Which writing score matters more to colleges?

<p>The combined English and Writing or the writing score itself? Because I got a 30 combined but only a 7 on the essay.</p>

<p>I personally don’t believe either matter very much to colleges, but I would say the individual essay score would be of more importance.</p>

<p>I wonder this too. Some of the schools DS is applying to say that a writing score must be submitted but won’t factor into the decision. That doesn’t really make sense to me. DS took the ACT in Feb and got a 27 combined english/writing with an 8 for writing.</p>

<p>He retook it in June and got a 30 combined english/writing with only a 6 for writing.<br>
He worked so hard to get his composite up and then this happened.</p>

<p>^Don’t fret. I personally don’t think it will hurt him very much- the colleges he’s applying to will be able to judge his ability to write based on his admissions essay, not a score off of an essay written in thirty minutes.</p>

<p>The writing (essay) portion of the ACT is practically useless. Only worry about your English (grammar) score, not the combined english/writing score.</p>

<p>^^interesting analysis…I think it would depend on what is mentioned on common data set for the particular college in question…for example, one school my daughter is considering only looks at the ACT composite score but specifically states that they use SAT/ACT essay for both admission and placement…</p>

<p>so, I guess, it depends…</p>

<p>I’m in the same boat–36 english without the essay, 32 with. (I got an 8 on the essay).</p>

<p>Well, think about it for a second. Say that you submit some stellar essays to the colleges you’re applying to, along with your ACT scores. Now, generally if you are an amazing essay writer, chances are that you’ll have a good writing score on either the ACT or the SAT. It might raise a few eyebrows when the admission committee’s see that you wrote amazingly stellar essays, but only managed to score a little more than half on the essay portion of the ACT (or the SAT for that matter). I’m not saying that any of this is definite fact, but it was something that I thought about and considered when I took the ACT. Unfortunately, with a composite of a 26 and a 12 on the essay, the moment was bittersweet at best.</p>

<p>^ I disagree, since much more weight is given to college essays than to your ACT essay score, which no one cares about.</p>

<p>A 8 essay dragged me down to a 31 from 34, but it’s alright and it probably wouldn’t have affected anything even if I had gotten a higher score.</p>

<p>^^I also disagree. Writing a college admissions essay and writing the ACT essay are extremely different. </p>

<p>The ACT gives you only thirty minutes to write a persuasive essay; like the rest of the test, it’s seeing how much you can do under a very limited amount of time. And I personally do not think that a high score on this section of the test correlates with a talent for writing- after all, the essay is so formulaic that anyone who can write quickly and take up about 2 - 2.5 pages should receive a decent score. </p>

<p>On the other hand, an admissions essay requires you to convey the essence of you, and not only that, but in a way that is unique and that evokes your personality. Such writing takes much more talent and time to create, so I do not think that an eyebrow would be raised if an applicant submitted stellar essays but received mediocre scores on the writing section of the ACT. </p>

<p>@rodney: they use the essay for placement? That seems very odd to me; I’m guessing that the placement being made could also be covered by a high score on the AP English Language exam?</p>

<p>I got an 8 on my writing score and a combined english/writing of 31 (my english score individually was a 36), and college admissions turned out completely fine for me. Colleges really are not that concerned with your writing score, so long as you can demonstrate that you are an adequate writer (8 is what would be considered adequate, in my opinion). The essays you write for your applications are what matter: those are where colleges really get to see your writing capabilities, not some nonsense you write for a B.S. ACT essay prompt.</p>

<p>I just saw my score is up… this wont affect me in any way right? I got a 35 on English, but an 8 on the essay brought the combined to a 31</p>

<p>^Yes, that’s fine. Look at my post directly before yours.</p>