Obviously, there’s been a lot of confusion going around with the new essay, and from what I’ve heard scoring system has been unpredictable and not reflective of students’ writing ability. How much does the ACT essay factor when admission officers view the ACT overall score? I know that the composite is the most important piece, but the essay must play some role in the overall picture.
A lot of colleges aren’t even going to look at the writing section. I asked an admissions officer at Penn State if my low writing score (21, which makes no sense with a 34 E and 32 R) would affect my application, and he said they wouldn’t even be looking at it. BU said the same.