35 with 7/12 essay - Should i retake?

title is pretty self explanatory, my composite score is a 35 and my essay is a 7. i know i can do better on the essay if i retake, but idk if i should retake or just spend this time studying for sat subject tests and other stuff. i know that colleges dont really care about essays, but will a 7/12, which is like in the 54th percentile i think, be a red flag to top tier schools (ivy leagues, rice, northwestern,etc.)

??

Is the 7.5 rounded up to 8? If so, you’re good.

Do you mean 7 out of a possible 12?

yeah @glido

no, its not rounded @CHD2013

My son had the same a 35 with a 7 on the essay. He opted not to retake. It did not hurt in his admissions. He got into both UCB and UCLA. UW GPA 3.88. However, depending on your target schools and the other elements of your application, it could make a difference.

No! I just saw a graphic that the average ACT essay scores at the Ivies are 8-10. They just really don’t count for much and you could bring down your 35.

@MusakParent can you post your source?

@mjrube94 CC does not allow pasting links here. This was in a youtube video from one of the major test prep companies I just happened to watch for other reasons. If you google “Princeton common data set” the first pdf data set that comes up from 15-16. If you scroll down to the ACT averages it says the average ACT writing score is 8-10. I saw similar in a Harvard common data set. In the Yale common data set I looked at they aren’t even reported, I suspect because they don’t take it into account.