I am wondering if it was worth retaking my 2290. Does a 690 with an 8 essay look really bad?
I think you should get Erica Meltzer’s Grammar book. I went from a 600 with an 8 to a 790 with a 10.
You have a great score. If you really care about the superscore then I guess you could retake, but it won’t really help that much. I would suggest keeping your current score
@winslet Thanks for the suggestion, I plan on getting that book if I do decide to retake it. My essay received an 8 because my conclusion was very abrupt… A few sentences could have potentially gotten it up to a 10, which pains me… 
Yeah, I understand you there. My examples were terrible the first time around and my conclusion was abrupt as well.
I think your score is great as is, but if you wanted to retake it, I could honestly see you getting a 2400. Writing was the easiest for me to improve on.
@virsha24 Thanks for the reply. Most of the colleges that I am applying do superscore except for the UCs. I would be ok with my score if it was more spread out, but I was wondering if the 690 w/ and 8 writing would look strikingly bad on my application.
No not at all. In fact, some colleges only take Reading+Math. The writing section holds the least value on the SAT. It is still looked at but you made up for it with 800s in the other two which is very impressive and is more important.
@virsha24 Wow! Didn’t actually know about that… Thanks for the info.
@winslet Awesome, I guess i’ll check our Erica’s grammar book. Will probably consider a retake since this is my first time, and I am confident that I can improve my writing section to a high 700. Also, most of my colleges I will apply to will superscore Will it look bad if I were to retake and do a bit worse on the Math + CR for a better writing section? Not sure if I can maintain an 800 in math because I am probably bound to fall into one of their trap questions.
No, I don’t think it will look bad at all. As long as you don’t have a significant decrease in your scores, you’ll definitely be fine. 
@winslet - Did you do anything else besides Erica’s Grammar book to improve your Writing score?
@FatherOf That’s honestly the only thing I used. There’s so many practice tests in that book that the material is really drilled into you head. The answers literally jump off the page during the actual exam.
@Defeat Also keep in mind that you can showcase your writing skills in your application essays. Good AdComs will understand that a 25 minute essay does not accurately reflect your writing skill. So if you don’t want to or can’t retake the test, you can (mostly) remedy your writing score through a well written personal statement.
Congrats on the great score!
Take ACT instead.
There are many schools out there that consider only Math and CR. You will be nominated to be presidential scholar based on this score alone. Not worth trying to retake.
The answer is highly dependent on the target school. Obviously for schools that ignore the W section, it makes no sense. However, the scores will be part of the package at schools that are flooded with superior scores.
One might look at the essays and either decide the 25 minute was a fluke or … think that the submitted essays where ghost written. To be it mildly, an essay score of 8 WILL raise questions and probably not be positive for the students. Between essays that can be “purchased” and one that was written under time restrictions and without help, which one do you think would carry more influence? Unless there are other tests that convey a good command of English, this will be a red flag.
The W score is subpar to the other sections and is the easiest to address with a modicum of preparation. Getting a high score on the essay is not a herculean task. One can prepare a canned version that can sliced and diced at will … and that used to be the easiest of strategies in the Old SAT II days.
Again, check with the schools, but in general schools that appeal to 2400 SAT students WILL pay attention to every score.
I really wonder how much the schools weigh the SAT essay. It bears little resemblance to what colleges expect from students in the academic setting. My S got something like a 6 and got accepted everywhere he applied (800 CR 700 M 740W). He got an AP Lang score of 5 and is an excellent writer. Not knocking those that get a high score just thinking that if the rest of the application is strong I think that the schools aren’t going to be concerned about a low e