SAT Essay Rubric: Full Analysis and Writing Strategies

We're about to dive deep into the details of that least beloved* of SAT sections, the SAT essay.
Prepare for a discussion of the SAT essay rubric and how the SAT essay is graded based on that.
I'll break down what each item on the rubric means and what you need to do to meet those
requirements.

On the SAT, the last section you'll encounter is the (optional) essay. You have 50 minutes to read
a passage, analyze the author's argument, and write an essay. If you dont write on the
assignment, plagiarize, or don't use your own original work, you'll get a 0 on your essay.
Otherwise, your essay scoring is done by two graders - each one grades you on a scale of 1-4 in
Reading, Analysis, and Writing, for a total essay score out of 8 in each of those three areas.
But how do these graders assign your writing a numerical grade? By using an essay scoring
guide, or rubric.
*may not actually be the least belovd.

The Complete SAT Essay Grading Rubric: Item-by-Item

Breakdown
Based on the CollegeBoards stated Reading, Analysis, and Writing criteria, I've created the
below charts (for easier comparison across score points). For the purpose of going deeper into
just what the SAT is looking for in your essay, I've then broken down each category further (with
examples).

The information in all three charts is taken from the College Board site.

Reading

The biggest change to the SAT essay (and the thing that really distinguishes it from the ACT
essay) is that you are required to read and analyze a text, then write about your analysis of the
author's argument in your essay. Your "Reading" grade on the SAT essay reflects how well you
were able to demonstrate your understanding of the text and the author's argument in your essay.

Score Reading
1
The response demonstrates little or no comprehension of the source text.
(Inadequate)
 The response fails to show an understanding of the texts central idea(s), and may
include only details without reference to central idea(s).

The response may contain numerous errors of fact and/or interpretation with regard
to the text.

The response makes little or no use of textual evidence (quotations, paraphrases, or

both), demonstrating little or no understanding of the source text.
The response demonstrates some comprehension of the source text.

The response shows an understanding of the texts central idea(s) but not of
important details.
2
The response may contain errors of fact and/or interpretation with regard to the
(Partial)
text.

The response makes limited and/or haphazard use of textual evidence (quotations,
paraphrases, or both), demonstrating some understanding of the source text.
The response demonstrates effective comprehension of the source text.

The response shows an understanding of the texts central idea(s) and important
details.
3
The response is free of substantive errors of fact and interpretation with regard to
(Proficient)
the text.

The response makes appropriate use of textual evidence (quotations, paraphrases, or

both), demonstrating an understanding of the source text.
The response demonstrates thorough comprehension of the source text.

The response shows an understanding of the texts central idea(s) and of most
important details and how they interrelate, demonstrating a comprehensive
4
understanding of the text.
(Advanced)
The response is free of errors of fact or interpretation with regard to the text.

The response makes skillful use of textual evidence (quotations, paraphrases, or

both), demonstrating a complete understanding of the source text.

You'll need to show your understanding of the text on two different levels: the surface level of
getting your facts right and the deeper level of getting the relationship of the details and the
central ideas right.
Surface Level: Factual Accuracy

One of the most important ways you can show you've actually read the passage is making sure
you stick to what is said in the text. If youre writing about things the author didnt say, or
things that contradict other things the author said, your argument will be fundamentally flawed.

For instance, take this quotation from a (made-up) passage about why a hot dog is not a
sandwich:

The fact that you cant, or wouldnt, cut a hot dog in half and eat it that way, proves that a hot
dog is once and for all NOT a sandwich

Here's an example of a factually inaccurate paraphrasing of this quotation:

The author builds his argument by discussing how, since hot-dogs are often served cut in half,
this makes them different from sandwiches.

The paraphrase contradicts the passage, and so would negatively affect your reading score. Now
let's look at an accurate paraphrasing of the quotation:

The author builds his argument by discussing how, since hot-dogs are never served cut in half,
they are therefore different from sandwiches.

It's also important to be faithful to the text when you're using direct quotations from the passage.
Misquoting or badly paraphrasing the authors words weakens your essay, because the evidence
youre using to support your points is faulty.

Higher Level: Understanding of Central Ideas

The next step beyond being factually accurate about the passage is showing that you understand
the central ideas of the text and how details of the passage relate back to this central idea.

