Should my son retake the SAT solely to improve his SAT Essay scores?

Test Preparation
1

My son and I are currently struggling with the following dilemma. We would very much like your inputs.

He is currently a junior in high school, and will enter university in Fall 2020. His aspiration is to major in one of the fields of engineering at one of the following universities: Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, Harvard, Princeton, or Penn.

He took the SAT (with essay) for the first time three weeks ago on Dec 1, 2018, in which he received a composite score of 1,570 (Math: 800; R&W: 770). However, he only received scores of 6-3-6 for the Essay portion.

  1. Should he re-take the SAT (with essay) to improve his essay scores?
  2. UC Berkeley requires the SAT with essay and Stanford says that the SAT with essay is “highly recommended.” Are my son’s low essay scores likely to affect the outcome of his application to these two universities?
  3. MIT, Harvard, Princeton and Penn do not require the SAT with essay. Will my son’s low essay scores affect how these universities view his application? Do these universities even look at the essay scores?
2

No, I do not think the essay is a huge factor. His composite score is great and he should work on thinking about his essays/further developing his extracurriculars.

3

No, his score is fantastic.