “friend” got 2290 :D</p>

4

<p>Just for the record, your friend is definitely not “jealous”.</p>

<p>And he didn’t mean to scare you into thinking that colleges would think you “cheated”. Rather, he read some articles that described the role of the SAT essay in the admission process, which you, bakjewel, can google and read up.</p>

<p>His words were, to the best of his knowledge, “apparently colleges now look at your online SAT essay if they sense a disparity between the quality of your application and SAT essay”. He did not say that they would think you cheated, and nor did he say that they look merely at your score. Colleges themselves have issued statements that they would use the essays to help combat fraudulent essays, or essays written by a professional service.</p>

<p>For bakjewel’s convenience, the following:</p>

<p>[College</a> Admission Essay, MBA & Business School Application Essays](<a href=“http://www.with-honors.com/SATessay.html]College”>http://www.with-honors.com/SATessay.html)
“Colleges will receive your SAT essay along with the scores from the math and verbal sections. They will be able to compare your SAT essay with your application essay . If the writing style and general tone are too different, colleges might penalize you for inconsistencies.”</p>

<p>Moreover, from a reliable source, Newsweek,
[OK</a>, WHOSE ESSAY IS IT? | Newsweek Education | Newsweek.com](<a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/id/54648]OK”>OK, WHOSE ESSAY IS IT? - Newsweek)
“And admissions officers say that when the new SAT, which will include an essay question, is instituted in March 2005, they will have a tool to double-check an applicant’s writing abilities.”</p>

<p>The friend would probably also like to remind bakjewel that they have come first an equal number of times in the past year, so “almost always first in a class of 27 students” is a gross misrepresentation. He’s also sorry if he made bakjewel worry this much. Bakjewel need not worry as the writing style of his SAT essay and college application essay are likely to be pretty consistent.</p>

<p>He would also like to remind bakjewel that he is on this site as well. Good day.</p>

5

<p>Thanks iabin for that well informed advice, i feel somewhat better now.</p>

<p>And sorry you should be, as you have already caused me much torment.</p>

<p>Oh by the way iabin, congratulations on getting 2290 for your SAT with 10 for essay. Just what we all expected. :D</p>

6

<p>That’s ludicrous. Those articles are from five years ago when people thought colleges would actually consider the SAT essay. Many schools never look at the SAT essay, and a few don’t even consider the writing scores. Even if a school did read the SAT essay, they could not compare it to the personal statement because the essays are very different: one is a rushed essay on a general, impersonal topic that is graded atomically, not holistically; while the other is a deeply personal essay that has been worked on for months and gone through many drafts. The styles will be VERY different. That’s one reason why the SAT essay is essentially meaningless; it doesn’t test your ability to write, but your ability to BS.</p>

7

<p>Obviously there is going to be a difference in quality between an essay written in 25 minutes, without knowing the prompt beforehand, compared to an essay where you could have taken weeks or months to write, revise, and prepare. An 8 isn’t even bad anyways… Maybe if you got a 2, then that’d be something that will catch the adcoms attention.</p>

<p>Bottom line they aren’t going to think you have cheated.</p>