<p>At one info session we were told that the school considered the writing score because students do a lot of blue book essay tests during college that require a similar (?) quick response. This seemed nuts to me (parent) as the student taking an essay test would come prepared to write on the topic (not a surprise topic) and would be graded on knowledge about the subject more than the quality of the writing. I wish I could remember which school justified viewing the writing score based on that. </p>
<p>My personal feeling is that the writing score would act as a tie-breaker even if it was not typically viewed equally. It's hard to ignore or unknow information reported and it would be easy to compare these scores across two equally qualified students.</p>