35 ACT composite but low writing?

Test Preparation ACT Preparation
1

I’ve never posted on this forum before but here goes:

I took the ACT for the first time this December, as a HS junior, and got a 35 (36 E, 35 M, 34 R, 33 S). Obviously, I was so thrilled at this because it meant I don’t have to take it again. Well, I just got my writing score back, and it’s an 8. Not a bad score by any means, but it’s not up to par with my composite at all. I’m also planning on majoring in CS or another engineering major so it might not even matter.

I also write a satire column in my school’s newspaper and am co-editor of the literary magazine, so they’ll at least know I’m literate. Plus, my reading and English scores speak for themselves.

Anyway, is it worth retaking the entire ACT just to improve my writing score?

2

@liz999, Absolutely not.

You have many ways to prove you are a good writer.
e.g. take AP English language and composition then take a test having 5.

3

I actually think an 8 is pretty common and won’t hurt you for the most part. Don’t know where you are applying, but many schools don’t even consider the writing score or require it.

4

Do not retake. Whether they say it or not (some explicitly say it), I don’t think the writing score matters for most schools.

5

^ Agreed.

6

We would tell our kid congrats and move on to other aspects of her application. Well done - a 35 is a fantastic score!

7

My son is in the same boat - 35 ACT with a 7 on the writing. He was really disappointed, especially since he thought he wrote a good essay. He won’t be taking it again and will just hope that the schools he is applying to (engineering) won’t consider it heavily.

8

^^@patatty - most likely they will weigh his app. essays much more heavily. No one’s going to ding a 35 ACT because they didn’t like his ACT essay score. Have heard time and again that colleges simply don’t care about these and many consider it completely optional. Those who do require it are, in all probability, using it as a check against the application essays to make sure they were written by the same person.

9

Write good essays on your apps and move on.

10

it won’t matter. Anything 8+ is sufficient. Schools don’t really pay attention to the ACT essay since the grading is subjective and you submit essays the colleges anyways, so they get a sense of your writing capabilities. (Despite it not mattering that much since you are doing engineering).

11

I got the same composite and writing score. My counselor has said the same things many of these folks have been. Don’t worry! Congrats to you too! What schools are you looking at!

12

The essay score itself is not that important. However, colleges may use the essay to validate what you wrote on college application essays. If you write beautiful application essays but your ACT (or SAT) essay is lousy, it could become a problem.

13

I think when I took the ACT the writing section was, on average, 12 points lower than your composite, and that was when it was out of 36. Now the essay is out of 12, so you actually got a 24/36, which is slightly above average.

The ACT is intentionally very dodgy about what criteria you need to do well on the essay section, much to the frustration of students, teachers, and tutors. Of everyone I know who got a 35/36 on the ACT, the highest essay score was only a 33/36.

14

this is so late but thank you everyone for your help and kind words of encouragement!