Why does this matter? In order to be able to explain why the author is persuasive, you need
to be able to explain the structure of the argument. And you cant deconstruct the author's
argument if you dont understand the central idea of the passage and how the details relate to it.

Here's an example of a statement about our fictional "hot dogs are sandwiches" passage that
shows understanding of the central idea of the passage:

Hodgmans third primary defense of why hot dogs are not sandwiches is that a hot dog is not a
subset of any other type of food. He uses the analogy of asking the question is cereal milk a
broth, sauce, or gravy? to show that making such a comparison between hot dogs and
sandwiches is patently illogical.
The above statement takes one step beyond merely being factually accurate to explain the
relation between different parts of the passage (in this case, the relation between the "what is
cereal milk?" analogy and the hot dog/sandwich debate).

Of course, if you want to score well in all three essay areas, youll need to do more in your essay
than merely summarizing the authors argument. This leads directly into the next grading area of
the SAT Essay.

Analysis

The items covered under this criterion are the most important when it comes to writing a strong
essay. You can use well-spelled vocabulary in sentences with varied structure all you want, but if
you don't analyze the author's argument, demonstrate critical thinking, and support your
position, you will not get a high Analysis score.

Score Analysis
The response offers little or no analysis or ineffective analysis of the source text
and demonstrates little or no understanding of the analytic task.

The response identifies without explanation some aspects of the authors use of
evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of
the students choosing,

1 Or numerous aspects of the responses analysis are unwarranted based on the text.

(Inadequate) The response contains little or no support for claim(s) or point(s) made, or support
is largely irrelevant.

The response may not focus on features of the text that are relevant to addressing
the task,

Or the response offers no discernible analysis (e.g., is largely or exclusively

summary).
The response offers limited analysis of the source text and demonstrates only partial
understanding of the analytical task.

The response identifies and attempts to describe the authors use of evidence,
2
reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of the
students own choosing, but merely asserts rather than explains their importance, or
(Partial)
one or more aspects of the responses analysis are unwarranted based on the text.

The response contains little or no support for claim(s) or point(s) made.

 The response may lack a clear focus on those features of the text that are most
relevant to addressing the task.
The response offers an effective analysis of the source text and demonstrates an
understanding of the analytical task.

The response competently evaluates the authors use of evidence, reasoning, and/or
3
stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of the students own choosing.
(Proficient)
The response contains relevant and sufficient support for claim(s) or point(s) made.

The response focuses primarily on those features of the text that are most relevant
to addressing the task.
The response offers an insightful analysis of the source text and demonstrates a
sophisticated understanding of the analytical task.

The response offers a thorough, well-considered evaluation of the authors use of

evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of
4
the students own choosing.
(Advanced)
The response contains relevant, sufficient, and strategically chosen support for
claim(s) or point(s) made.

The response focuses consistently on those features of the text that are most
relevant to addressing the task.

Because this category is so important, I've broken it down even further into its two different (but
equally important) component parts to make sure everything is as clearly explained as possible.

Part I: Critical Thinking (Logic)

Critical thinking, also known as critical reasoning, also known as logic, is the skill that SAT
essay graders are really looking to see displayed in the essay. You need to be able to evaluate
and analyze the claim put forward in the prompt. This is where a lot of students may get
tripped up, because they think oh, well, if I can just write a lot, then Ill do well. While there is
some truth to the assertion that longer essays tend to score higher, if you dont display critical
thinking you wont be able to get a top score on your essay.

What do I mean by critical thinking? Let's take the previous prompt example:

Write an essay in which you explain how Hodgman builds an argument to persuade his audience
that the hot dog cannot, and never should be, considered a sandwich.
An answer to this prompt that does not display critical thinking (and would fall into a 1 or 2 on
the rubric) would be something like:

The author argues that hot dogs arent sandwiches, which is persuasive to the reader.

While this does evaluate the prompt (by providing a statement that the author's claim "is
persuasive to the reader"), there is no corresponding analysis. An answer to this prompt that
displays critical thinking (and would net a higher score on the rubric) could be something like
this:

The author uses analogies to hammer home his point that hot dogs are not sandwiches. Because
the readers will readily believe the first part of the analogy is true, they will be more likely to
accept that the second part (that hot dogs aren't sandwiches) is true as well.

