SAT and ACT optional writing test

Test Preparation
1

I have some questions regarding the writing test for these two:

  1. When a college states that it is 'not required', does that mean that even if I take it, they will not look at it? I met with a Princeton University rep, and the lady told me that they will not look at it.
  2. Since I am an international student, is it recommended that I take it?
  3. Do literature students find the SAT essay easier than ACT's, since SAT's more to analysing the passage?

Thank you! :slight_smile:

2

Typically it means they won’t look at/consider it. Fewer and fewer schools want the written components as they realize they provide little value.

Unless you have a specific school in mind that requires it, there’s no reason to take it.

3

Princeton no longer uses it. Like some others, it has gone in the last four years from requiring the essay, to only recommending it, to now instead requiring the submission of a graded written paper from high school.

As to other colleges, you need to check what they actually say. Some are like Princeton. For others, if the college says the writing is not required and says nothing else about it, then it will most likely not even consider it. However, there are some others that do not require the essay but state they recommend it, accept it, or consider it, in which case it may get some consideration.