Hi everyone I took the May SAT and received a 7/7/7 on the essay portion. I plan on taking the SAT again in October but I’m not sure if I should take it with the essay or not since I’m very happy with my essay score already. I also used both of my SAT waivers and will be paying for this next admission from my own pocket so I’m not sure if I should pay for the more expensive ticket. If I apply to schools that require the SAT with essay, will they take my essay score from May and super score it with my October scores in math/reading without the essay?
I don’t think you should take the essay again. I got a 5/4/5 on the essay in June and you see how this new essay is different from the old one? You have to analyze and explain, not argue what the writer wrote. I’m not going to take the essay because I want to see what I get without it. Even though some colleges prefer the essay, you can always send the old one! And don’t forget about superscoring. Also your score of 7/7/7 looks pretty decent. I still don’t know the proficient score of the essay. But if you want to give the essay one more try, go ahead!
bump
@okruth There are colleges that have said they will not accept scores without the essay, there are colleges that have said that they will accept scores without the essay as long as the student has at least one essay, and there are colleges that have not clarified their policies. Unfortunately, that last group is the largest. Superscoring the essay is a new concept for most colleges. I’ll try to update this later today with some examples of each category. The best thing to do is check with colleges on your list. And then check again, since the first answer you get is sometimes wrong.
Is there a set of schools in which you are most interested?
I couldn’t turn up much that was definitive with most colleges. The UC system only uses your best scores from a single test date, so the essay would be needed for any scores that you hoped to submit. Most colleges, though, you’d need to check with directly. As colleges update their websites for this year’s applications, the number requiring the essay just keeps dropping.
Most schools will probably not ‘superscore’ the essay and will evaluate the essay scores independently.