Got a 35 composite but an 8 on the essay, should I retake?

raneff · 05-06-2008, 08:44 AM

Hey everyone!

Recently, I finally was able to score my 35 on the ACT, but to my dismay, blew the essay and got an 8 out of 12 on it. In February, I also took the ACT and got a 34 with a 10 writing. My composite scores from this time are 36 M 36 S 35 E 31 R. Right now, I'm in AP English 3 and getting 5's on practice AP exams; I'm also pondering whether a high SAT II score on the English lang+comp exam might offset it. I'm already registered to take the ACT in June (just in case) but is it really worth it?

BlueHouse · 05-06-2008, 11:13 AM

I have seen this same question posted on many different forums. It seems that the writing portion of the ACT is new and it is difficult for admissions to use. Last year at a Duke information session, they told us Duke was requiring the writing score but just tracking it. They were not using it for significant decision making because "it is so new." This was a year ago maybe this has changed.

I have not received my writing score yet, but know that I may be in a similar situation. Maybe you should start a thread asking for Seniors who have high ACT (32+) and low writing <10 to give you success stories for acceptance? That may provide some insight. The remaining question is do you submit both composite scores (which are excellent!) and hope they take the 10 with the 35! Maybe a call to your favorite school admissions office will answer that question for you. Good Luck! If it means anything to you, I would not retake.

al_tassadar · 05-06-2008, 04:38 PM

im in a similar position. 31 composite and 6 essay. I personally do not think the essay is a good indicator of writing prowess.

My friend, who stinks at writing, managed to get a 10. I, on the other hand, who has taken AP Lit as well as Language, got a 6.

Procrastination · 05-07-2008, 09:45 AM

Hah, yeah I posted a similar question in other forums. I managed a 36, but got a 7 on the essay. I decided not to retake, as I/my guidance counselor contacted schools I was interested in applying to and asked them what they thought. At the end of the day, 99% of colleges will only be interested in your composite, and the top 1% will take your score in the context of your situation. If you take honors english/ap english classes all throughout high school and fare well, good scores on ap english tests, etc. then they will be more inclined to ignore the essay as they know its different for everyone. Some skilled writers are just not good standardized test writers.

curiousmind · 05-08-2008, 11:49 AM

Same predicament here. 32C and 8 on the writing. The writing score brought down 33E to 30E/W combined. I wonder if the more selective colleges will recompute the composite substituting the 33 for 30, which would bring down the composite score to 31....

nsno · 05-09-2008, 11:40 AM

haha same thing here, 34 composite 8 essay. It brought my 34 english to a combined 31 eng/writing. It makes me feel better that I'm not alone thinking I should have scored higher on the essay. No clue how they grade it.

machinegungeek · 05-11-2008, 12:55 AM

Same, I got a 35 and an 8 essay (34eng w/o essay). I am a Senior, but have no success stories to share

Sleepy_Sentry · 05-11-2008, 10:17 AM

I think the writing section does hold some merit. I got a 9 in 10th grade, but this year (11th grade) I took a college composition class along with a college American History class that stressed essay writing. My score jumped to an 11.
Though in all honesty I didn't think my 11 essay was that great, but then again I am very critical of my writing.

I'm sure some of the essay grading might also have to do with which graders you get. Some might hate your style of writing, while others might like it. Get two people who don't like your style, and you could end up losing a few points. No matter what ACT or the College Board says, essay grading is never perfectly objective.