The essay sections of the ACT and SAT were once considered by some colleges more predictive of college performance than the rest of those tests. But then test prep companies figured out how the essays were scored and used that to teach students who were not good writers how score well on the essay sections. Apparently, this disparity through test prep between the proxy (essay sections) and the target of measure (writing skill) was greater than for the other sections.
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One of the only schools I know that says they ‘recommend’ students to take the writing section is Michigan State:
ACT or SAT scores should be sent directly to MSU by the testing agency. The ACT code is 2032; the SAT code is 1465. The writing and science portions are recommended, but not required.
There may be more that ‘recommend’ it, and one requires it (Martin Luther College). Some will ‘use’ it:
See these databases at Summit Prep and Compass Education (you will have to google Compass, CC won’t let me post the link):
6% of MSU enrolled submitted ANY ACT scores really non-issue (and I wouldn’t be surprised if that website is old - and dont’ even have enough writing scores to report them on CDS
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I would bet a TON of money the ACT writing is not going to help anyone at Columbia or JHU for admissions, but can hurt you if you submit…..If they aren’t publishing data on it in CDS or websites I would be beyond shocked they really care.
Anyway, I will trust my former AOs that are college counselors I know that recently worked behind desks at top schools that say nobody looks at it (or I suppose at some schools glance in passing?)
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Agree, I am still laughing that only 6% of matriculants submitted test scores (I didn’t think to check that, good call) and the website still says ACT writing (and science) are ‘recommended’.
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You’re focused on students taking ACT Writing because it’s required. Students can take ACT Writing and ACT Science as optional components that aren’t necessarily an admissions requirement but could benefit a high-scoring applicant (33-36 defined as “Ivy Caliber”), especially in borderline cases. The student may not have access to strong AP English or Science classes or anything comparable. The student is building up an application to gain admission.
I guess, at schools that will look at the writing section.
All I said was that the school where I work doesn’t look at the ACT writing test even if the student took it. So no chance for it to be part of their app.
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So far more submitted SATs to MSU, but ACTs specifically was super low! I was actually surprised by split
not me! I think ACT writing is dumb and how ZERO idea anyone took it or looked at it anymore:)
I would wager a ton of money that happens maybe 1x a year at highly selective schools and that most don’t even pull the writing score into their dashboards…if this was remotely commonplace, the former AOs and college counselors to rich people in the northeast would know and make kids take it and prep for it (writing). They are playing 3d chess, I promise, AND these kids are superior writers (prep schools here spend a ton of time on writing). It would benefit them hugely.
(I know a very recent Ivy AO, I will ask them next time I see them - will be N of 1 of course).
Science is still evolving.
If you have inside info to highly selective schools or a different subset, by all means, share. That is what I am trying glean! It may be true that some big state schools care a lot or maybe liberal arts schools in PNW or something..
You may believe that the ACT writing assessment is “dumb” but some colleges still allow it as an optional component for a reason. If less than 10% of all ACT test-takers take the writing (the other 90% also view the test as "dumb”, unnecessary, or more a likely a potential detriment to gaining college acceptance), then the score earned & corresponding percentiles would provide better insight to college admissions than if the entire pool of test-takers were taking the writing. Achieving a 96 or 99 percentile in a <10% subset of students applying to at least one college that requires or recommends or accepts the ACT Writing as optional & for the most part the ones with better writing ability when compared to the 90%. You are completely mistaken if you think any college admissions committee of the colleges that allow & accept or require it would not consider or value a high writing percentile. That doesn’t make any sense. Why does it current cost $25 for Writing versus just $4 for Science. Because the Science test-taking pool hasn’t fallen to 10%. Students tend to value Science scores more than Writing scores even if not required.
It would be informative to know the demographics of the “10%” that opt to take ACT Writing. I highly doubt that only “rich kids” that ACT Writing. But what percentage of not from rich preparatory schools but poorer public schools, like Title I Schools? Poor students that can earn a high percentile on the optional ACT Writing (I would guess 77+) would gain benefit in an admissions (depending on the college, of course, the size of this potential benefit would indeed vary). Students without the access to the former AOs & college counselors could receive bad advice against taking ACT Writing, ones that could demonstrate superiority.
I would argue that, at least for English and Reading, the ACT already is easier.
I can’t imagine why they would keep the essay. SAT discontinued the essay years ago. Virtually no colleges require it, except USMA and Soka. The labor required to score the essay must be expensive.
I am a tutor and I personally haven’t tutored a single student for the ACT essay for at least 6 years. I am not sure why anyone does it voluntarily, unless it’s for a school-day exam in one of a very few states. No “rich kids” near me are doing the essay, that’s for sure.
I agree they will probably discontinue the paper version. Given the lack of information from ACT, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it happens in the next few months.
Edit: Some elite universities are accepting graded writing assignments. The standard 5 paragraph essay is an easy formula to follow and isn’t really indicative of much. Unless colleges start requiring ACT essays again, I see little value in it.
