statementory

Common App essay grader

How your essay is scored.

Seven dimensions, a fixed formula and a few clear ceilings. No mystery, and never a sentence written for you. Here is every rule behind the number.

Overall
73/100
Solid
Reflection & Insight5
Voice & Authenticity7
Character & Values5
Specificity & Detail7
Structure & Flow6
Focus & Prompt Fit6
Craft & Mechanics7

Illustration. Every report shows your own scores.

Step 1 · Seven dimensions

Each one scored out of 10.

Reflection, voice and character carry 55% of the overall between them, because they are what the essay shows that nothing else in your application can.

18%Weighs most
Reflection & Insight

How your thinking changed, not just what happened.

18%Weighs most
Voice & Authenticity

Whether it sounds like one particular person: you.

18%Weighs most
Character & Values

What a reader learns about who you are.

11%Refines
Specificity & Detail

Moments, names and objects, shown rather than told.

11%Refines
Structure & Flow

An opening you earn and an ending that lands.

11%Refines
Focus & Prompt Fit

One focused story, not a résumé in prose.

11%Refines
Craft & Mechanics

Clarity, concision, grammar and rhythm.

Scored twice, independently, then averaged.

The overall comes from a fixed formula, not a number picked freely, so the same essay gets the same score.

Step 2 · Calibration

Set against essays that worked.

The scale is calibrated on essays that colleges themselves published as examples of essays that worked, plus weaker drafts of the same essays. A typical published example lands around 80, in the Strong band. A typical first draft lands in Developing.

That means a 70 is a real compliment, and a 90 is rare.

90+
Exceptional
Memorable and unmistakably yours. Rare.
80–89
Strong
Vivid throughout, with insight that feels earned and particular to you.
70–79
Solid
Specific and mostly in your voice; a reader remembers one clear thing.
55–69
Developing
A real story; reflection stays on the surface. The most common first draft.
40–54
Early draft
A topic and some events; the lesson could be anyone's.

Step 3 · Ceilings

A few problems cap the score.

Some problems sink an essay however polished the rest is, so they set a maximum. The report always tells you when one applies and how to lift it.

Length
From the exact word count.
Under 250 words
max 35
250–399 words
max 70
Over 650 words
max 79
Content
The first four only when the related dimension is also low.
Résumé in prose
Achievements listed instead of one story, and Focus is low.
max 58
You are mostly absent
The essay is about someone else, and Character is low.
max 62
Hardship without reflection
What happened, but not what it changed, and Reflection is low.
max 65
Generic reflection
A lesson anyone could write, and Reflection is low.
max 68
Stock opening or ending, or a college named
A definition, a famous quote, "that is why I want to attend".
max 76
AI-written text
From an independent AI detector, never the model's guess.
The detector reads the essay as machine-written
max 45
The detector reads part of it as machine-written
max 62
The detector could not run on your essay
max 69

Why the AI ceiling? Common App treats submitting AI-generated content as your own as fraud, and readers react to machine-written essays the same way detectors do. Read more in can colleges tell if you used AI.

Questions

Is the score a prediction of admission?

No. Colleges weigh grades, course rigor, activities, recommendations and much more. The score measures the essay as writing and as a window into who you are, and tells you what to fix first.

Why do reflection, voice and character count most?

Because they are what the essay can show that nothing else in your application can. Together they carry 55% of the score. Grammar and structure refine an essay; they never rescue one that reveals nothing.

Will I get the same score if I submit the same essay twice?

Very close to it. Each essay is scored in two independent passes that are averaged, and the overall is calculated from the dimension scores with a fixed formula rather than picked freely, which keeps it steady.

What score should I aim for?

Most first drafts land in Developing (55–69). An essay in the 80s is vivid, specific and clearly yours. Use the score to track progress between drafts, and the notes to decide what to change.

My essay was written by me. Can the AI ceiling still apply?

Detectors are not perfect. If the check flags an essay you wrote yourself, the report shows which lines read as template-like, which is useful to revise anyway. If you think the result is wrong, write to us and we will look at it.

See where your essay lands.

Your score, all seven dimensions, a note on every sentence and a revision plan, in 5–10 minutes. $9.99. No account.

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