Focusing on writing placement at a particular university, the authors analyze the limits of SAT tests as a tool in this process. They then describe the writing program's adoption of a supplementary measure: a faculty committee's review of essays by students who may need to be reassigned to a different writing course. They describe how and why a large state university initially embraced the SAT as a writing placement tool. They analyze its impact on students by looking closely at the College Board's own published research and the local data they have gathered to assess its validity and reliability. They explore whether using the test differently--for example, focusing on the short essay score (SAT-E) that is part of the SAT writing section, or changing the cut score--would have worked any better. After giving the SAT writing section (SAT-W) as a placement instrument a full and fair review, the authors conclude that it can never be a valid or reliable placement tool for the students. Finally, they describe their writing program administrator's (WPA's) new process to identify students misplaced by the SAT scores and to "re-place" them correctly within the first two weeks of the semester. (Contains 1 figure and 13 notes.)