<p>Is writing score part of the composite score? If not, what is the value of the writing portion? I know if is out of 12, but does this gets added to something by colleges or they just look at the composite and acknowledge that you can write.</p>
<p>It is not part of the composite score. The essay score is assessed with your English score to get a Combined Writing Score, which doesn’t hold much value to colleges.</p>
<p>BUT most colleges require you to take the writing portion, so you would think they look at it in some way.</p>
<p>It’s not part of the composite. To be honest I think it bears very little value at most schools. When I visited Vanderbilt the admissions rep laughed at the ACT essay, mentioning studies have shown it has little to no relationship with how well students do in their writing classes in college. I would be willing to bet colleges only require the ACT essay to keep SAT takers from arguing that the ACT is unfair, since the SAT includes a required essay no matter what.</p>