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ETS will keep the ACT essay to differentiate it from the SAT. SAT doesn’t offer any essay options anymore but AP English & History exams (offered by the competitor) include essays. Only final scores of 1-5 are revealed through AP. A “high-ability” writer may want to demonstrate superior competence in writing through ACT Writing, especially in the case of “non-5” AP scores earned; a different kind of assessment. It is already known that some test-takers perform better on one test than another (e.g. significantly better on ACT Writing than AP & other kinds of essays).
However, after test prep companies figured out how to get mediocre writers to score high on the SAT and ACT essays, the SAT and ACT essays lost their value to colleges.
My opinion: colleges do not care at all about ACT writing. AP exams are nothing like the ACT. At all.
If a student came to me and asked me to prep them for ACT writing, I would ask if they were applying to USMA or Soka. Then I would tell them that it is probably a waste of time to take the ACT with essay.
As one example, Princeton does not even accept the essay section of the ACT. They require a graded writing sample though. There are far more colleges that allow students to submit graded writing than ask for ACT with writing. Brown, Williams, Oberlin, Amherst are among these.
A high ability writer, as you termed it, is going to show their writing skill through supplemental essays for colleges that ask for supplements. The ACT essay does not indicate a high-ability writer. Those essays are formulaic and obviously don’t require much in the way of critical thinking.
Yes, some kids perform better on the ACT than SAT and vice versa.
The mere fact that only 2 notable colleges require the ACT essay tells us all we need to know.
If ETS wants to regain some share of the standardized testing market, they should invest in making a proper digital version of the ACT. The current version is a joke. In the many years I have been tutoring, typically the pendulum swings back and forth pretty reliably. One year, the ACT is more popular, the next, it’s the SAT. This has not been true for certainly the last 3 years. The SAT has absolutely become favored by students because it is now much easier for students to use. Kids have dramatically turned away from the ACT. The online version is super clunky. The perception of the paper version is that it’s too long and old-fashioned. I’d say I probably have 3 times as many SAT preppers as ACT preppers.
Kids want to do what their friends are doing, and that’s not the ACT. Obviously the number of ACT test takers is down. It’s up to ETS to make the ACT more attractive to students again. Retaining the essay isn’t going to do that.
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That could be true for the SAT & GMAT, tests which in the past few years eliminated their essay components. If this were completely true for ACT Writing, colleges wouldn’t accept the test even as optional to avoid wasting college admissions time. Then, ETS would discontinue offering it because it would no longer be valid. Since the test is assumed to be valid since it is still being offered, it would benefit the poor “high-ability” writer without access to the test prep more to take the test, if the student is successful is achieving the “high” score. Test prep companies also figured out how to get students to earn inflated reading & math scores, another reason why these tests change every 7-10 years. Those tests still also exist & accepted as valid for admissions.
Isn’t a lot of the change in which is more popular based on states choosing one or the other as some kind of state assessment given to all students during a school day?
You don’t believe in the ACT Writing & neither does Princeton University apparently (doesn’t provide their admissions team any benefit) but not the case with other schools. The test must provide some students benefit in the college admissions process else it would be a time & money waster for ETS (and the students!). My argument is that some students may have been misguided but being “turned away from the ACT”, the writing specifically, ones that would have gained potential benefit, perhaps an admission offer versus a rejection or waitlist offer by taking it & achieving “higher” scores than on other kinds of required essays. You don’t know how much ACT Writing is valued by different admissions committees, even if optional, or even if weighed differently across different types of applicants. We only know if the cases of schools that don’t accept the test at all, like Princeton.
I’m referring to my clients only.
This is my unverified and generalized summary of the patterns for the last ten years or so, based on my experience as a tutor in the northeast:
- 2015: All my friends prep for both tests and so will I.
- 2016: I will prep for both tests. But all my friends said the ACT/SAT is harder than the SAT/ACT, so I might just take the ACT/SAT, but I will still probably do both.
- 2017: All my friends said the SAT is harder than the ACT, so I am taking the ACT.
- 2018: All my friends said the ACT is harder than the SAT, so I’m taking the SAT.
- 2019: All my friends said the SAT is harder than the ACT, so I am taking the ACT.
- 2020: I’m not taking a test and neither will my friends (with the exception of a few determined souls).
- 2021: All my friends and I are only taking a test to see if we can get a score worth submitting to our reaches.
- 2022: Uh oh, some colleges have started recommending tests again, so all my friends and I will only prep for one, just in case.
- 2023: All my friends and I are only going to prep for one test, and only for schools that strongly recommend or require it.
- 2024: All my friends and I are taking the SAT. It is a lot shorter. We will only try the ACT if we bomb the SAT.
- 2025: All my friends and I are taking the SAT. We might try the ACT because we don’t have to do science.
- 2026: All my friends and I are taking the SAT. We might try the ACT because we don’t have to do science.
As far as my work is concerned, the SAT has been far more popular than the ACT for several years now. Is this true across the nation? I don’t know, but it’s no secret that ACT has been losing test takers for several years now.
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