So I’ve been looking at many scholarships and colleges and the majority of them do not mention the new SAT at all, whatsoever except Harvard, which says it will accept it. The question is, although the essay is optional, do we need to take it?
We don’t know for sure yet, but my strong suspicion is that top-20 schools will almost universally require it, much as they used to require the SAT Writing subject test back before SAT-1 included Writing sections.
Before the test is first given, colleges will undoubtedly post on their websites whether the writing portion is required. I am guessing many that currently require the optional writing section for the ACT will likely do so for the new SAT.
I will repost the link I posted on another thread in this SAT forum. The table below consists of preliminary dispositions, and expect more of the Undecideds to move to the Yes column than to the No column. I.m.o., even beyond top 20. I think at the very least, most if not all colleges will say that they “accept” the score for submission even if they do not “require” it, which means non-essay-score-reporting students will be competing with score-reporters.
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/blog/2015/02/16/how-will-top-colleges-use-the-redesigned-sat/
The students who will most benefit from an optional submission will be those applying to state universities with typically high admission rates, as well as some more obscure private colleges with smallish application pools.