I’m a junior and this was my second time taking the ACT. February 2017 - My first composite score was a 33 (E34, M32, E35, S31 - essay: 8). April 2017 - My second composite 34 (E35, M33, E36, S31 - essay 8).
I’m usually great with essay writing and I’m a little disappointed with my writing scores. I’m happy with my composite score, so I’m done taking the ACT. What score have you gotten on your ACT writing?
Same. Composite 35 and writing 8.
@perspectivestude, congratulations!
They seem to be tough with the writing scores !
I got an 8 on writing and 34 the first time, 9 and 35 the second time…here’s hoping for 10 and 36 next time 
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.
34 C and 9 in the writing!!
30 C 9 W
My D got a 34 C, 8 essay and was accepted to Princeton and Stanford. She’s an excellent writer, but that skill set came through in her application essays and AP scores. Her mediocre ACT writing score did not impact her admissions success at all.
@MSHopeful what schools did she get accepted to?
@srlilly Congratulations!
Question: Did she also take any SAT Subjects? If yes, which ones and how did she do?
I’m going to use the summer hopefully to prepare for 2 SAT subjects - Math II and US history.
I go to a very small private school and no AP classes. I would love to go to an Ivy League or Standford but not too many people go from my school.
@Senior2018 She did. She took three as she was applying to Georgetown. She got Lit 740, USH 780, and French w/ Listening 610 (French only sent to four schools). She was accepted to Columbia (attending), Georgetown, USC, UCLA, UCSB, Tulane, Fordham, George Washington, and Howard. She was waitlisted at UPenn.
@Senior2018 Oops sorry I thought you were asking me about the subject tests but you were asking srlilly.
8 is fine. No need to retake.
@Senior2018 She took 3 tests (French w/listening, US History & Latin) and her scores were 790, 760 and 750. Good luck!
I got a 32 on the 2015 ACT with 34’s in English and Math, 30 in Reading, and 31 in Science. I don’t recommend you retake the ACT to get a higher writing score. You may bring down your other scores in the process, and when I last took the ACT, there is no superscore policy.
@JMS357, thanks for the advice At this point I’m not going to take it over just for the writing. I’m going to concentrate now on studying for the SAT subjects.
@Senior2018 you made the right choice. Best of luck!
I got a 36 Composite with 8 on the essay, but I don’t want to retake the essay. An 8 is a decent score and will not likely make or break your application. Also, imo SAT writing is much easier and more straightforward than ACT. If you haven’t taken SAT with writing yet, I suggest you do that and you might have more success. I took the SAT I twice, 1st time with essay, and the first time I got 8/7/7 writing. My 2nd time taking SAT my composite improved 60 points but still not as impressive as my ACT composite; and no essay that time. Again, I would just say to take the SAT, see how well you do with it, and then hopefully mix and match to highlight your best results.
32 only and and a 10
33 and 8 W.