What do you think it means for new SAT writing section to be "optional"

<p>Do you think people will prepare for it? Will colleges care about the score? I know so much is speculation at this point, but just interested to see what commenters' thoughts are on the new "optional" part of the SAT</p>

<p>I think it’ll just be for the students who really don’t care about what college they get into. I imagine a lot of colleges will require you take this optional section, because it is important to be able to write a well structured essay that contains evidence to support your opinion. If you can’t do that, college would be pretty hard for you. Like I said, I think it’ll simply be for the students who don’t care too much.</p>

<p>I’m assuming, just like for the “optional” writing section of the ACT, the vast majority of students will choose to take it with writing. Most of the selective schools will probably require it. They might actually USE it more in admission (this is pure speculation) since it looks to be a better test of student writing ability than the previous essay. </p>