<p>I know there are three categories on the MCAT, but I’m confused on the grading for the Essay section. I know there is O,P,Q,S, and T. What do these mean?</p>
<p>The essay is graded on a scale J-T. J is the lowest grade and T is the highest. Don’t ask me why lol</p>
<p>Grades range from J (lowest) to T (highest). They are just letters that correspond to how your two essays are graded by the scorers. Each of your two essays is scored by both a human and a computer, on the human side looking for cohesive arguments and solid writing. Word is that the computer scoring program looks for certain key words that should be found in a well-formed essay.</p>
<p>the essays really aren’t hard though. it gives a general statement: you then interpret the statement, give examples, and state why you agree/disagree. i didn’t study for this and spend only 15 min on each essay and got an R on writing (and i’m also a crappy writer). as icarus said, they’re looking for cohesiveness and solid arguments; figurative language and things you’d want in an english essay are really not important.</p>
<p>how meaningful is the essay score on the MCAT? is it anything like the writing section of the SAT where its not really considered to hold any weight. (ofc it holds some at higher level institutions, but not as much compared to the Verbal/Math)</p>
<p>You definitely don’t want a J, and you probably don’t want a K, either. Pretty much anything else is okay.</p>
<p>actually i’d probably say to aim for an n at least, but yes it is like the writing section of the sat in that the 3 graded components carry the most weight.</p>
<p>Well good thing I picked up an English major with Bio then? I know there will be plenty of writing courses. (which for some reason I find enjoyable.)</p>
<p>You know how some people love to play a sport or play music? I love to read and interpret literature. doesnt really mature which point of literature i just DO. so i guess that may come in handy. but math i just make the dumbest mistakes… whoa im babbling lol</p>
<p>AliAngel:</p>
<p>After J and K comes N, so I think my advice is good.</p>
<p>Angelbigbird:</p>
<p>The writing on the MCAT is practically nothing like the writing you’ll have to do for your English classes. The topic and form of the MCAT essay are highly stereotyped so it’s just a matter of memorizing the form and using a bit of creativity to fill in the blanks specifically for the topic.</p>
<p>shades, i was saying that an L and M would probably also be frowned upon. at least they were in my program.</p>
<p>It’s J through T because A through F are in use as the standard grading system, I is used for incomplete and they wanted a scale which represented a continuum, rather than a “passing” or “failing” grade…</p>