<p>Bettina, colleges will get access to the essay unlike the Writing SAT2 where they get only the composite score on the test. They will not be sent the essay, but they can get it. For those adcoms who see a perfectly polished phenomonal essay but a low Writing scores, they can see the actual Writing essay and see if the grading was off or if there is a huge discrepancy. </p>
<p>Private schools have done this for years. When you take the ISEE, you need to write an essay in the testing room and the schools get to see that essay. It is a good assessment of how well a student can write on the spot.</p>