Hi, I have taken SATs with essays twice and without any essay once. My best score was the one taken without the essay. If I apply to schools that require essays, do they look at my best SAT score and best essay score separately? Or do they just take my one-sitting SAT score (not the best one) that has the best essay score?
You’d have to check the web pages of each university to which you are applying. Relatively few universities these days require the essay.
As to your topic question relating to score choice, CB does not allow you to send only a section score from a test; you must send the entire test and score choice simply allows you to exclude from sending a complete test as opposed to other tests you do send.
As to colleges that require the essay and what they do if you submit a test with essay and another without essay, you will need to check each one, and likely will have to actually contact the college and ask because most fail to tell you on their sites what they do in that situation. Some of them will consider the test without essay and some will not consider it at all for admission. Moreover, that a college states that it superscores (uses highest section scores from the combined tests) does not necessarily determine the issue as to whether the particular college will even use the test without essay at all.