Sharpen your pencils, please

KIRKLAND, Wash. - Walter Busch is among the 300,000 high school juniors across the nation planning to sit down on Saturday to take the new SAT, which for the first time includes an essay. He says he's not sweating bullets because his school has drilled persuasive writing until it hurts his head and his hands.

But not all students are as confident. And not all universities are embracing the changes in the nation's leading college preparatory test, which can play a pivotal role in where a high school graduate goes to college.

The biggest change in the test is the essay. With its addition, the SAT has dropped analogies, in which students had to answer multiple-choice problems like: Bark is to dog as moo is to ...

At three hours and 45 minutes, the new test is 45 minutes longer than the old one, and a perfect score becomes 2400 instead of 1600. That's 800 points each for math, reading and writing.

Essay sought to improve weak writing skills
The mandatory essay was announced in 2002 to give schools plenty of time to prepare students, said Caren Scoropanos, a spokesperson for the College Board, which owns the test and is a nonprofit association of 4,500 schools, colleges and other educational groups.

Colleges and businesses had sought the change, she says, in hopes that "writing will become more of a priority across the United States."

Indeed, in 2001 the University of California threatened to drop the SAT unless a writing section was added, saying that fewer freshmen were prepared for the more intense writing requirements of college.

Businesses also want employees with polished writing skills because of society's greater reliance on computers for communication, according to a panel of educators and business leaders commissioned by the College Board.

Busch, a student at the public International Community School in Kirkland, a Seattle suburb, says his school took heed. "My school spends a lot of time on writing in general, so I am much more confident writing an essay than having to do analogies," the junior says.

Many, but not all, colleges have endorsed the new test. Supporters look forward to being able to read and compare SAT essays to college application essays, which many students receive help writing, and to factor in the SAT essay if a student's test scores conflict with English grades.

Opponents see barrier for poor
Among the dissenters is Georgetown University.

FREE VIDEO Taking the new SAT Seppy Basili, vice president of Kaplan Educational Services, talks with the "Today" show's Al Roker about what's new with the SAT. Today show

"For the next year Georgetown will not be looking at the written component of the SAT test as part of our decision-making process," said spokeswoman Julie Green Bataille.

Instead, she said, the university will consider math and reading scores, plus a student's overall academic record, extracurricular and community activities, and leadership qualities.

Charles Deacon, Georgetown's admissions director, recently elaborated on the policy, telling The Hoya, Georgetown's student newspaper, that “behind this rationale is our concern that the addition of a writing section adds both time and money, a barrier to low-income students, who will do better on an achievement-oriented basis.”

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