<p>If I am looking at Ivies and other top universities, how much weight does the essay score have? I have a 36 composite (E 35, M 35, R 36, S 36) in ACT but a 6 essay, making E/W a 30.</p>
<p>Basically, should I retake for the sole purpose of raising my essay score? If I do not retake and keep the essay score at a 6, how does that look?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Well, I am going to take no responses as a sign to retake it.</p>
<p>No, it’s not worth it.</p>
<p>Do you have an idea why your essay score was so low? Both the ACT and SAT have a sort of formula style they’re looking for, and each one is different. If the issue is that you didn’t follow the formula, I wouldn’t worry about it–especially if your English grades and essay scores in school are good. Colleges are going to see a lot of your writing on the application, and will likely overlook a single “bad” score.</p>
<p>Won’t it look somewhat suspicious if I write good application essays but have a 6 as an ACT essay score?</p>
<p>Not if you have high grades in your english classes and have/are taken/taking AP English. </p>
<p>Adcoms know the ACT/SAT essay are written in 25 minutes under substantial pressure. Not too much emphasis is placed on it.</p>
<p>The argument that I’ve heard is that since schools ask specifically for ACT with Writing, they care about the essay score. Thoughts?</p>
<p>I think they care about all the parts of your application–scores, grades, application. Nobody has a perfect package and one low element is not the end of the world.</p>
<p>It’s not perfect but 36 is very good. Just let it go. Don’t bother to retake.</p>
<p>Most schools don’t even consider the essay score, as they’re still collecting data as to whether it actually says anything about your writing abilities. It’s pretty clear that it says very little about your writing abilities.</p>
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<p>No. A 36 is perfect. There is absolutely no reason to retake a 36. Ever.</p>
<p>The number of people who get a 36 and then do “poorly” on the ACT essay is obscene. The ACT essay is ridiculously flawed in that it rewards you for spewing as much garbage as you can - your score can be quite accurately predicted just from the length of your essay.</p>
<p>Ultimately, your essay score says nothing about your ability to write an academic paper. The prompt and skills required are more akin to a 5th-grade essay than anything else.</p>
<p>Post #36, I meant the essay part.</p>