I just took the ACT for the first time and got my results back. On English I got a 36 (which I was SO not expecting)…and then I got my writing scores back with 9s across the board. My total writing score came to a 26–10 points lower than my English score?! I knew when I wrote the essay that it wasn’t my best quality, mainly since I was drained from being in a testing center for hours on end…but wow, that was surprising. My total ELA score is now a 32, same as my composite.
Does anyone know what ELA score I should shoot for (and does it even matter?) And do you have any tips in improving writing scores?
Thank you so much!
A 32 ELA is the 99th percentile. Being in the top 1% is never a bad thing.
ELA doesn’t really matter; as far as i know it’s the individuals that count (english, reading, essay, etc). Essay scores are really surprising people, just because they seem worse compared to the 12-point scale. for reference, i got a 31 on the essay, which i hear is the equivalent of 11/12, but sounds like it’s lower than that.
for practice I’d say just practice writing. One thing I did was take a bunch of sample prompts and give yourself a minute each to design and write the thesis. when you can plan more efficiency, you have more time to write and you start off more organized. good luck!
Thanks for your input! I’ll definitely be working to improve my writing score 