Apply with SAT Essay or without when not required but recommended

Hello. My son is wrapping up his junior year in high school. His top choice for college currently has the SAT essay as not required, but highly recommended. The mid 50% for the SAT at this school is 1290 - 1430. They do super score the SAT.

My son has taken the SAT twice this year.
Once without the essay, he scored 1420 (680 english, 740 math)
Second time with the essay, he scored 1380 (700 english, 680 math), and 4/4/5 on the SAT essay

He had a poor showing on the SAT essay - but I have no clue how much it is used in the acceptance process, and could hurt his chances of acceptance. FWIW, he was in AP English this past year, and took the AP exam. He hasn’t received his score yet, but was getting 4 or 5 consistently on the practice exams leading up to it. He also has a 92 overall average with some honors, AP, and college-level classes through his junior year.

So, at a school where the SAT essay is not required, but highly recommended, do you think it looks better to submit either:

  1. A single SAT score of 1420 without the essay
  2. Both SATs with a super score of 1440, but 4/4/5 on the SAT essay

Thanks for any thoughts!

Anyone?

For college applications “recommended” usually means required if possible.

FWIW, 1420 vs.1440 is statistically insignificant, IMO.

How you choose to define “recommended” will be a result, in part, of how selective the college is. For ultra-selective colleges, “recommended” in most instances should be interpreted as “required” unless the college specifically states that not having a “recommended” item will not impact the application.

Thank you! For this particular school, they don’t have any other clarifying comments on what recommended means to them. I emailed the admissions department asking for more information, but they just cut and paste the same sentence from their web page back to me…leaving me with your comments here that I should interpret recommended as required.

The thing is, I know from this school’s message board here that students were accepted this year without having taken the SAT essay - so, it is not absolutely required. I guess the answer will depend on the particular school, but I’m still left wondering if it is better to apply with a 1420 SAT and no essay, or 1440 with a 4/4/5 for the essay.

Have you considered having your son take the ACT?

Also, your son should be the one emailing schools with questions.

I already answered this in broad terms - it won’t matter; there is not real difference between the 2. Nobody can be more specific without knowing the school in question, which is totally fine if you don’t want to share. Also, if the school requires all scores, then the question is moot.

All good points - thanks!