<p>I'm in the same situation (perfect CR and M, poor essay) and my counselor told me that, if I have A's in my English classes and did well on the W multiple choice, admissions officers will probably see the essay score as a fluke. They know it's subjective anyway.</p>
<p>You don't need a 12 on the essay to get an 800 in W. S got a 9. All you need is to get all the questions right. In any case, as the Writing test "matures" I think the schools will take it more and more into consideration.</p>
<p>so overall, do colleges look at the score out of 2400 more or each individual M/CR/W score more?</p>
<p>M + CR is weighted higher than writing. </p>
<p>I think for the most part, colleges will treat the W score as just another subject test.</p>
<p>Look at the school's policy. I heard from an admissions officer at MIT that they don't consider writing.</p>
<p>So do the ones that do consider writing in any way look at your essay and your MC separately?</p>
<p>Probably not. It's the scaled final score that matters.</p>