<p>Based on PSAT and test prep results, it looks like my son will score about 100 points less on the writing section of the SAT than on the reading and math sections. Some of the colleges he is interested in - according to their common data sets - don't consider the writing section for admissions, but others do.</p>
<p>I realize this is a very broad question, but does anyone have any feel for how much weight colleges put on the writing score when they do consider it? I am guessing that the math and reading are more important, since colleges have more experience with their predictive value, but that may be wishful thinking on my part :)</p>
<p>Most college tours I went on, the admissions offices told us that they didn’t really know what to make of the writing yet. I believe 70% don’t consider it. I believe some schools, like Duke, average the two scores. Others use it to check in case they have questions about the essay. Others use it for placement.</p>
<p>If you go to collegeboard dot com and put in the college and go to the sat section they usually tell you what they use the score for lower down on the page.</p>
<p>bump! I am curious as well!</p>
<p>The SAT Writing score is probably the easiest to improve, of the three sections. I’d suggest that your son take a look at silverturtle’s guide to the writing section on the SAT Preparation part of the forum. Alternatively (part of silverturtle’s guide is overkill, in terms of preparation), he should work on identifying a few of the extremely common types of questions that appear on the writing test. In particular, they test parallelism (e.g., using the same forms of verbs or clauses when connected by “and,” “or,” “nor,” or “but”), agreement of subject and verb in number, indefinite pronoun reference, dangling participles, proper use of verb tenses, choice of the correct preposition to go with a noun or verb, use of the infinitive “to [verb]” vs. a gerund “[verb]ing,” and comparisons (two types usually–the two things being compared must be of the same general category, which sometimes requires insertion of phrases such as “those of” that might otherwise look awkward; and you can’t use “most,” “best,” or “worst” when comparing only two things), and sometimes logical choice of conjunctions (such as “while” or “although”). One more item crops up very frequently: the dreaded (by CB) comma splice. This involves connecting two complete sentences with a comma, without a conjunction. It is to be avoided.</p>
<p>I think that understanding these issues could raise a writing score by 60+ points all by themselves.</p>