So I took the February ACT and got a decent result. 34 Composite (35E,35M,33R,33S)
Though I consistently hit 35’s on practice tests and usually get perfect in reading, I was content with this score until I got
back my writing scores, a 27.
I’m a junior and looking to apply to HYPS, with my dream school being Harvard.
Should I re-take the test or ask for a re-score, it seems for this batch everyone’s writing score seems to be extremely low?
The writing score is excellent and the writing doesn’t matter anyway. if you really think you can do better, I’d wait until the fall (since you learn more and more as school goes on and you now are sitting on a great score) to decide if you want to go at it again with a focus on reading and science. If you can bump those two up, you could get to 35 superscore. But again, I wouldn’t focus on it now, you are good. Think about it and wait and see in the fall.
A 34 is a really good score. You can easily bump it up to a 35 if that is your goal and the writing score isn’t as important as the rest of the test so I wouldn’t worry about it.
Thanks a lot for your advice! I’m probably just gonna pay for a re-score for the essay and if I have time i’ll take it again.
No, writing score doesn’t matter.
No reason to retake. Your 34 will stand you well in the application process. Best of luck and be sure to apply to at least one safety school.
27 in writing is not bad at all and I doubt it will set you back as your composite score is good enough to overlook it. Since the new writing ACT essay was introduced last year I’m sure colleges will exempt low scores if the composite is high.
34 is a great composite! Don’t worry too much about your low writing score, do you have any AP English courses that would show you are a good writer?
@swim1128 I’m Canadian so I don’t have AP English, but I took an honours equivalent. My mark in that is relatively low to my other classes so that’s why I am concerned about my essay score.