So I took the ACT and got a 35 and an 11/12 essay, but now I have to take the SAT for national merit purposes. Because I already have the ACT and the 11 essay, do I need the essay portion of the SAT? Or instead, should I take the SAT with writing and risk getting a low essay score?
My guess is that you don’t have to take the essay portion, but I’d call the National Merit Corporation and ask them directly. Congratulations on your great scores!
The second page of this PDF (http://nationalmerit.imodules.com/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/merit_r_i_leaflet.pdf?sessionid=00bd8f63-4e1b-4980-976e-0935da298566) implies pretty heavily that you don’t need to take it with writing.