I was very content with my SAT and ACT Essays scores, but plan on retaking to improve the composite score. Can I just skip the essay for my next test and just submit both of my attempts when I apply to a college that requires the essay? Thanks.
If you intend to apply to colleges that require the essay, your test without essay may not be used at all in determining admission, and you cannot assume that if a college superscores tests that it will use the one without essay in that process. Colleges that require the essay and superscore tests come in two forms, some will use the one without essay if you submit another test with essay, and some will not. And a problem that exists is that colleges usually do not say on their sites whether they will use the one without essay in that situation, and to determine the issue you will have to specifically ask the colleges to which you are applying for an answer.
^Maybe. I know that in previous years my kids’ schools only needed one essay on file to satisfy the essay requirement and accepted additional tests w/o it. More and more schools are dropping the essay requirement altogether so check your schools’ websites to understand their testing policy (and keep in mind, too, that any particular school still requiring the essay may well drop that requirement by the following admission cycle. That happened to my DS for several schools this year). If it’s a question about whether they can super score two tests where one doesn’t have the essay, give them a call and ask that specific question.
The essay score does NOT factor into the composite.