<p>Alright, I took the ACT in June and got a 35 composite (36R, 35E, 35S, 32M), so I'm happy about that. However,I got an 8 on the essay, and I'm wondering how much of a negative impact this will have when submitting my score to Ivies and comparable schools and if it would thus be worth it to retake the ACT in the Fall. Thank you!</p>
<p><em>Major caveat</em></p>
<p>I did not attend an Ivy League School, nor are my kids headed to an Ivy League School. My ACT score (back in the stone age when dinosaurs ruled the earth) was 30. Both my kids are about in the same boat.</p>
<p>So, with that grain of salt for you to take, here are my thoughts.</p>
<p>You 8 on the writing puts you in the 75 percentile of accepted students. Ordinarily, that would terrify me for such a selective school, so my gut reaction would be to study hard for the math section to see if I could pull that up, while taking another stab at the writing.</p>
<p>However, you’ll write at least one, if not two essays to go with each of your Ivy applications. I would think they are much more interested in their opinion of your writing, than the opinions of pair of ACT essay graders. This makes me want to say, don’t retake.</p>
<p>Regardless this is my strong suggestion. If you do choose to retake, do not automatically send your scores. Wait until you get them in and only send them to schools after you are sure of what they are.</p>
<p>Opening yourself up to having to spend a few dollars to send off scores that you know are excellent seems to be one of the best investments you can make.</p>
<p>Writing means very little in the eyes of most colleges. An 11 or 12 may give you a small boost, but otherwise it doesn’t really matter. The common app and supplement essays are what they actually care about.</p>