<p>Hey Guys, I just got my ACT results. I took the test for the first time in Oct and I was pleasantly surprised at my composite score (35). However, I was soon stunned at my remarkably low writing score of 7. Particularly because I thought I wrote an essay worthy of at least a 9. Could it be my small writing? (usually fit 15-19 words per line)</p>
<p>I already applied to dartmouth and i'm planning on applying to other top schools. Will this score have a serious impact on my admission to highly selective colleges?Should I retake the test?</p>
<p>Those with experience submitting applications to top schools.... please help me....</p>
<p>BTW, I will be majoring in engineering/ physics</p>
<p>My son got a 36.0 on his ACT with a writing score close to yours; he was annoyed, but not enough to volunteer to re-take the test on his own.</p>
<p>His writing score made no difference; he got into 4 top-20 schools and is now studying applied math/computer science at Brown. There was a study done by a professor at MIT where he showed an almost perfect correlation to the length of the essay and its score – perfect enough that he could guess the score 70-80% of the time from across the room just by glancing at the length. Poor handwriting can work against you, as can concise, efficient prose – rambling on about peripheral issues to a topic will almost always get you a better score than sticking precisely to the topic.</p>