<p>Need some advice from “experts”. Here is my S’s test scores. He is applying to many BS/MD and few TopTier UG routes.</p>
<ul>
<li>Oct 2014 ACT Composite:35 (E:36, M:36, R:31, S:36) Essay:8</li>
<li>Sep 2014 ACT Composite:34 (E:34, M:36, R:31, S:35) Essay:8</li>
<li>Dec 2012 SAT:2260 (W:720, M:780, R:760) Essay:10</li>
</ul>
<p>SAT was taken long ago. Will colleges look the “long time ago” as a good sign or bad sign. Do they look for recent performance. Should we send both OR just SAT. We are back and forth. Let us see what readers think. ACT composite is helping and at the same time ACT essay is hurting. Confused. Any expert advice would be nice. </p>
<p>Does he want to major in literature? How are his grades in English and history classes? Is he weak at writing?</p>
<p>If Brown admissions loves your son, they won’t care about that score. His test scores are really outstanding. Granted, I don’t sit in the admissions committee and I haven’t analyzed numbers, but I find it hard to believe that a kid would get denied because of one 8, especially if everything else is strong. </p>
<p>One way to put your mind at ease is if one of his recommendations could discuss his writing skills.</p>
<p>If your son writes good essays, it would be easy to overlook a “bad” writing score. An 8 isn’t particularly bad, just average. And honestly it’s easy to tell that he’s a strong student, just based on his ACT/SAT scores. I’d be surprised if he was rejected over his writing score, unless your son’s essays reflect poor writing as well.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the feedback. We decided to send BOTH sat & act scores thus letting colleges to decide the right thing. </p>