Ok, thanks. I guess that's both good and bad news. I was hoping that there would be no essay writing at all, but at least it's optional and there is a way out if DD does not get past this angst by the time she has to take the test. It seems like the scoring of an essay would be so subjective.
MY DS16 has the same problem with writing and needs to take the SAT next year. My son will get freeze with the essay writing and put down nothing. I figure he may have to take the SAT a few times because it might just mean hitting the right prompt. It's a very frustrating problem in H.S. At least he takes the PSAT first and that doesn't have an essay.
At least with the new test his writing score won't have to include the essay score. Even in the 'old' test many schools let you superscore. Take the best score from each section to make your total.
