So I got back the March SAT and I received a 1550, up from a 1400 on the December SAT so that felt pretty awesome. Unfortunately, on my essay I received 7/3/7, a 3 for analysis (which seemed very odd and a little unfair, but whatever). In December, I had gotten a 6/3/6 on my essay, so I’m kind of stuck… I have no desire to take the SAT again just for the essay, as I would probably end up doing worse on the main section. Will this 3 be a big hindrance to my college application? I was planning on taking the ACT, which I get high 30s on usually, in April if I didn’t do well on this SAT, so should I go ahead with that instead?
If you take the regular SAT again, you don’t have to worry about the main section because you can superscore the 1550 you got with your new essay score. Just focus on improving your essay by practicing and reading samples.
But if you don’t want to take the SATs again, you can go ahead with your plan for the ACT.
Hope this helped! 
I don’t want to have to take the SAT again a 3rd time, especially for schools that require you to send all scores, so I guess what I’m asking is how bad does a 7/3/7 look to top schools?
Honestly, it depends on the school. If you really don’t want to take the SAT again. you can make up for it with strong AP English scores. If your GPA is high enough, that would also compensate for it. But if you really want to improve your chances, colleges don’t care how many times you take the SAT, as long as it’s not more than 3.
Just do a good job on your essays. I’d leave it.
I don’t know of any college that uses the SAT essay score. Do well on your college app essays to show you know how to write.
They won’t look at it TOO much, however, a 17 on the essay is not ideal either. Are you applying to a college that superscores?
retake for the essay. As one of my uncles is in the admission committee at a top 30 university, they compare your essay score with the quality of the essay submitted in your college app. If the score does not correlate to you college essay, they will more than likely reject you. Sorry for being harsh @skittles248