<p>I am a student in the class of 2011, and have a 3.9 GPA at a strong private high school while taking several AP/Honors classes, and on the SAT I got 730 for CR, 740 for Math, and 670 for Writing. I have taken only one official SAT, but have taken lots of practice SAT's. The 730 was by far my best CR score, 740 on Math was expected, but 670 for writing was a little below what I wanted (goal:700+). I'm looking at USC, Northwestern, Georgetown, Duke, Stanford, Rice and Cornell for college, and I'm wondering if I need to take the SAT again in order to get into these schools. If I take the SAT again I think I can bring up my writing score, and maybe increase my math score as well, but I'm worried about tanking next time on the CR section. Is it worth it to take the test again to bring my superscore SAT up to a 2170-2200 from a 2140? I've heard many schools do not consider the writing section, or at least consider it less than the CR and Math, but I'm wondering if the writing section is becoming more important since it's been around several years now. How important is the SAT writing section right now, and based on my scores and GPA, should I take the SAT to increase my writing score, while risking a decrease in CR (In the past I've had CR scores between 590-660) that may make my 730 look suspicious? Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>Your question is not important to the point that it needs to be put on the College Admissions page on College Confidential forever. Plus, stop giving your own thread a 5 star rating. </p>
<p>A lot of schools don’t care about your writing score. However, just because colleges don’t care about your writing score, doesn’t mean you don’t need to write that mcuh in college. </p>
<p>Good luck. Plus, you knew I was in a way joking.</p>
<p>bump.</p>
<p>I have 730 CR, 800 M, 680 W - don’t want the latter to ruin my chances at ivy :(</p>
<p>I’ve been told many times that the SAT writing section is considered the best indicator of academic success in college. Google it and check out the links.</p>
<p>[sat</a> writing section indicator of college success - Google Search](<a href=“sat writing section indicator of college success - Google Search”>sat writing section indicator of college success - Google Search)</p>
<p>First link is from the CollegeBoard.
Second link has some hard data from a UGA study and is a bit more interesting. Obviously I can’t say for sure, but I’m betting adcoms have all read this. The study was published spring 2009.
Last link on first page still says the writing section is predictive, but only by a slight margin.</p>
<p>That sounds so ludicrous, given the nature of the Writing section. I’m taking a university level Lit. seminar (Modernism and Critical Theory) and am getting 90’s. I don’t think my 680 in writing is any indication of either my writing abilities or my future performance in college. I think the Critical Reading and Math are far better predictors because they actually resemble what is actually done in college (problem solving & understanding and getting something out of massive chunks of text since even science majors in college have to do a LOT of intense reading). I’m a published author and I got 680 on the writing, by far my lowest score by 50 points. This makes me want to scream!!</p>
<p>What’s more, on the ACT writing, I got 6 the first time I took it and 10 the second time - both essays were at a similar level (I used the same “formula” and responded to the topic at hand). This whole 2 minutes per essay is ridiculous. My teachers tell me they spend 20 minutes or more per essay when grading. They said there is NO WAY anyone can accurately gauge a student’s exact writing ability in 2 minutes or less.</p>
<p>What’s funny is that the writing section is handwritten. Many of today’s students are more comfortable with keyboarding – which is how college papers are now done. So a low score on an archaic system may not be such a hot indicator.</p>
<p>While it depends on the college, I have heard numerous times that:</p>
<p>*a poor Writing score can hurt you somewhat. (i.e., low-mid 600s, or a score which is considerably lower than your M/CR scores) </p>
<p>*an “OK” Writing score (i.e., high 600s, low 700s) will probably have little effect on your application</p>
<p>*a very strong Writing Score (i.e., high 700s) could help you. </p>
<p>Some schools also look at the Writing score separately from your M/CR composite, almost as though it were a Subject test. </p>
<p>So, in short, I think that the Writing section does matter and is becoming increasingly important; however, how heavily it’s weighed depends on the college. You will be probably be just fine :)</p>