<p>OK, this is a beef so take it for what it is worth. I see much angst about the essay/writing portion of the SAT. Before spending too much time on this area, check with your college on whether they even take it into account. Most of the state flagships son is applying to don't even look at this portion of the SAT--and if they do, they totally ignore the essay score. For scholarships, like NM, college-based etc it likely matters. Maybe it is critical at LAC. However, before you spend a lot of time on this check with your admissions counselor. Nothing like nailing multiple 12s and finding it doesn't matter. Not sure why College Board is still including this portion if it is not being used by colleges.</p>
<p>It’s a risky strategy to “ignore” the SAT writing in preparing for the SAT exam.</p>
<p>In practice college counselors look at the aggregate SAT score, as do many admissions officers. They draw inferences from the aggregate SAT score regarding the candidate – i.e. a first impression. Perhaps some counselors and admissions officers then proceed to parse the score, and since they may view the writing as less important than the CR and math they moderate their impression of a poor writing sub-score. But perhaps not.</p>
<p>And there is another reason to pay attention to the SAT writing. Strong writing skills are pretty basic to writing the college essays, and for this reason alone paying attention and practicing for the SAT writing can improve an applicant’s chances at top colleges.</p>