<p>Neither they, nor the CollegeBoard, knows whether they are better off or not. But since the writing portion was modeled on the old SATII Writing, the current assumption is that they are indeed better off. CollegeBoard didn’t lose its biggest customer. And in a few years, UCal will know whether they got what they want. Then there may be another round of changes - the CollegeBoard has changed the SATs repeatedly over the past 4 decades, and will continue to do so according to customer preference.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the limited information they have “suggests” that the writing portion of the SAT will give them a more accurate measure than anything else.</p>