I got a 1570 on the SAT, but got a 4/4/5 on the essay. I was not planning on applying to any top schools and was only going to apply to in state and some decent out of state schools. Will my essay score affect my chances of getting in and receiving scholarships?
I haven’t heard of any school really using the essay score.
If the school doesn’t require it for admissions (as most don’t), I wouldn’t even put it down in the self report section. Now they will still see the score when you send the official scores.
Few schools require the essay scores, which means they probably don’t look at them. And my suspicion is that those who still require it don’t put much weight on it. It’s becoming less and less meaningful every year.
California schools are about the only highly ranked schools still requiring it, afaik.
You need to read what the college targets say about the Essay portion. And more.