The SJSU Writing Skills Test

Submitted by bj on Sat, 2004-11-20 12:00.

(Recovered from Google's cache. Yay, Google!)

I completed the Writing Skills Test (WST) today (2004-11-20), and thought I'd share my experience with those planning an SJSU transfer.

Background

The WST is an English composition test that is required for placement in any major's 100W class (like ENGR 100W or CS 100W). Since 100W is usually a pre- or co-requisite for most upper-division classes, you WILL be taking this test if you're going for a Bachelor's degree. You do NOT need to be an admitted student to take it--they (illegally IIRC) use your Social Security Number to identify you. As a result, it behooves you to take it ASAP, especially if you've been doing a lot of writing lately (e.g. in Kawamoto's ENGR 10 class at Mission).

It's not that hard if you've been writing recently to any degree, but it's not that easy, either.

Structure

If you sign up in advance (highly recommended), you get an "admission ticket" in the mail with a date, time and place to be. Show up at least 30 minutes early, since SJSU parking seriously sucks (and you'll be paying $8 for the privilege). You'll probably have to wait in line for a little bit while they shuttle people in, but it's not too bad unless you're in "standby" (more on that later). You can have a dictionary with you for the essay portion, which I recommend for spellchecking if nothing else. They're not really picky about what kind of dictionary, either (I saw people with things like Vietnamese-English dictionaries, for example).

There are two sections to the test--a handwritten (ugh) essay portion and a multiple-guess portion. Once given the topic, you are given 15 minutes to prepare (outline, write thesis, pray) on scratch paper (but NOT on the essay booklet), then 45 minutes to write the essay in the official booklet. It MUST be written in pen, so bring an erasable one like a PaperMate if you find you correct yourself a lot. The topics vary, even within one testing session, but they seem to center around a hippiesque (environmental, sociological, or similar) theme. Think "is globalization bad?" (Note: I've no idea if globalization has been a topic on the test or not--my topic was another hippiesque one).

The second section is an (arguably) objective one written by what appears to be the same people who write the ACT. There's a lot of questions like:

My question, as, is whether or not to believe this garbage.

Should the underlined as, be replaced with:

A. NO CHANGE
B. however,
C. verily
D. OMIT THIS ITEM

NOTE: This was not an actual question on the test.

Punctuation, voice, theme, and any other English Composition garbage you can think of matters, and some of the questions are "best answer" (i.e. there is more than one technically-correct answer, but you have to choose the "best" one). There's 45 minutes alloted to 72 questions (this number might easily change). There is also no guessing penalty. If you're almost out of time, just fill in bubbles at random.

These tests supposedly take 4-5 weeks to grade and send scores, so do it early.

Notes

Register in advance (deadline is two weeks or so before the test). I got there and there were approximately 300 people in the "standby" line, and most of those got bumped to the later tests--many probably didn't make it in at all. It would suck to be standing in line from 7 a.m. until noon or so and not even get tested.
Bring two or more erasable pens. I don't correct myself that much, and I still had ^ marks and stuff scratched out in there.
Exercise your handwriting a bit beforehand. Make sure you won't cramp up under pressure.
It's possible that people get appointments that are not at the crack of friggin' dawn, but I had to be there by 8 (7:30 as a practical matter).
Rest of the stuff to bring: #2 pencils (2 or more), a valid picture ID (and I think they get confused by anything but a CA driver's license or SJSU ID), and the "admission ticket" they sent you. Dictionary optional, but recommended.
Do not bring a full bladder (empty before you leave home--you will not be allowed out during the 2.5 hours of the test). You should also probably forego a caffeinated beverage unless it's in a terribly sturdy container (I brought a Big Gulp and almost had it knock over a couple of times).

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The SJSU Writing Skills Test

Background

Structure

Notes