<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I’m yet another with very high Q and V scores and a surprisingly low writing score of 4.5. Teachers and professors routinely praised my writing ability when I was in school, I’ve always aced essay-based exams, and I’ve even done some freelance writing here and there for extra money. That’s not to say that I’m a particularly gifted writer, indeed my writing at times suffers from an excessively academic style burdened by long miltonic sentences that, while entirely correct in their construction, do make higher than usual demands on the intelligence and attention of the reader. If you were to accuse me of occasional pomposity and self-indulgence, I wouldn’t argue with you. But still…4.5? Come on!</p>
<p>I talked the situation over with a friend, and he suggested that harried ETS employees who might not have the time or patience to wade through one of my typically difficult compositions would likely be tempted to ding me for lack of clarity and move on to the next essay without a second thought. I am not sure how likely that is, but I do occasionally use obscure or slightly archaic turns of phrase and old-fashioned syntax that even an educated reader might consider “incorrect” if he didn’t know any better.</p>
<p>This is one explanation for why “good writers” might get low scores, and I realize it is pretty self-serving, but the time I spent as an undergrad grading appallingly incompetent student papers has me convinced that I am at least an above average writer.</p>
<p>I guess the problem here is that the AW section is pretty damned arbitrary and we don’t really know what ETS wants from us. If anyone here can offer any insight or speculation re: the AW grading process I would appreciate hearing from you.</p>