<p>OK - just got my Oct scores and I am thrilled with the math and cr - but - they obviously did not like my essay and the writing was low. I know that some schools do not give the writing much weight - how about Harvard?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>...apparently, Harvard was instrumental in making Writing part
of the current SAT....</p>
<p>that's not what I wanted to hear - but thanks</p>
<p>Harvard reports score ranges for all three SAT sections, </p>
<p>which suggests each section is an element in the admission selection process.</p>
<p>Actually, it was the University of California system that made the College Board revamp the SAT I into what it is today. The UC Chancellor went on record saying that they would not require the SAT I since he felt that it was outdated and did not measure what the test was supposed to; that is, intellectual ability.</p>
<p>Because the UC system is one of the major players in college admissions (e.g., UCLA and UC Berkeley get over 20,000 applicants every year), the College Board was scared and decided to revamp the SAT I into what it is today.</p>
<p>xjayz is correct that it was the Univ of California system that drove the change. However, tokenadult makes an excellent point on Harvard's score reporting</p>
<p>would they concentrate on the essay score? Because I got a perfect multiple choice score but a really really low essay score... i guess it balanced out though because I got a 740 W</p>
<p>^ that doesn't make sense, why would they only concentrate of the essay part? they would consider the entire section..</p>
<p>Similar story here. I got all the multiple choice questions right but got a low score in the essay. So I just cant apply to Harvard then, can I?</p>
<p>skunk, I dont know what Harvard does with the essay, but in general, I have read that at the top colleges there's not a huge weight put on the SAT essay score, because it is evaluated formulaically and excellent writers can get low scores if they don't write to that formula. So it shouldn't discourage you from applying.</p>
<p>I think most Harvard students who do well on the math and CR sections will also do pretty well on the writing section. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's considered that strongly. FWIW, my son's writing score was a 690 twice, at the bottom of that 25%-75% range. His essay was a 7 the first time and a 9 the second time. His other scores, including SAT2s, were very high though.</p>
<p>I think that during the old SAT, Harvard required the SAT writing subject test so I'm guessing now they place a lot of weight on it.
They definitely don't disregard it.</p>
<p>No, Harvard did not require the SAT II Writing with the old SAT. Columbia did, and so did some other schools, but not Harvard. They always, and still, require any 3 SAT Subject tests</p>
<p>I've heard a secondary use of the SAT writing score is to try and compare it to your essay. Say, for example, you receive a 7 or 8 on your essay, but you write an outstanding essay, some doubt might be there as to the legitimacy of it, and whether you wrote it, or you got an older sibling/parent to write it. And Ailey is right, Harvard still requires any 3 subject tests.</p>
<p>An interesting question that I have always wondered about is whether the
SAT Writing is not checking your writing skill but your ability to dish
out what an university system might demand within the context of limited time....?</p>
<p>cricketmaster the SAT essay is based on a rubric that allows for close
to drivel to replace what passes for a good essay in the literary world.</p>
<p>I know from personal experience having written a good essay that got a
9 the first time around and drivel that got a 11 for my 800 score in
Writing second time around when I was careful to apply the rubric rather than
attempt a masterpiece. ;)</p>
<p>I've always read that admissions officers know that the way the SAT II Writing and now the SAT I Writing evaluate the essay section is flawed, and that many excellent writers will get low SAT essay scores. Which is why I tend to believe (just my opinion) that it is the least-heavily weighted part of the SAT I. It is definitely the case that the path to a good score is to follow the formula, not to write a good essay.</p>
<p>What I have read is that, if an applicant turns in a truly excellent essay, but nothing on the transcript or teacher recs indicates any turn for writing, the admissions officers may pull up the SAT I essay to see what it looks like. If it also shows no correlation to any writing skill of a level that could produce that essay, they could safely assume that the applicant got an unreasonable amount of help with his/her essay. (So it's not about producing a superb SAT I essay, but it's definitely the case that there will be a correlation in writing skill.)</p>
<p>I really doubt that an isolated low score on the essay part of the SAT-I would be a big drag on an otherwise strong application. If it becomes an issue the adcoms always have a chance to look at the actual essay and see what it is like.</p>
<p>Just as the new SAT was being accepted--when Yale went on record saying they didn't look at the Writing score, and Princeton said that they were giving it less importance than CR/M--Harvard said they were giving the Writing section as much weight as the other two sections. Since then, the Writing section has only become more accepted nationwide. My impression has been that, of HYP, Harvard has always been the one to consider the Writing section most fully, and I don't know why they would have stopped.</p>
<p>That said, I agree that one isolated low score on a single section is not the kiss of death.</p>