See the difference? Critical thinking involves reasoning your way through a situation
(analysis) as well as making a judgement (evaluation). On the SAT essay, however, you cant
just stop at abstract critical reasoning - analysis involves one more crucial step...

Part II: Examples, Reasons, and Other Evidence (Support)

The other piece of the puzzle (apparently this is a tiny puzzle) is making sure you are able to
back up your point of view and critical thinking with concrete evidence. The SAT essay
rubric says that the best (that is, 4-scoring) essay uses relevant, sufficient, and strategically
chosen support for claim(s) or point(s) made. This means you cant just stick to abstract
reasoning like this:

The author uses analogies to hammer home his point that hot dogs are not sandwiches. Because
the readers will readily believe the first part of the analogy is true, they will be more likely to
accept that the second part (that hot dogs aren't sandwiches) is true as well.

That explanation is a good starting point, but if you don't back up your point of view with quoted
or paraphrased information from the text to support your discussion of the way the author builds
his/her argument, you will not be able to get above a 3 on the Analysis portion of the essay (and
possibly the Reading portion as well, if you don't show you've read the passage). Let's take a
look of an example of how you might support an interpretation of the author's effect on the
reader using facts from the passage:

The authors reference to the Biblical story about King Solomon elevates the debate about hot
dogs from a petty squabble between friends to a life-or-death disagreement. The reader cannot
help but see the parallels between the two situations and thus find themselves agreeing with the
author on this point.

Does the author's reference to King Solomon actually "elevate the debate," causing the reader to
agree with the author? From the sentences above, it certainly seems plausible that it might. While
your facts do need to be correct, you get a little more leeway with your interpretations of how
the authors persuasive techniques might affect the audience. As long as you can make a
convincing argument for the effect a technique the author uses might have on the reader,
youll be good.

Writing

Your Writing score on the SAT essay is not just a reflection of your grasp of the conventions of
written English (although it is that as well). You'll also need to be focused, organized, and
precise.

Score Writing
The response demonstrates little or no cohesion and inadequate skill in the use and
control of language.

The response may lack a clear central claim or controlling idea.

The response lacks a recognizable introduction and conclusion. The response does
1 not have a discernible progression of ideas.

(Inadequate) The response lacks variety in sentence structures; sentence structures may be
repetitive. The response demonstrates general and vague word choice; word choice
may be poor or inaccurate. The response may lack a formal style and objective
tone.

The response shows a weak control of the conventions of standard written English
and may contain numerous errors that undermine the quality of writing.
The response demonstrates little or no cohesion and limited skill in the use and
control of language.

The response may lack a clear central claim or controlling idea or may deviate from
the claim or idea over the course of the response.

The response may include an ineffective introduction and/or conclusion. The

2 response may demonstrate some progression of ideas within paragraphs but not
throughout the response.
(Partial)
The response has limited variety in sentence structures; sentence structures may be
repetitive.

The response demonstrates general or vague word choice; word choice may be
repetitive. The response may deviate noticeably from a formal style and objective
tone.
 The response shows a limited control of the conventions of standard written English
and contains errors that detract from the quality of writing and may impede
understanding.
The response is mostly cohesive and demonstrates effective use and control of
language.

The response includes a central claim or implicit controlling idea.

The response includes an effective introduction and conclusion. The response

3
demonstrates a clear progression of ideas both within paragraphs and throughout
the essay.
(Proficient)
The response has variety in sentence structures. The response demonstrates some
precise word choice. The response maintains a formal style and objective tone.

The response shows a good control of the conventions of standard written English
and is free of significant errors that detract from the quality of writing.
The response is cohesive and demonstrates a highly effective use and command of
language.

The response includes a precise central claim.

The response includes a skillful introduction and conclusion. The response

4 demonstrates a deliberate and highly effective progression of ideas both within
paragraphs and throughout the essay.
(Advanced)
The response has a wide variety in sentence structures. The response demonstrates a
consistent use of precise word choice. The response maintains a formal style and
objective tone.

The response shows a strong command of the conventions of standard written

English and is free or virtually free of errors.

