How 55 Questions and Three Essays Become a 1 to 5

The exam has two sections that get combined into one composite score. Section I, the multiple-choice questions, counts for 45 percent of that composite. Section II, the three essays, counts for 55 percent. Each essay is scored on the same rubric, out of six points, across three rows that track a thesis, use of evidence and commentary, and sophistication. So the essays alone outweigh every multiple-choice question put together, which is why a strong essay day can rescue a shaky multiple-choice day.

Because the composite is a weighted sum and not a strict percentage of questions answered correctly, there is no fixed cutoff like 90 percent for a 5 or 70 percent for a passing grade in a class. Readers and test-makers set the score boundaries each year based on how the whole pool of students performs and how hard that year's questions were. That is why missing a third of the multiple-choice questions does not doom a student: the essay scores, weighted more heavily, can still pull the composite into a strong range.

This weighting is exactly why the essays deserve the bulk of preparation time. Since each essay runs on the same three-row rubric regardless of which of the three essay types it is, a dependable approach that reliably earns four or five points per essay matters more than chasing a few extra multiple-choice questions. An essay left unfinished, scored a 1, drags down the heavier side of the composite far more than a handful of missed questions on the lighter side.