Okay, so I received a 35 composite score on the ACT… BUT my writing score was horrendous–24 (8, 8, 8, 8).
Should I retake the ACT, or should I just leave it as it is. I’ve already taken the ACT 3 times.
Leave it. A 35 is really good, and if you’ve already taken it 3 times then that’s enough.
Writing is the least used of the ACT components, and is ignored in many schools and some areas (e.g. engineering) even if the school overall wants it. (I think they created it to be more competitive with the old SAT)
The ‘new’ writing test was just introduced last month and it will take colleges years to determine what value, if any, it has or even if the scoring is meaningful. Even if you look at the ACT concordance tables comparing the new to the old test, you would have somewhere between an 8 and 9, which would put your combined English/Writing score around 31-32 , which is 98-99th percentile. If you take the writing alone you are around 90th percentile.
I would not be concerned at all, put it out of your mind, and pat yourself on the back for an excellent composite score, and go write some killer essays.