My school-day SAT scores came back. I did not do as well as I thought I would on the composite. However, I did really well on my essay, getting a 22/24. Since CollegeBoard is eliminating the essay from regular administrations, does this not matter? I would like this to matter, as it would provide a decent boost.
Very few colleges look at or require the SAT essay even before College Board was taking out the essay. I don’t think the essay will help too much.
Here’s a list from PrepScholar on which colleges require the essay, and which ones recommend it. Do note though that the article is a year old, and many of the recommend colleges don’t actually rank people with an SAT essay higher.
| School | State/Country | Require or Recommend |
|---|---|---|
| Abilene Christian University | TX | Recommend |
| Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences | NY | Recommend |
| Allegheny College | PA | Recommend |
| Augsburg University | MN | Recommend |
| Austin College | TX | Recommend |
| Benedictine University | IL | Require |
| Caldwell University | NJ | Recommend |
| California State University, Northridge | CA | Recommend |
| Central Connecticut State University | CT | Recommend |
| Central Michigan University | MI | Recommend |
| Cheyney University of Pennsylvania | PA | Recommend |
| City University London | UK | Require |
| College of Wooster | OH | Recommend |
| Colorado School of Mines | CO | Recommend |
| Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art | NY | Recommend |
| Corban University | OR | Recommend |
| Cornerstone University | MI | Recommend |
| Dallas Christian College | TX | Recommend |
| Delaware State University | DE | Require |
| DeSales University | PA | Require |
| Dominican University of California | CA | Require |
| Duke University | NC | Recommend |
| Earlham College | IN | Recommend |
| Eastern Illinois University | IL | Recommend |
| Eastern Nazarene College | MA | Recommend |
| Eastern University | PA | Recommend |
| Endicott College | MA | Recommend |
| Five Towns College | NY | Recommend |
| Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University | FL | Require |
| Gallaudet University | DC | Recommend |
| George Washington University | DC | Recommend |
| Georgia Highlands College | GA | Recommend |
| Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) | GA | Recommend |
| Greenville University | IL | Recommend |
| Gwynedd Mercy University | PA | Recommend |
| Hofstra University | NY | Recommend |
| Holy Family College | WI | Recommend |
| Holy Family University | PA | Recommend |
| Howard University | DC | Require |
| Husson University | ME | Recommend |
| Indiana University South Bend | IN | Recommend |
| Indiana University Southeast | IN | Recommend |
| Indiana Wesleyan University | IN | Recommend |
| Inter American University of Puerto Rico: Barranquitas Campus | PR | Recommend |
| John Wesley University | NC | Require |
| Juilliard School | NY | Recommend |
| Keiser University (West Palm Beach) | FL | Recommend |
| Kentucky State University | KY | Require |
| Lehigh University | PA | Recommend |
| Madonna University | MI | Recommend |
| Manhattan College | NY | Recommend |
| Martin Luther College | MN | Require |
| Marymount California University | CA | Recommend |
| Massachusetts Maritime Academy | MA | Recommend |
| McMurry University | TX | Recommend |
| Mercy College | NY | Recommend |
| Modern College of Design | OH | Recommend |
| Molloy College | NY | Require |
| Montana Technological University | MT | Recommend |
| Morehouse College | GA | Recommend |
| Mount Saint Mary College | NY | Recommend |
| Mount St. Joseph University | OH | Recommend |
| National-Louis University | IL | Recommend |
| New Jersey City University | NJ | Recommend |
| Nichols College | MA | Recommend |
| North Park University | IL | Recommend |
| Ohio University | OH | Recommend |
| Oregon State University | OR | Recommend |
| Purdue University Northwest | IN | Recommend |
| Randall University | OK | Recommend |
| Randolph-Macon College | VA | Recommend |
| Reading Area Community College | PA | Recommend |
| Rowan University | NJ | Recommend |
| Rutgers University—Camden Campus | NJ | Recommend |
| Rutgers University—Newark Campus | NJ | Recommend |
| Saint Michael’s College | VT | Recommend |
| SciencesPo | France | Recommend |
| Seton Hill University | PA | Recommend |
| Shiloh University | IA | Recommend |
| Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania | PA | Recommend |
| Soka University of America | CA | Require |
| Southern California Institute of Architecture | CA | Require |
| Southern Illinois University Carbondale | IL | Recommend |
| Southern Oregon University | OR | Recommend |
| Spring Hill College | AL | Recommend |
| Sul Ross State University | TX | Recommend |
| SUNY Farmingdale State College | NY | Recommend |
| SUNY University at Stony Brook | NY | Recommend |
| Tarleton State University | TX | Recommend |
| Texas A&M International University | TX | Recommend |
| Texas A&M University | TX | Recommend |
| Texas A&M University—Galveston | TX | Require |
| Texas State University | TX | Recommend |
| The King’s College | NY | Recommend |
| United States Air Force Academy | CO | Recommend |
| United States Military Academy (West Point) | NY | Require |
| University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) | CA | Require |
| University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | CA | Require |
| University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) | CA | Require |
| University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | CA | Require |
| University of California, Merced | CA | Require |
| University of California, Riverside | CA | Require |
| University of California, San Diego (UCSD) | CA | Require |
| University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) | CA | Require |
| University of California, Santa Cruz | CA | Require |
| University of Evansville | IN | Recommend |
| University of Hawaii: West Oahu | HI | Recommend |
| University of La Verne | CA | Recommend |
| University of Mary Hardin-Baylor | TX | Recommend |
| University of Massachusetts Amherst | MA | Recommend |
| University of Minnesota: Twin Cities | MN | Recommend |
| University of New England | ME | Recommend |
| University of North Texas | TX | Require |
| University of Northwestern—St. Paul | MN | Recommend |
| University of Texas at Dallas | TX | Require |
| University of the Virgin Islands | VI | Recommend |
| University of Toledo | OH | Recommend |
| University of Washington Bothell | WA | Recommend |
| VanderCook College of Music | IL | Recommend |
| Virginia Union University | VA | Recommend |
| Wabash College | IN | Recommend |
| Webb Institute | NY | Recommend |
| Webber International University | FL | Recommend |
| Wesleyan College | GA | Recommend |
| West Virginia University Institute of Technology | WV | Require |
| Western Carolina University | NC | Require |
| William Jewell College | MO | Recommend |
sat essay going to be axed soon
Unfortunately, as noted above, very few schools care about the essay any more, if any.
The Prepscholar article is actually from 2016, despite the byline date (check the comments) and way out of date.
West Point is the only large school that I know of that used it last cycle (though there may be small schools I don’t know about), and I suspect that will end.
It will be sent with your scores, and some schools may look at it, but I wouldn’t count on it providing a meaningful benefit.
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@geolawyer1903, if you don’t mind what was your composite score?
1550 first time. School-day, I got 1510. One more is pending, but I hope to get a perfect score on math to boost my superscore. You might ask, why not stop with the 1510? Well, my school is extremely competitive with many of my peers getting 1570+. So I wanted to stay in the hunt, so to speak.
That’s a really good score for pretty much all colleges. I think you’ll be fine SAT wise.
I know, but I need all of the boosts I can get at T30s. My essays and ECs are very average.
Yeah, I feel the same way.
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