<p>I need help figuring out which scores to send. In addition to Brown (top choice), I may apply to a few other ivy leagues as well as Rice, Johns Hopkins and state schools.
Here are my scores
SAT: 2300
Math: 790
Writing: 770
Reading: 740
Subject Tests
Biology M: 800
Math 2: 800
Chemistry: 750
ACT Composite: 35
Science: 36
Math: 36
Reading: 35
English: 31
Combined English/Writing: 28 (7 on the essay)
I have a high composite score but I’m hesitant about sending it because of the low writing score. The only reason I took the ACT was because I though I’d perform badly on the subject tests. Will the writing score hurt me if I send it? I’ve already sent all SAT scores to colleges but is the ACT worth sending? I’m worried colleges will look down on the 7 I got on the essay. Thanks.</p>
<p>If you had to send the ACT, I’d say breathe easy and send it. A 35 is a 35.</p>
<p>But you don’t have to send it. At all. So if it worries you, don’t.</p>
<p>With SATs like that, you’re worrying about this?</p>
<p>My son got into Brown (and 4 other top programs) with a 36 ACT and an essay score around what you got. Yes, you probably need to demonstrate some degree of writing competency, but quite a few really good writers have trouble with the ACT/SAT writing formula: 5 long-winded paragraphs written under tight time constraints. A professor at MIT demonstrated that these essays are graded mostly on length – he was able to guess the score perhaps 80 percent of the time while standing across the room just looking at the length!</p>
<p>In my son’s case, he was a slow writer and a very concise writer, additionally hampered by the fact that he rarely writes long passages by hand because he’s been on a computer since he was 1.5 years old. Concise arguing, unfortunately, is not valued in such essays – write anything, repeat yourself in slightly different ways, make factual errors, it doesn’t matter just write a lot in marginally-comprehensible English and you get a high essay score.</p>
<p>That said, it would help if you could demonstrate your writing skills in some other way, in addition to your personal essays. My son won a citywide competition in one of the largest US cities for his National History Fair paper. You might have similar fiction or nonfiction awards – or you may opt to get a letter of recommendation from an English or humanities teacher who can address this issue specifically.</p>