By TREVIN BRANDT
Staff Writer
With the March 14th SAT looming ahead of us, high schoolers around the world may be wondering how exactly the SAT is scored, and what those scores can mean for your chances of getting into the college of your choice. Since the SAT scoring is not as straightforward as the typical A-F grading system, here is a guide on how exactly the SAT is graded.
The multiple-choice test is divided into four parts: Reading, Writing and Language, Math (no calculator), and Math (with a calculator). From there, the two English sections and two math sections are graded together giving you two different scores: Reading and Writing, and Math. The highest possible score you are able to get on a single section is 800, making the highest possible score for the entire SAT 1600. However very few people completely ace the SAT. The US average score for the multiple-choice of the SAT is 1060, which is enough to get you into a pretty good college. To check what the average score for a specific college is, go to collegeboard.org, search your college to find that, as well as a plethora of other helpful information about your school of choice.
However, most colleges also require you to take the Essay, and the way this is scored is slightly similar. The essay is graded in three categories: Reading (how well you understood the topic), Analysis (how well you analyzed the argument), and Writing (how well your essay is written). Your essay will be graded by two people, each person giving a score from 1-4 on each category. These scores will be combined giving you a minimum score of 2,2,2 or a maximum of 8,8,8. Adding the numbers up, the lowest you can score is 6 and the highest is 24. The US average for the essay is a 14, which again can get you into a decent college.
To find out more information about how the SAT is graded and what score you need to get to be accepted into the college you want to go to, visit collegeboard.org.