I took the ACT with essay in December and got a 34 composite but a 9 on the essay. I am currently a sophomore and hope to be a competitive candidate for top-tier schools come the time. My preparation for the ACT consisted of doing practice test in the summer and checking answers, placing little emphasis on writing. In addition to possibly the ACT test, I will need to prepare for the PSAT in October. Would you recommend taking the ACT again or focusing on developing extracurricular and other parts of the application?
If the essay is your only reason to retake it, don’t. Colleges put v little emphasis on it. And 9 is a good score. Don’t worry about it and do some fun ECs that interest you!
Schools don’t really care about essays, unless you outright fail them, and then it looks weird. If you retake, you might get a higher essay, but a lower composite, and I’d argue that the composite is more important overall. I got the same score as you on the ACT, and in ACT writing. I’m currently a senior in high school, and I’ve heard back from 6/11 colleges I’ve applied to, all of which I’ve been accepted for. I wouldn’t call them top tier schools, but they do include UCs, and in a pretty competitive major- CS. Based on my own experience, I think that your score is fine, but it wouldn’t hurt to retake, if you wanted to. Another test to focus on would be SAT IIs, because having these scores in 700+ are great to boost an app. I would personally recommend developing other parts of your application, especially your GPA, and making sure you have the time to ace lots of AP classes. The best extracurriculars to have on your app are ones that you’ve done for many years, or those with which you’ve won awards or leadership positions. So, keep doing what you’re doing, improve where you can, and I wish you the best of luck!