langfam Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Do you have your kids take the essay writing section of the ACT? If so, why? Thanks!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan P. Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Yes, I had my son do the essay because it was required by the college of his choice. Blessings, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 When my kids take the ACT the first time during their 10th or 11th grade year they will not do the essay. At this point they haven't decided on colleges to apply to, but the ones I've looked at so far don't require the essay. I think the personal, untimed essays the kids write as part of the application process are more meaningful to colleges. If ds decides to apply to a college that requires the ACT essay later on, he can always retake it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 We use the ACT as our state mandated annual achievement test. As a 9th grader, my son took the multiple choice portions alone of the ACT. I figured that there was enough of a transition from the ITBS to the ACT--forget the essay on the first go around! Last April we included the essay. Frankly, I am not sure that we will again, maybe let him decide. My son is a slow writer (fast reader--good ACT composite score but mediocre on the essay). It is a challenge for him to write in 30 minutes on a forced topic. Maybe this is a skill he needs to acquire? It seems that colleges in general do not know what to do with the essay portion of either the SAT or the ACT. They will often consider a good mark but not hold a low score against a student. Perhaps they too realize that not every kid will write brilliant essays in 30 minutes. If schools to which he ends up applying require the essay, then I guess he'll have no choice. Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in TN Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Some of the schools that ds is considering require the ACT essay. In 9th grade he took the ACT without the essay, but last month at the end of his 10th grade year he added the essay for the first time. I'll probably have him continue taking it from now forward. It would be a shame for him to get a great composite score on a particular day but not be able to use that score at the college of his choice because it didn't include an essay score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in MO Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 I let my dd have the choice this time around. She's very similar to Jane's son: she's a good writer, but writes slowly, and feels very much "on the spot" when she has timed essays. Next year I would like her to do the timed essay with the ACT, and I'll know more after that. May I suggest a couple of resources for you to look into for preparation for the timed essay? 1.) Julie Bogart of Bravewriter has an SAT/ACT Timed Essay writing class which is very well run. You would need to sign up on her e-mail notification list specifically for that class. If you decide to do the class, sign up quickly once you're notified that she's holding another one, because the classes fill up very quickly. The class ran for four weeks and was conducted in a forum open only to the kids registered in that class. It was somewhat "public" in the sense that your child's essay responses to her SAT or ACT essay prompts will be viewed by other kids in that particular forum. However, Julie keeps to her promise to keep all comments from herself and the other kids very positive. 2.) Cindy Marsch has a new writing service through Criterion in which she does the same thing---picks essay prompts for your dc and then has him/her submit the essays to her for evaluation. It's done on a more one-on-one basis. I used her help for myself this year, to prepare for the two timed essays for the GRE, and her evaluations and feedback were invaluable. FWIW, I scored a 5.5 out of a possible 6.0 on my essays, so I was pleased with the result! Timed essay writing may be a natural skill for some kids and an acquired skill for others. It's one of those necessary "evils" or "hoops" through which many of us have to jump in order to achieve our goals. However, some preparation is helpful and helps take the "edge" off through some familiarity with what we're doing. I also think college admissions officials look at the big picture of a college student. It doesn't all hinge on the essay or SAT or ACT scores---they help, but there are many other contributing factors. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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