So, I took the October ACT and I got a 33 composite. My writing scores came out… and I got a 16 (so embarrassed) on the essay. I want to go to Cornell, but do you think this extremely low essay score will turn off the admissions people? Please help, I am literally so scared for my prospects of getting in to Cornell or any other top-tier school for that matter. Also, do you think they’ll take into consideration that I took the new ACT essay and be lenient with my writing score? Thank you!
Composite: 33
English: 35
Math: 34
Reading: 30
Science: 34
Essay: 16
ELA: 27
STEM: 34
I don’t think the ACT essay will hinder you. I got a 23 on the essay so I know your struggles. Think about it like this, half of the applicants took the ACT with the old essay scale out of 12. The rest took it in September and October with the new essay scale out of 36. How can colleges objectively compare your essay score to their essay score?
The answer is, they can’t. So don’t worry about it. Your 33 is great.
@werewolf2016 Thanks! I only wrote about 2 of the 3 perspectives given on the prompt because I wasn’t sure of the instructions. It took me quite a while (5 minutes) to even grasp what I was supposed to do. I thought it’d be fine if I wrote a strong argument on just two of the perspectives that I thought I could incorporate into my essay. Oh well!