MCAT writing: forgot to delete scratchwork

[restrential]

Just took the MCAT today. For my first essay, I forgot to delete about 5-6 lines of outlining/scratchwork before I ran out of time. This means that the readers who see the essay will see a several lines of almost pure garbage, 2 empty lines, and then a very clear start to a well-developed essay.

What do you guys think, will this significantly influence the scoring of this essay? Common sense tells me that the readers will find it obvious that they should start grading from the moment I sound cogent, since there is such a huuuge discrepancy between the first couple lines with the essay itself. Oh, and I also very clearly restate my outline ideas within the essay itself. My gut tells me that it should be fine, but I'm still a little worried.

I'm going to give the AAMC a call on Monday, but I was hoping for some opinions before then. Thanks a bunch, guys!

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[macsta]

The good news is that if the computer gives your essay a score that is significantly different from the score given my a human grader (who might be more forgiving of garbage), then a third (hopefully human and also forgiving of garbage) grader will be asked to read your essays.

Yep.

And don't sweat it. The WS is a joke.

 

[thestrokes14]

Wait, a computer grades your essay??? How? I did not know this at all.

 

[baylor1989]

how does a computer grade your essay? ha.

2 REAL people grade your essay. And if the grades differ by more than 2 letter grades (ex. one person gives you T and another gives you Q), than a third person will be called in to grade it. Not sure what they do after that....mean of all 3? median of all 3?

Anyways, calling aamc on Monday won't do you anything. They aren't the ones to grade essays. And they have no say so or know how it will be graded.

And you're not the first person that has done that. Yes, grammar/spelling, etc. counts. I am sure the readers will catch onto the rough draft. So, they will still grade your essay in a fair mannor, but expect a few points lower. And "bit" is an abstract term. Noone here knows how large, and you'd never find out the grade with and without the careless error.

Just got to wait till you get your score ;]

And if you're applying to Duke, I wouldn't worry about it. My writing score was close to the national average and I go in there and a hand full of other places, no one ever asked me anything about it

 

[Melomare17]

i think the computer checks mostly the spelling of common/normal words and adjectives and the total length of the essay in terms of characters/lines per paragraph. it doesnt actually grade it as a human grader.

i would rather use aamc, instead of princeton review, as the legit source for who actually grades it:
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/preparing/85436/preparing_understandingscores.html

Your raw score on the Writing Sample is determined by adding the scores you receive on each of the two responses you write. Because two different readers rate each response, your total raw Writing score is the sum of the four scores: two for the first response and two for the second.

no computer is skilled enough to actually grade your essay, since people use examples and the terms used/proper nouns won't show up on any computer, which would pretty much mark that part wrong.

 

[whiteshadodw]

i think the computer checks mostly the spelling of common/normal words and adjectives and the total length of the essay in terms of characters/lines per paragraph. it doesnt actually grade it as a human grader.

i would rather use aamc, instead of princeton review, as the legit source for who actually grades it:
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/preparing/85436/preparing_understandingscores.html



no computer is skilled enough to actually grade your essay, since people use examples and the terms used/proper nouns won't show up on any computer, which would pretty much mark that part wrong.

Scantron essay sheet. now available at the bookstore nearest you. sometimes the stuff i hear is so lolz. how could anyone think a computer grades your essay? that's like saying a computer writes the test.

 

[NickNaylor]

Scantron essay sheet. now available at the bookstore nearest you. sometimes the stuff i hear is so lolz. how could anyone think a computer grades your essay? that's like saying a computer writes the test.

I've taken tests where free response essays were graded entirely by computers, and that was more than 5 years ago. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if one of the readers was a computer. Notice that the AAMC info that was quoted didn't actually say whether the computers were human or not.

 

[thestrokes14]

For those who don't feel like reading through the entire document I posted above:

See page 15:

"How is the WS scored?
• Each essay is scored twice on a 6-point scale:
-Human
-Machine
• This results in four scores (2 scores for each essay)
• These scores are summed (4-24) and then
converted to the alphabetic scale"

See page 16:

"How much do human and machine raters agree?
Type of Agreement Perfect (same score) 71% Adjacent (1 score point) 28% Discrepant (2+ score points) <1%
HHuman-Computer
>99%
• Rater agreement on MCAT WS is similar to that reported for the GMAT (perfect + adjacent = 97%)."

See page 17:

"What happens when human and
machine raters disagree?
•• When human and machine raters disagree by 2
points or more, supervising readers review the
essay.
• The supervising reader gives the essay a total score (2-12)."

Yes, it does say that. Not sure why it was published in 2009. But still, it actually troubles me that a computer and a human can read an essay and agree on a score. I just don't see how a computer can appreciate the content like a human can. And I also don't believe grading based on grammar and spelling should correlate with a holistic reading by a human....

 

[thestrokes14]

FWIW, the AAMC plans to eliminate the WS from the MCAT in the future.

I actually think it's pretty cool that a computer grades the essays and that the agreement between human and computer graders is acceptable...kind of makes me want to take a computer programming class. (I guess I'm a nerd )

Heh, yeah sure it's cool. But this actually reminds me of some news I read about a few months ago. Remember that robot Watson that played Jeopardy against the best? Well, apparently Watson is also being used to diagnose diseases. It turns out it was extremely accurate with its diagnosis (and better than a live doctor). It sort of makes you wonder what role doctors will play in the future, you know?

PS: Programming is NOT fun. haha.

 

[restrential]

Just got my score back - thought I'd share, in case someone else looks into this thread in the future.

My writing score was an R, correlating to approx the 90th percentile. Guess the readers were forgiving after all! Yay, I'm happy.

 

[gotta go]

Just got my score back - thought I'd share, in case someone else looks into this thread in the future.

My writing score was an R, correlating to approx the 90th percentile. Guess the readers were forgiving after all! Yay, I'm happy.

nice job.

 

[SeminoleVesicle]

Just got my score back - thought I'd share, in case someone else looks into this thread in the future.

My writing score was an R, correlating to approx the 90th percentile. Guess the readers were forgiving after all! Yay, I'm happy.

Congrats