<p>I carried a 4.0 GPA through my first two years of HS, with a 4.13 this year. All of my teachers have greatly commended me for my writing skills, and the lowest score I've ever received on a writing assignment is a 93%.</p>
<p>I took the ACT in February and scored a composite of 31. 31 English, 33 Math, 32 Reading, 29 Science. But, get this... 4/12 on the writing portion, for a combined Eng/Writing of 25.</p>
<p>I find this absolutely crazy. I felt I did a wonderful job of including well-developed ideas and details in a concise manner, and this grade is disgusting. I was REALLY proud of my work after the test, and was certain I'd have an 11 at worst.</p>
<p>So, now I'm wondering... what in the world do I do? If I could do this poorly, I almost feel afraid to even try to take another ACT... seems like it'd be a waste of time.</p>
<p>If I keep the 31 with a 4/12, with a junior GPA of 4.13 (straight A's) and hopefully a senior GPA of 4.5 if I can pick up all of the AP classes I'm after, how open or limited will my college options be? I'm looking to get in a university in a southern state, specifically Arizona, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, or Florida, and I want to try to go somewhere with a good golf program. University of Arizona doesn't require the writing test, but University of Central Florida and University of Texas both do, and I was strongly considering those two.</p>
<p>Any advice is really appreciated, especially recommendations for good colleges I'd be able to get away with my writing score at. I feel totally lost right now.</p>
<p>Well, first of all, retake ACT. You still have time for June and September ACT.</p>
<p>Second, the only way you got a writing score so low is if you just wrote one or two paragraph with many grammatical errors. I think that maybe something happened to your essay and it was not graded correctly. Contact ACT corp and ask about score verification.</p>
<p>My son is still a freshman and writes 8/12 essays, and those are pretty bad. I can only imagine how bad a 4/12 essay looks like. Judging by your post, you are capable of much more than that.</p>
<p>I agree with lerkin that you should take the test again, but my concurrence ends there (no offense lerkin) A 4 on the essay doesn’t mean just mean that you wrote 1 or 2 paragraphs and had many grammatical errors (you might have) but it means that your ideas weren’t developed enough. People can write 3 pages and have flawless grammer and diction, but if they are just filibustering, it’s going to get them nowhere. You can check with the ACT organization if you want, but this was graded by two separate people; the chances of an error aren’t that great. The main thing you have to remember is to not overcomplicate things. Try to keep it simple, use advanced vocab., but don’t try to use be the essay’s therapist. I used to do that and would get a 6/12. I stopped and dumbed myself down, and got a 10/12.</p>
<p>Don’t be a thesaurus. Use big words when needed and don’t use them when not needed. Did you address the other side of the argument? Did you develop your ideas sufficiently? Or did you develop your ideas extremely well and analyze the implications of your position?</p>
<p>Writing an essay for class with three drafts before turning it in and writing an essay in one draft are not the same. You probably spend hours and days perfecting your writing, but when faced with a time limit you buckle. It’s common, and one of the reasons I didn’t take the APWH test this year. I’ve gotten 9/7 on every DBQ I’ve ever written but I cannot make myself write a quality work in any less than 60 minutes. Don’t stress too much about it, you’ll still get admitted. Keep in mind, these colleges admit kids with mid-20 composite scores. So they’ll be happy to accept you.</p>
<p>Here is deal, I’ve seen what 8/12 essay looks like. I had to suffer through reading more than one of those. It’s like the writer, who happens to be my son, does not have a concrete list of arguable points and keeps on for 2 pages blurting out whatever comes to mind, sometimes repeating the same point over and over again. I call it a brain dump and pun is intended.</p>
<p>Anyway, what I mean is that maybe only one page was graded and the OP wrote 2 or 3 pages. If only the last (partially filled) page is graded, then the score may very well be this low and it should be corrected. Never hurts to ask about score verification. The worst thing that will happen, is that the OP will find out that his essay was graded in its entirety and (s)he needs to work on their writing skills.</p>
<p>I got a 9. I didn’t even take a certain standing position on the topic. I just stated the good of both and how people can benefit from it either way. It does seem that, with your given background, that your score would be higher.</p>
<p>Take the SAT if it’s allowed by those universities. I found the SAT to be kind of fun (though I’m sure I am in an infinitesimally small minority)</p>
<p>If you did not state your position on the matter at hand, did not substantiate the position with examples ( personal as well as theoretical) and did not state and refer to the counter position then points are subtracted. There are only 6 pts ( twice) and the essay is graded holistically . My son just failed to mention the counter argument and lost two ( 4 pts ) in total! It’s tough and precise grading . He did better ( one week earlier) on the SAT writing. ( I guess his writing skills regressed over the week…lol). Best of luck.</p>
<p>OMG I like taking the SAT too! its weird but I enjoy trying to figure out the answers, plus there is more time figure out answers on the sat than on the act.
For the writing problem, I know you can get a really low score if you didn’t address the prompt. If the graders thought you were completely off topic even though your writing was immaculate, they will grade very harsh.</p>
<p>I agree the writing on the ACT seems arbitrary. In my D’s case, she got a score that was far higher than I would have anticipated. For what it is worth, she did not follow a standard state the main point, then give 3 examples type format. Instead, she developed sort of a logical model expanding the definition of the original question three times (so still three points, but not exactly examples). I guess the readers liked it… they gave her a 12. She is not a very linear thinker, so usually has a terrible time formatting an readable essay.</p>