Interpreting Your SAT Writing Score
The Writing portion is scored between 200 and 800, but it also offers two sub-scores. The essay sub-score ranges from 0 to 12. The multiple-choice sub-score ranges from 20 to 80.
The essay accounts for roughly a third of your overall Writing score and the multiple choice accounts for the other two thirds.
To get a sense for your relative performance in these two areas, put a "0" on the end of the multiple-choice sub-score. For instance, a multiple choice sub-score of 47 would become a 470. If your overall Writing score was higher than 470, then your essay was stronger helped bring you up. If your overall Writing score was lower than 470, then your essay was weaker and brought you down.