Is it true that writing doesn’t count as much as math and cr, so that all 2200s are not equal?
<p>key to success: have your score as balanced as possible (and as high as possible)</p>
<p>this way, hypothetical issues such as this one will not have to come up (and this is honest, not intended to be, in any way, offensive to you)</p>
<p>I don't think this is a hypothetical, I think there is a factual answer.</p>
<p>There's a difference between a 1400 (old) SAT with an 800 SAT2 writing and a 1500 SAT with a 700 SAT2 writing. Since colleges are breaking down scores this way (at least for the Highschool class of 2006), then yes, not all 2200s are made equal.</p>
<p>While Writing is still an integral part of the SAT, a lot of colleges will not be using them to their full extent for a few years, until more information is established.</p>
<p>Not only that, many schools are considering writing less than critical reading and math because it is new, unproven, and no percentiles or other info exists for it. You are right in that not all 2200s are equal. Colleges are more interested in subscores. As long as you have a decent writing score, your score on the new SAT should basically be math+critical reading for practically all schools. Ivies and Stanford will be careful with the first set of scores, and writing will be considered but not as much as the other two sections.</p>
<p>For the top two UC's, an unhooked kid will need 700+ on W.....</p>
<p>A repeat of something I had posted several days ago on Parents' Forum:</p>
<h2>How Colleges are Using New SAT Essay </h2>
<p>What I find interesting is:
1. Colleges may compare the essay to the student's application essay. This may end up weeding out a lot of students who have been cheating by having their essays professionally written.</p>
<ol>
<li>While other postings have quoted College Board as saying that errors of fact will not hurt essay's scores, colleges probably will not be that charitable if they see students doing things like writing that "Anna Karenina" is a comedy, as occurred in a high scoring essay quoted in a story posted last week on this site. </li>
</ol>
<p>May 15 New York Times:
"Three years after the College Board increased students' anxieties with its decision to add a handwritten essay to the SAT, and three months after the test made its debut, many universities are still grappling with how, when and even if they will use the new scores.</p>
<p>So far, less than half of the nation's colleges and universities have said they will require next year's applicants to submit writing scores. It remains an open question, however, whether they will give the essay scores as much weight as those on the reading and math sections. </p>
<p>Institutions may also decide to compare an applicant's SAT essay with the application essay, which are typically more polished. </p>
<p>'We know of 429 out of about 1,600 four-year colleges that have said they're going to require the writing test, but many of them are taking a wait-and-see attitude about using the scores in admissions, and that makes sense," said Brian O'Reilly, a College Board official. </p>
<p>The College Board itself is sounding a note of caution about using the first round of scores.</p>
<p>"We have never recommended that schools use it in admissions decisions right away," said Chiara Coletti, a College Board spokeswoman. "Since this is a new test, it makes sense to be careful in how it's used the first year....'"
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/e...agewanted=print%5B/url%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/e...agewanted=print</a></p>
<p>
[quote]
For the top two UC's, an unhooked kid will need 700+ on W.....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You've mentioned this before, bluebayou. Is this your opinion, or do you have inside information?</p>
<p>The formula for UCs is not so clear cut, from my experience. Your GPA in the courses they approve is still the biggest factor.
At Berkeley, in the past, a writing score of 680 is what they have used to let kids pass out of the freshman writing course. I would expect that they will at least accept scores at that level if all other factors are very high. ie, 4.2+ ucw gpa and 2200 SAT with challenging courses and a great essay.</p>
<p>another interesting note, is that a 680 on the new writing is far less wrong than a 680 on the SAT-II version of the test.</p>
<p>True. The CB has specifically said that the scores on the new test and old Writing II don't correlate, which is why colleges are leaning away from using them for admissions.</p>
<p>They have also said that the Math and CR scores DO correlate with the old SATI.</p>
<p>"They have also said that the Math and CR scores DO correlate with the old SATI."</p>
<p>...Right, so you should try to focus on those two parts the most because as long as the correlation is still there, colleges are probably more likely to continue evaluating SAT scores the way they were before. That is not to say to forget about writing since there has been no correlation between the exams as of yet, but you should not think that colleges will neglect to break down the cumulative score in order to determine what your distribution was.</p>
<p>It is likely that the Writing curve is harsher on the SAT than the SATII is because they probably want the mean to be 500 rather than 600 which the SATII middle 50% was.</p>
<p>gexxman,
You make a good point. The curve for the Writing SAT II also probably reflected the fact that in general, only top students took that test because only the most selective colleges in the country require SAT IIs.</p>