<p>I'm a junior, and I decided to take the ACT in December just to get it over with. I got a 33 composite score (which I'm happy with), but my writing score was an 8. My combined English and Writing score was 30. What writing score should I be aiming for if I want to go to Princeton, and how much does it matter? Should I retake because of this? When colleges look at ACT scores, do they see the writing score separately or just the combined English and Writing score?</p>
<p>The schools get all pieces of your score just like the report you get.</p>
<p>[Undergraduate</a> Admission - A Princeton Profile](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/pub/profile/admission/undergraduate/]Undergraduate”>http://www.princeton.edu/pub/profile/admission/undergraduate/)</p>
<p>Looks like the middle 50% of admittees got 31-35 in ACT. So a 33 seems a reasonable score. However, an ACT score by no means guarantees an admission since there are people who got rejected with 36s and 35s.</p>
<p>You also need two SAT IIs.</p>
<p>A better writing score probably would have bumped you to a 34. I’d focus on the writing and retake. Good luck.</p>
<p>Writing score does not change the composite ACT score.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to sherpa - and your score is great! The combined English/writing score is less improtant than the individual sections and essay score, so I wouldn’t be too worried. Good job!</p>
<p>While a 33 is in the middle of Princeton’s range, my recommendation would be to re-take the ACT in the hopes of bringing up your writing score. </p>
<p>I know it’s a huge pain to re-take the ACT, but a writing score of 8 might raise a red flag in the admissions process. For example: let’s say you submit a fantastic essay with your application in the fall – one that makes an admissions committee go, “Wow, what a super kid and she’s a great writer to boot!” But then someone on the committee notices your 8 and starts to question whether you could have written your essay without help. They might begin to look closely at your teacher recommendations to see if your teachers have commented on your writing in some way. As a prospective student, you do not want to have any red flags go off, whether it’s at Princeton or some other great college. </p>
<p>Princeton’s 2011-2012 Common Data Set indicates they use the SAT/ACT Writing test for admission purposes, and use the essay as a “validity check on the application essay.” <a href=“http://registrar.princeton.edu/university_enrollment_sta/common_cds2011.pdf[/url]”>http://registrar.princeton.edu/university_enrollment_sta/common_cds2011.pdf</a></p>
<p>And this interview with Princeton’s Dean of Admissions, Janet Lavin Rapelye shows how important the essay is when reviewing applications at Princeton: <a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/guidance-office-princeton-answers-1/[/url]”>http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/guidance-office-princeton-answers-1/</a></p>
<p>"Your ability to write well is critical to our decision because your writing reflects your thinking. No matter what question is asked on a college application, admission officers are looking to see how well you convey your ideas and express yourself in writing. It is our window to your world.</p>
<p>Your command of the English language, whether or not you are a native speaker, is important because you will be asked to write extensively when you get to our campuses.</p>
<p>The best applications come from students who have spent time writing their essays, editing their work, and refining their message.</p>
<p>It is important to answer the question that is asked by a specific school, and not just to “recycle” one essay. This is not the time to take an academic paper you have written for a high school course and edit it for the application essay. This is your moment to be authentic.</p>
<p>Let me suggest that you take this opportunity to sit down and write about a topic you care about and know well. If you are stuck, you might begin with this question from the Common Application: “Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.”</p>
<p>Each of you has someone in your life who has played a role in your development, someone to whom you are grateful, and someone you could describe well. That person may be an adult, a child or a peer. Write a draft that you can put aside for a few days or weeks and edit later. Even if this is not the final essay you send to a college, it will get you started, and working from a draft is much easier than staring at a blank page with a blinking cursor.</p>
<p>Please resist the Web sites that give you access to college essays. This needs to be your own work. Your integrity in this process is paramount."</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone for your suggestions!</p>
<p>Gibby, I was wondering the same thing about an 8 raising a red flag, but I was thinking that I could use my essays as a way of proving that I am a very good writer. I know that my teachers have great things to say about my writing in my recommendations as well. Still, I want to keep my application as strong as possible, so I may retake. I decided to take the december ACT at the last minute and did not do a ton of practicing for the essay. If i took it again, can the ACT be super scored like the SAT?</p>
<p>Princeton superscores the SAT, but not the ACT.</p>
<p>[Princeton</a> University | Standardized Testing](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/standardized_testing/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/standardized_testing/)</p>
<p>Applicants are welcome to use the score choice option for standardized test score submission. Princeton will consider the highest individual section results across all sittings of the SAT Reasoning and the highest composite score for the ACT with Writing, as well as the two highest SAT Subject Test scores. We encourage applicants to submit all official test scores as soon as they are available.</p>
<p>While this research project applies to the SAT, I imagine it can equally apply to the ACT: [SAT</a> Test: Teen Student Finds Longer SAT Essay Equals Better Score - ABC News](<a href=“Has Teen Unlocked the Secret to a Better SAT Score? - ABC News”>Has Teen Unlocked the Secret to a Better SAT Score? - ABC News)</p>
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<p>YEEE. Esp in writing sem lulz.</p>
<p>You have a whole year. You can take every test 5 more times.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tips.</p>
<p>Well, since it was your first time taking the ACT, I would definitely advise you to take it again, to see if you can raise the composite and the writing score. However, I have to disagree with Gibby. I don’t think that Princeton would be too concerned about an 8 if the other parts of your application are very strong. I believe that Princeton, in addition to many other schools, understands that the ACT and SAT essays measure very little about your actual writing ability. The essays are extremely formulaic and the grading is somewhat suspect (there was a wonderful analysis by an MIT professor about the length of the SAT essay correlating to the grade [MIT</a> Professor Finds Fault with SAT Essay : NPR](<a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4634566]MIT”>MIT Professor Finds Fault with SAT Essay : NPR)). And the interview with Janet Rapelye that mentioned writing was specifically talking about common app and supplement essays, not the SAT or ACT essays.</p>
<p>^^ If you refer back to Common Data Set, why then does Princeton say "We use the SAT/ACT Writing test for admission purposes, and use the essay as a “validity check on the application essay.” Yale and Harvard don’t say the same on their common data set – that seems to be specific to Princeton!</p>
<p>I’m not saying that the essay is never used (there are probably a very few cases in which the Common App and supplement essays are extremely good, but the applicant has bad English grades etc. and then the SAT/ACT essay could be used as a check), but in general the Committee simply would not have time to check these things unless there was some reason to do so. If a student has strong English grades and/or recommendations or activities that show talent in English, an 8 on the ACT essay would not be a red flag in my judgment.</p>
<p>Great job, gibby, on that advice. Just another consideration to add for KeDIX: Oftentimes standardize testing scores will rise over time. With very little preparation, my scores rose significantly between December and June, due to all the knowledge and skills gained through another semester (such as math concepts I didn’t learn until the end of Precalc). I’d say it’s worth a second shot just for that reason.</p>