Writing Section

[LordOfTheDance]

How do you think they scored the writing? I was surprised as they scored me only a three when I have always had a strong point in writing...

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[starsweet]

I got a 3 as well and writing has also been a strong point... I think it is highly subjective and I've seen other people with like 15% in Reading and Verbal but a 4 in Writing. So it all depends on who reads your essay. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[ethyl]

I made a damn nice case in my essay. I brought up current events and cited past research. Yet, I still got marked off for something. I'm beginning to think some of the graders have little science background and it's all about grammar instead of content.

The max score is a 5 right?

 

[starsweet]

Yup... how did you do?

I think my grammar was fine but my content was a little shabby. (I was still reeling from the Chem section. ) So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I got a 3 with what I consider "proper grammar."

 

[ethyl]

I'm content that I got a 4, but I'd like to know what the heck they think a 5 is supposed to look like. It's messed up because I had the EXACT same essay in October 2004. Sorry, I'm starting to sound so negative. I got a crappy composite score yesterday... and I just want to break stuff.

 

[Stephie]

I actually did better on the writing part than I thought. I scored a 4 but I was expecting much lower because my essay was extremely short and didn't have a lot of substance (in my opinion). However I made sure to use lots of different kinds of sentences (starting out with prepositional phrases verbs, etc.) so maybe that's what they were looking for. I scored standardized tests for a couple of months and those are the kinds of things we were told to look for.

Stephie

 

[Slangindempillz]

I got a 3 as well and writing has also been a strong point... I think it is highly subjective and I've seen other people with like 15% in Reading and Verbal but a 4 in Writing. So it all depends on who reads your essay. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

There is something seriously wrong about the essay. Overall, my essay SUCKED, but I was sure that I did a few things properly. I made sure that I didn't use any words that I might misspell(I'm the worse speller on earth). I made sure that I didn't have any comma splices, used a decent variety of words, and made sure that I did not repeat any of them. My essay kicked ass, and I only got a 3, but the October essay was horrible. The scoring must have been completely based on how my sentences were structured, because I got a 4, and the content of my essay wasn't worth a flip.

 

[MattPharmD]

I got a 5 on the June essay and a 3 on the October one.
Personally I felt like I got a 3-4 on the June and a 4-5 on the October one.

All depends on who reads it I guess. As long as you get a 3 or above, I don't think it's going to kill you. Most schools have you write another essay as part of the interview anyway.