<p>If my SAT scores are M750 CR 740 W650</p>
<p>If I have good ECs and good grades, how would schools like Amherst and UPenn see that 650?</p>
<p>Oooh also I am from South Dakota.</p>
<p>Please......</p>
<p>Ure fine dude..they dont count writing at top schools cause the thing is still relatively new and they think it can be coached and is stupid...ur good dude...and i would love to trade scores with u lol....i got a 740 in ws</p>
<p>i heard upenn weighs writing the same as math and CR. Obviously it's not good if you score 500 on writing an 700's on math and CR, but your 640 is okay although its still below the avg for top schools.</p>
<p>"they dont count writing at top schools cause the thing is still relatively new and they think it can be coached and is stupid"</p>
<p>rsamp2008; Any links to support that? Some "top schools" complete data sets seem to suggest otherwise.</p>
<p>OP, historically at least, reading and math is AT LEAST as important as writing. There's a link to a chart on some college confidential thread that lists how various schools weighted the writing score, but it was from the graduating class of '07. It might not be worth searching for.</p>
<p>Here it is..not really "new" this is from '06</p>
<p>KAPLAN</a> EXCLUSIVE: New SAT Scoring Policies from 374 Top Schools</p>
<p>I've read based on recent research that a student's score on the writing section best predicts his or her success in college and therefore is growing in importance at most top schools.</p>
<p>
[quote]
they think it can be coached
[/quote]
That's irrelevant--you can't have a "coach" with you on test day so no matter how you learned how to write like you do on the test, you still know how to write that way.</p>
<p>Writing can be very important. Lots of colleges report the interquartile range of writing section scores for their admitted students. </p>
<p>You can apply to find out where you might get in. Good luck in your applications.</p>
<p>^ At every college I visited, an admissions officer went out of his/her way to say that they do not use the writing section. There was a study by an MIT professor that completely invalidates the SAT essay as a measure of writing ability. By "coachable" he means that the methods to generate a good SAT essay are formulaic and can be premeditated, whereas good writing require ingenuity. </p>
<p>I am not biased, I didn't do poorly on writing.</p>
<p>Which colleges did you visit?</p>
<p>"There was a study by an MIT professor that completely invalidates the SAT essay as a measure of writing ability"</p>
<p>Still, only a third of the score comes from the essay. The majority comes from the mc which has been in use for many years as a subject test. Some felt it was valid enough to be included in the reasoning teat, and to no longer be optional. And yes, I am biased.</p>
<p>SAT</a> How the Test Is Scored</p>
<p>"Writing Section Subscores
The raw scores for the multiple-choice writing section are converted to scaled scores that are reported on a 20-80 scale. Every SAT Reasoning Test contains a 25-minute essay. The essay subscore is reported on a 2-12 scale. (Essays that are not written on the essay assignment, or which are considered illegible after several attempts at reading, receive a score of 0.) Each essay is independently scored from 1 to 6 by two readers. These readers' scores are combined to produce the 2-12 scale. If the two readers' scores differ by more than one point, a third reader scores the essay. The multiple-choice writing section counts for approximately 70% and the essay counts for approximately 30% of your total raw score, which is used to calculate your 200-800 score. "</p>
<p>I see everywhere on CC that SAT Writing "doesn't matter". However, when I look at the Scattergrams at CollegeData, the spread in average SAT's between the accepted and rejected differs nearly as much for the Writing as it does for Critical Reading. At most colleges, the difference in average admit/reject SAT differs less for Math than for Writing (an no one ever says Math SAT is inconsequential). If SAT Writing "didn't matter", the spread between Accepted and Rejected would differ only insofar as the Writing correlated with other measures. But the Writing average admit/reject SAT spread is robust, which must indicate that Writing has its own independent effect on admissions. </p>
<p>At Stanford, for example, look at the spread between Accepted and Rejected for CR, M, and W, and see what appears to be having the greatest and least effect. Sample other colleges and class years at that site, and see whether it appears W has its own effect on admissions.</p>
<p>Didn't most schools originally require the SAT Writing SUBJECT test???
That means they placed a lot of weight on writing, so it makes absolutely no sense to me how some schools can just completely ignore it now that it has become part of the reasoning test...i mean at least consider it for christ's sake, don't ignore it. I'm probably biased though..</p>
<p>
[quote]
Didn't most schools originally require the SAT Writing SUBJECT test?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'm not sure it was ever a lot of schools that required it, but I think Harvard was one of them. That's why I'm wary of saying that most top colleges disregard the writing test--I suspect some regard it quite a lot. </p>
<p>But, again, in the individual case, the way for an applicant to know his chances is to apply widely and see what happens.</p>
<p>a few colleges I visited: Georgetown, chicago, Nwestern, emory, vanderbilt. all said they dont look at writing. </p>
<p>I agree, most colleges object to writing on the basis of the essay. I had 780s on math and reading but a 710 on writing; and I only had 3 M.C. questions wrong on writing (9 essay). I didn't study btw, the rubric used for SAT essay is clearly very different from the expectations of my english teachers.</p>
<p>Many kids at my school study neurotically for the SAT. Consequently, many end up with mediocre math and CR scores and very high writing scores. This bit of anecdotal evidence speaks for itself.</p>