Writing portion of SAT - importance

<p>Some people I know say colleges don't care at all about writing they just combine CR and Math. I think it does because colleges look at the whole 2400 score so writing factors in, also the writing includes an essay portion too. How important is writing?</p>

<p>theres a list on this forum somewhere. about 1/4 of schools give it equal weight, including duke, harvard, and stanford</p>

<p>probably 1/3 give it the weight of an SAT II, including UIUC, and a lot of other schools in the midwest and the UCs i think</p>

<p>But the majority still dont consider it, including university of michigan and yale.</p>

<p>what about university of virginia and johns hopkins</p>

<p>I think Yale considers the writing section. Certainly, if you take the ACT for Yale, you have to take the ACT with writing, so why wouldn't Yale consider the SAT writing section? </p>

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<p><a href="http://www.yale.edu/admit/faq/applying.html#2%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yale.edu/admit/faq/applying.html#2&lt;/a> </p>

<p>See also </p>

<p><a href="http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4123&profileId=6%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4123&profileId=6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Looks like UVA considers it. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113392427118515919.html?mod=pj_careers_hs_coll_left%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113392427118515919.html?mod=pj_careers_hs_coll_left&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"We are using it," says John Blackburn, dean of admissions at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He says his school has long relied on the supplemental SAT subject test for writing, on which the new SAT section is modeled. Such supplemental tests are generally required at more-selective schools, in addition to the main SAT. Mr. Blackburn says he is convinced that the new section "is going to put more emphasis on writing in high schools across the country."</p>

<p>And they use it for English placement too (see question 2)
<a href="http://www.engl.virginia.edu/undergraduate/writing/FAQ.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.engl.virginia.edu/undergraduate/writing/FAQ.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Just a heads-up: that article (from the journal) is from 2005, and schools may be changing their policies about the Writing section.</p>

<p>Yale went on record in the NYT saying that they were completely disregarding the writing scores, for instance. I believe that was in 2006??</p>

<p>I am curious whether the FAQ on their site means that they giving the SAT I Writing equal weight, or simply that they are requiring it.</p>

<p>If I were a student or a mom, I'd call the admissions offices of the schools I was considering and ask about it, I guess. Couldn't hurt.</p>

<p>The article mentions a Kaplan survey <a href="http://www.kaptest.com/Kaplan/Article/College/SAT/Learn-About-the-SAT/CO_sat_surveyresults.html;jsessionid=FCEWCVZ44TXKBLA3AQJXBM3MDUCBE2HC%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.kaptest.com/Kaplan/Article/College/SAT/Learn-About-the-SAT/CO_sat_surveyresults.html;jsessionid=FCEWCVZ44TXKBLA3AQJXBM3MDUCBE2HC&lt;/a> In that survey Yale says they accord no weight to the writing section. Yale isn't mentioned in the WSJ article. </p>

<p>I agree that things can change over time. Directing questions to the admissions office of the target school is probably the best way to get accurate info.</p>