Anonymous wrote:What about the kids who graduate in 15-'16? Are they better off taking the ACT?

DC will be among the 1st to take the new SAT. We had always planned to take the SAT and ACT and submit the better score. We did the same when DC took the SSAT and ISEE for high school. Blew the ISEE out of the water and decent on the SSAT. Submitted the better score and was admitted.

What about the kids who graduate in 15-'16? Are they better off taking the ACT?

Anonymous wrote:I think getting rid of a written timed essay is a good thing. In real life (unless you are posting quickly on line) you get your free thoughts down on paper and then you revise, revise, revise. A timed essay is not how people produce good writing. It takes time to work something over. Sometimes you need to walk away from it and then come back to it. The SAT is not the place to write well. Good writing should be evaluated in other ways in the college admission process.

But at least it is proctored. Too many applicants get professional help with all the other admissions essays.

I think getting rid of a written timed essay is a good thing. In real life (unless you are posting quickly on line) you get your free thoughts down on paper and then you revise, revise, revise. A timed essay is not how people produce good writing. It takes time to work something over. Sometimes you need to walk away from it and then come back to it. The SAT is not the place to write well. Good writing should be evaluated in other ways in the college admission process.

Anonymous wrote:Even under the current SAT, many universities don't place a huge value on the writing section. They are still relying on the verbal and math to make their decisions.

There is no "verbal section" on the current SAT. What was on the old "verbal" section is now partly in critical reading and partly in writing. In other words, the current test separates reading and grammar. These two sections are going to be merged again in the new test. The essay gets graded on a 1-12 scale and was really a waste of time, but it has been useful to some colleges that use it to compare the writing quality to the common app essays to see if a student got help.

All of these tests are such a racket. I would love a collective boycott of all of the tests, APs, SAT, ACT. Colleges should rely on grades and applications. That should be enough.

Even under the current SAT, many universities don't place a huge value on the writing section. They are still relying on the verbal and math to make their decisions.

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how many colleges will still require the writing section though it will be optional?

Most probably will. That's the way it works with the ACT now.

I wonder how many colleges will still require the writing section though it will be optional?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is so mad. He probably would have gotten close to a 1600 on the revamped test.

But so would all the other high scorers. Dumbing down the test will are it less relevant.

That's okay. He got dragged down by the writing section for some reason, which most kids tend to do well on. He did well on the other 2 sections and would have done even better without the subtractions for a couple wrong answers.

are = make it*