Because there's a lot of different factors that go into calculating your Writing score, I've divided
the discussion of this rubric area into five separate items:

1. Precise Central Claim

2. Organization
3. Vocab and Word Choice
4. Sentence Structure
5. Grammar, Etc.
Precise Central Claim

One of the most basic rules of the SAT essay is that you need to express a clear opinion on the
"assignment" (the prompt). While in school (and everywhere else in life, pretty much) youre
encouraged to take into account all sides of a topic, it behooves you to NOT do this on the SAT
essay. Why? Because you only have 50 minutes to read the passage, analyze the author's
argument, and write the essay, there's no way you can discuss every single way in which the
author builds his/her argument, every single detail of the passage, or a nuanced argument about
what works and what doesn't work.

Instead, I recommend focusing your discussion on a few key ways the author is successful in
persuading his/her audience of his/her claim.

Lets go back to the assignment we've been using as an example throughout this article:

"Write an essay in which you explain how Hodgman builds an argument to persuade his
audience that the hot dog cannot, and never should be, considered a sandwich."

Your instinct (trained from many years of schooling) might be to answer:

"There are a variety of ways in which the author builds his argument."

This is a nice, vague statement that leaves you a lot of wiggle room. If you disagree with the
author, it's also a way of avoiding having to say that the author is persuasive. Don't fall into this
trap! You do not necessarily have to agree with the author's claim in order to analyze how the
author persuades his/her readers that the claim is true.

Here's an example of a precise central claim about the example assignment:

The author effectively builds his argument that hot dogs are not sandwiches by using logic,
allusions to history and mythology, and factual evidence.

In contrast to the vague claim that "There are a variety of ways in which the author builds his
argument," this thesis both specifies what the author's argument is and the ways in which he
builds the argument (that you'll be discussing in the essay).

Organization

While it's extremely important to make sure your essay has a clear point of view, strong critical
reasoning, and support for your position, that's not enough to get you a top score. You need to
make sure that your essay "demonstrates a deliberate and highly effective progression of ideas
both within paragraphs and throughout the essay."
What does this mean? Part of the way you can make sure your essay is "well organized" has to
do with following standard essay construction points. Don't write your essay in one huge
paragraph; instead, include an introduction (with your thesis stating your point of view),
body paragraphs (one for each example, usually), and a conclusion. This structure might
seem boring, but it really works to keep your essay organized, and the more clearly organized
your essay is, the easier it will be for the essay grader to understand your critical reasoning.

The second part of this criteria has to do with keeping your essay focused, making sure it
contains "a deliberate and highly effective progression of ideas." You can't just say "well, I have
an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, so I guess my essay is organized" and expect
to get a 4/4 on your essay. You need to make sure that each paragraph is also organized.
Recall the sample prompt:

Write an essay in which you explain how Hodgman builds an argument to persuade his
audience that the hot dog cannot, and never should be, considered a sandwich.

And our hypothetical thesis:

The author effectively builds his argument that hot dogs are not sandwiches by using logic,
allusions to history and mythology, and factual evidence.

Let's say that you're writing the paragraph about the author's use of logic to persuade his reader
that hot dogs aren't sandwiches. You should NOT just list ways that the author is logical in
support of his claim, then explain why logic in general is an effective persuasive device. While
your points might all be valid, your essay would be better served by connecting each instance of
logic in the passage with an explanation of how that example of logic persuades the reader to
agree with the author.

Above all, it is imperative that you make your thesis (your central claim) clear in the opening
paragraph of your essay - this helps the grader keep track of your argument. There's no reason
youd want to make following your reasoning more difficult for the person grading your essay
(unless youre cranky and dont want to do well on the essay. Listen, I dont want to tell you how
to live your life).

Vocab and Word Choice

In your essay, you should use a wide array of vocabulary (and use it correctly). An essay that
scores a 4 in Writing on the grading rubric demonstrates a consistent use of precise word
choice.

Youre allowed a few errors, even on a 4-scoring essay, so you can sometimes get away with
misusing a word or two. In general, though, its best to stick to using words you are certain you
not only know the meaning of, but also know how to use. If youve been studying up on vocab,
make sure you practice using the words youve learned in sentences, and have those sentences
checked by someone who is good at writing (in English), before you use those words in an SAT
essay.

Sentence Structure

Creating elegant, non-awkward sentences is the thing I struggle most with under time pressure.
For instance, heres my first try at the previous sentence: Making sure a sentence structure
makes sense is the thing that I have the most problems with when Im writing in a short amount
of time (hahaha NOPE - way too convoluted and wordy, self). As another example, take a look
at these two excerpts from the hypothetical essay discussing how the author persuaded his
readers that a hot dog is not a sandwich:

Score of 2: "The author makes his point by critiquing the argument against him. The author
pointed out the logical fallacy of saying a hot dog was a sandwich because it was meat
"sandwiched" between two breads. The author thus persuades the reader his point makes sense to
be agreed with and convinces them."

