Do colleges care about the new SAT essay?

I’m not a great writer, so I opted to register for the SAT without the essay. Now I’m worried about how this decision will affect me when it comes to applying to colleges.

Generally speaking, will colleges care more if I don't do the essay, or if I do poorly on it? Will they really care about the essay if I have good scores otherwise?

Just google this, no need to take up time for something that can be easily answered. Literally took my 5s:

http://www.compassprep.com/act-writing-and-sat-essay-requirements/