As seniors, we all should have taken part in the tragedy that is the Saturday morning SATs. Some students obsess and stress over these numbers, while others simply fill in the bubbles. However, it is a common belief that the writing section of the SATs 'don't count' and that they 'don't matter so why should we even try?' Many students stress over the critical reading and cram for the math. They stuff last minute vocabulary words and test-taking strategies into their heads, but they ignore the writing section. Why is this? Does the writing section count? The short answer? Yes!
The writing section measures a student's ability to recognize and conform to the conventions of standard written English. The section consits of a 25 minute student-written essay as well as multiple choice questions. Students often undervalue this section with the thought that it does not count or that colleges do not look at the score. This simply isn't true. Unless a college specifically tells you they only look at the math and reading, they check out the writing too. Why do they check this? Schools have been compiling data from the SATs and the writing tests are shown to be a good indicator of how a student will perform the first year of college. The essay requires a student to think deeply and analytically about a topic and provide multiple examples in a brief 25 minutes.
Writing is also a big indicator because many freshman in college have to write and turn in a lot of papers. I'ts that simple. If you can write well in a 25 minute span, you should write a good paper in the years to come. If a student struggles to write, they may struggle their freshman year and subsequently drop out. This is a risk for schools, and it is exactly the type of student they wish to steer clear of.
So, the writing section does count, and colleges do look at it. It is a good indicator of your writing as well as your ability to think critically in a limited span of time. The writing section does matter afterall.
http://collegeapps.about.com/od/sat/f/sat-writing-section.htm
http://www.proprofs.com/mwiki/index.php/SAT_Myths
A timely and relevant post.
ReplyDeleteWriting is something most people don't stress over. Some people feel like writing is a skill rather than something they can be taught. But what they fail to realize is that the SAT searches for certain things within the essay. You can be an extradorniary writer or a poor writer, but if you include the specifics that test is looking for you will succeed.
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