I took the ACT writing in April, and my scores just came in. Should I retake since the 9 is a red flag/awful sub-score in comparison to my composite, especially for HPYSM etc., or do colleges not care about the essay? Thanks.
No, don’t retake! They don’t care.
NO!! You run the risk of a lower score and no one cares about the essay!
What are your English grades like?
Definitely do not retake. Work on your EC’s.
@SouthFloridaMom9 Straight As/A+s, 3 yrs of honors, taking AP Lit in the fall.
No, don’t take again. Essay doesn’t matter!!!
No need to retake and they’ll see how you write because you have to send in essays with your common app.
NO! A nine is still pretty good anyway
Colleges don’t care about the essay.
Don’t you have better things to do with your Saturday mornings?
Acceptance doesn’t hinge on top/perfext scores but on a multitude of other factors - read the result thread.
And most importantly run the npc on several colleges you like and bring the results to your parents to start the ‘budget’ discussion. The earlier you and your parents have that discussion, the better it is for you.
My DD took the ACT in Apr 2016 when they still scored writing out of 36. She got a 24 (88th percentile) but her composite was 34 and she had sub-scores E34, M31, R35 and S35. She decided against taking it again and risking a lower composite just to boost the writing, plus a lot of schools said they didn’t factor in the writing portion. She is definitely a strong writer so not sure what happened. Her low-ish writing score didn’t seem to affect her admissions at all. I think you’re fine with your scores. Good luck.
While I wouldn’t go so far as to say colleges “dont care” about the essay, there are several ways they will see writing samples from you. Do not retake. Is English your first language?
No. You are done.
What is your planned major?
LOL
Do not re-take the ACT!
No dont retake