Do colleges really just disregard the writing score?

<p>I got a 790 on the writing portion of the SAT.
It's my highest score and quite honestly I wish colleges look at the writing score more than they look at the reading score. I scored 710 in reading :(
Anyways, when colleges say they don't take the writing score into consideration, do they really mean to suggest that they will completely disregard it?</p>

<p>It depends on the college. A good number of them look at the writing section as much as they do the other sections. Others don’t look at your writing score at all…meaning that you could get a 500 or an 800 and your application wouldn’t be affected either way.</p>

<p>I don’t know whether or not to believe colleges when they say that. Obviously a school that admits by formula will ignore it if they promised to ignore it, but I have trouble believing that an admissions officer making a subjective decision, who can’t avoid knowing the writing score, won’t have it in their mind when they look at the app, especially if it’s so low as to raise red flags.</p>

<p>I don’t even think they see the writing score if it’s not a factor in their decision. That’s just a guess though as I’m not an admissions officer and have no idea how the process actually works</p>