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07-17-2012, 09:06 PM
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#1 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 161
| How important are the SAT and ACT writing scores?
I'm a rising senior and I've taken the SAT once and the ACT twice. All three times I've gotten 8s on my essays, even though when I took an SAT prep class, I would always get 10s. Anyway, my SAT Writing score was a 780 (perfect multiple choice) and my ACT English score was a 35. Will the low essay score hurt my chances of admission into a good college? Any feedback or advice is much appreciated.
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07-18-2012, 11:55 AM
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#2 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 106
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I don't think it will hurt you too much. Many colleges look mostly at Math and Reading, so it shouldn't hurt your chances. Your Writing and English scores are good otherwise, so you shouldn't worry too much. If it really bothers you, then retake the SAT and/or ACT after practicing writing essays.
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07-18-2012, 12:23 PM
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#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Chicago
Posts: 7,300
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First 8 is not that low and second it is not likely to have any real impact. Even a number of top colleges, such as Stanford, UChicago, Cornell, ignore the essay score entirely and for others it is of minor use.
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07-18-2012, 12:23 PM
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#4 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 206
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Nope. You'll be fine. They care about the total writing score bc that's all rankings use. If you want to retake though, I highly recommend preparing using 10 Days to a 12 Essay which you can find here on CC.
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07-19-2012, 12:31 PM
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#5 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 161
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Okay thank you guys so much. Also, for the ACT, do they look at your Combined English/Writing score, or just your English score and your essay score?
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07-19-2012, 12:35 PM
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#6 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: New York
Posts: 135
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The importance of the SAT and ACT writing scores aren't that significant. Most schools look at math and reading anyways.. Plus is a 780/800 really bad in your eyes, it will not effect you, and if it really means that much to you specifically, retake it maybe
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07-19-2012, 04:03 PM
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#7 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 161
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@Federico14 I'm not saying that the 780 is bad. I am very pleased with my score, but I don't think that the 8/12 is very good and I just want to know how important it is in order to decide whether I should retake it or not.
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07-19-2012, 11:52 PM
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#8 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 161
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bump, anyone else?
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07-24-2012, 12:22 PM
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#9 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 76
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Doesn't an 8 mean your in the 85th percentile or so. I think 7 is something like 51%. So an 8 is not bad. I would worry more about a 6 or less if you are trying to get in a high end school.
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07-25-2012, 01:08 PM
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#10 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 36
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Different colleges might look at it differently. the essay score does have importance, but not that much. I got a 12 on the essay of my last ACT, and got 11 on two others.
Tip: Write in your best ideas first, and try to write a lot. I think writing more helps for some reason...
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07-26-2012, 01:10 PM
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#11 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 161
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Yeah I've heard that you're more likely to get a higher score if you write more, which sucks because I have small writing :/
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07-26-2012, 02:27 PM
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#12 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 206
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1005pker, the SAT essay is +/- 250 points to your total writing score so it makes a big difference.
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