Hi, I just got my ACT scores back and I got a 32 composite and I’m planning to take it one more time to see if I can get it higher since that was my first try, but the interesting thing is that I got a 36 on writing. I know a lot of people seem to be getting low scores and the generally responses I see are that colleges really don’t care about what you get on the writing section. This kind of sucks for me haha, do you think that they will pay any attention to my 36 or just gloss over it like they would other writing scores. Does this score help me at all?
Colleges probably won’t pay so much attention to it. The ACT has been [having problems with the writing scores](ACT Writing Scorers Are Making MAJOR ERRORS - Test Preparation - College Confidential Forums) and colleges know this. The 36 might come in handy for super scoring, but it won’t make you stand out or anything. Make sure when you take the ACT a second time that you know that you will improve your score.
Both the ACT essay and the new SAT essay are graded by non-professionals with no testing or composition teaching experience required, paid an hourly wage just above the minimum, according to a vague rubric. The scores that of been returned are approximately useless. Pay little if any attention to them, as it is unlikely that admissions will.
The essay does NOT factor into the composite or the superscore. It is a separate entity.