Miguel Said:

Good ACT composite score, bad writing section?

We Answered:

Both of your scores are pretty good. though if I were you I might retake the SAT to try to improve your score, as I'm sure you can probably do at least a little bit better since you did so well on the ACT.

What are you planning on majoring in though? If it's math or science based, they probably won't care as much about the essay, though if it's English-related, then I would definitely take it again. Was it the prompt that had you stumped, or did you just not have enough time. Though I'm sure that they would love to see you do well on the essay, if you have a great admissions essay they might ignore the ACT essay.

A 31 combined English/Writing is still good though, even if it's not quite as good as your other scores. However, if you feel you can do better, go for it. Make sure you practice doing timed writing though, otherwise it could just be a waste of time.

Sarah Said:

Can you PLEASE!! grade this ACT writing exercise. PLEASE!!?

We Answered:

Although I highly agree with what you're saying, you have a fairly significant amount of grammatical and wording errors that cause certain parts of the paper to be confusing. You also may wish to avoid use of the words me, myself, and I, as these indicate an opinion, not a fact. Otherwise, an excellent paper.

Rosa Said:

Does anyone want to know the ACT Prompt for this year?

We Answered:

I agree with you the ACT is a complete B17ch when it comes to timing!!!
That explains my low score although I tried my freaking BEST!

Dan Said:

If I want to major in poli-sci, would a poor score on the ACT writing section hurt?

We Answered:

Those are really difficult school to get in. There are many great schools that would be very impressed with your credentials, but you have picked almost impossible places to enter.

Why don't you apply to those places, but also use one of the free online services such as the College Board's "College Matchmaker." Put in your personal information and see what is recommended. Apply to at least three schools that definitely are accepting people with your level of credentials.

I know a number of students who went elsewhere for their undergrad degree, then on to those name schools for grad school - where it really counts.

Favorite "springboard colleges" include Rhodes in Memphis [this student then got her MA at Columbia], Trinity in San Antonio [MA at Standford and now in a PhD program at Princeton], and Carlton College [now at Yale].

One last comment - Poli Sci really isn't of much utility. You are much better off majoring in Econ.