The above sentences lack variety in structure (they all begin with the words "the author"), and
the last sentence has serious flaws in its structure (it makes no sense).

Score of 4: "The author's rigorous examination of his opponent's position invites the reader, too,
to consider this issue seriously. By laying out his reasoning, step by step, Hodgman makes it
easy for the reader to follow along with his train of thought and arrive at the same destination
that he has. This destination is Hodgman's claim that a hot dog is not a sandwich."

The above sentences demonstrate variety in sentence structure (they don't all begin with the
same word and don't have the same underlying structure) that presumably forward the point of
the essay.

In general, if you're doing well in all the other Writing areas, your sentence structures will also
naturally vary. If you're really worried that your sentences are not varied enough, however, my
advice for working on "demonstrating meaningful variety in sentence structure" (without ending
up with terribly worded sentences) is twofold:

1. Read over what youve written before you hand it in and change any wordings that seem
awkward, clunky, or just plain incorrect.
2. As youre doing practice essays, have a friend, family member, or teacher who is good at
(English) writing look over your essays and point out any issues that arise.

Grammar, Etc.

This part of the Writing grade is all about the nitty gritty details of writing: grammar,
punctuation, and spelling. It's rare that an essay with serious flaws in this area can score a 4/4
in Reading, Analysis, or Writing, because such persistent errors often "interfere with meaning"
(that is, persistent errors make it difficult for the grader to understand what you're trying to get
across).

On the other hand, if they occur in small quantities, grammar/punctuation/spelling errors are also
the things that are most likely to be overlooked. If two essays are otherwise of equal quality, but
one writer misspells "definitely" as "definately" and the other writer fails to explain how one of
her examples supports her thesis, the first writer will receive a higher essay score. It's only when
poor grammar, use of punctuation, and spelling start to make it difficult to understand
your essay that the graders start penalizing you.

My advice for working on this rubric area is the same advice as for sentence structure: look over
what youve written to double check for mistakes, and ask someone whos good at writing
to look over your practice essays and point out your errors. If you're really struggling with
spelling, simply typing up your (handwritten) essay into a program like Microsoft Word and
running spellcheck can alert you to problems. We've also got a great set of articles up on our
blog about SAT Writing questions that may help you better understand any grammatical errors
you are making.

How Do I Use The SAT Essay Grading Rubric?

Now that you understand the SAT essay rubric, how can you use it in your SAT prep? There are
a couple of different ways.

Use The SAT Essay Rubric To...Shape Your Essays

Since you know what the SAT is looking for in an essay, you can now use that knowledge to
guide what you write about in your essays!

A tale from my youth: when I was preparing to take the SAT for the first time, I did not really
know what the essay was looking for, and assumed that since I was a good writer, Id be fine.

Not true! The most important part of the SAT essay is using specific examples from the
passage and explaining how they convince the reader of the author's point. By reading this
article and realizing there's more to the essay than "being a strong writer," youre already doing
better than high school me.

Use The SAT Essay Rubric To...Grade Your Practice Essays

The SAT cant exactly give you an answer key to the essay. Even when an example of an essay
that scored a particular score is provided, that essay will probably use different examples than
you did, make different arguments, maybe even argue different interpretations of the
text...making it difficult to compare the two. The SAT essay rubric is the next best thing to an
answer key for the essay - use it as a lens through which to view and assess your essay.

Of course, you dont have the time to become an expert SAT essay grader - thats not your job.
You just have to apply the rubric as best as you can to your essays and work on fixing your
weak areas. For the sentence structure, grammar, usage, and mechanics stuff I highly
recommend asking a friend, teacher, or family member who is really good at (English) writing to
take a look over your practice essays and point out the mistakes.

If you really want custom feedback on your practice essays from experienced essay graders, may
I also suggest the PrepScholar test prep platform? I manage the essay grading and so happen to
know quite a bit about the essay part of this platform, which gives you both an essay grade and
custom feedback for each essay you complete. Learn more about how it all works here.