Study the Rubric

SAT readers have a set of rules they must follow when assigning a grade to your essay. This is called a “rubric” and you can tailor your writing to its standards. Remember essays are graded on a scale of zero to six. If you write on the topic at all, no matter how poorly, your essay will receive at least a one. And since the essays are all graded against each other instead of the perfect ideal, some will receive a six. Here is a summary of the rubric that will be used to grade your essay:

• Score of 6
• General Impression - outstanding
• Mastery – clear and consistent
• Errors – few, if any
• Point of View – effectively and insightfully developed
• Critical Thinking - outstanding
• Evidence and Support – clearly appropriate
• Organization – effective, focused
• Coherence – smooth progression of ideas
• Use of Language – skillful, varied, accurate, apt
• Sentence Structure – demonstrates meaningful variety
• Grammar, usage and mechanics – free of most errors
• Score of 5
• General Impression - effective
• Mastery – reasonably consistent
• Errors - occasional
• Point of View – effectively developed
• Critical Thinking - strong
• Evidence and Support – generally appropriate
• Organization – adequate, focused
• Coherence – adequate progression of ideas
• Use of Language – above average, appropriate
• Sentence Structure – demonstrates variety
• Grammar, usage and mechanics – free of most errors
• Score of 4
• General Impression - competent
• Mastery - adequate
• Errors – some lapses in quality
• Point of View - developed
• Critical Thinking - competent
• Evidence and Support - adequate
• Organization - adequate
• Coherence – some progression of ideas
• Use of Language – adequate, but inconsistent
• Sentence Structure – demonstrates some variety
• Grammar, usage and mechanics – has some errors
• Score of 3
• General Impression – inadequate, weak
• Mastery – weak, but developing
• Errors - flawed
• Point of View – is developed by inconsistent
• Critical Thinking - inconsistent
• Evidence and Support
• Organization - limited
• Coherence – demonstrates some lapses
• Use of Language – developing but sometimes inappropriate
• Sentence Structure – lacks variety and/or has some problems
• Grammar, usage and mechanics – contains accumulation of errors
• Score of 2
• Impression – seriously limited
• Mastery - little
• Errors - flawed
• Point of View – vague or seriously limited
• Critical Thinking - weak
• Evidence and Support – inappropriate or insufficient
• Organization - poor
• Coherence – demonstrates serious problems
• Use of Language – very little facility and/or incorrect
• Sentence Structure – frequent problems
• Grammar, usage and mechanics – serious errors
• Score of 1
• General Impression – fundamentally lacking
• Mastery – very little or none
• Errors – severely flawed
• Point of View - none
• Critical Thinking – little or none
• Evidence and Support – little or none
• Organization – disorganized, unfocused
• Coherence – disjointed, incoherent
• Use of Language – fundamental errors
• Sentence Structure – seriously flawed
• Grammar, usage and mechanics – pervasive errors
• Score of 0
• Essay is off topic