As juniors received their ACT results, many expressed anger due to low writing scores despite receiving high scores in other sections. Though the optional essay portion has never been a major issue for students in the past, in September 2015, the ACT changed the writing section from a 12-point scale to a 36-point scale, similar to the rest of the sections of the test. This change has spurred great criticism at the ACT, with only 2% of test-takers receiving above a 30/36. Despite the essay being the least important part of the test, an unusually low writing score can raise a red flag for students applying to colleges.

In the past, the ACT essay was scored on a 12-point scale using a “holistic” rubric, where grading of the essay was based on being clear, logical, and understanding the topic at hand. Now, the ACT essay is scored with an “analytic” rubric, where many of the old essay rules apply, but requiring more complex thinking and writing skills. This was done to make the writing style of the essay more similar to the style of the Common Core standards. Although the majority of test-takers knew about the new essay format and grading, many students received drastically lower scores, with the ACT reporting that, on average, student’s writing scores are three points lower than their composite scores.

Director of College Counseling, Kathi Woods said, “The drop in writing grades for Masters students is similar to the drop most high school students are experiencing. Some of our top students who took the ACT had much lower writing scores than other sections. Most educators feel the ACT will have to make a change soon in the rubric used by the essay graders. Since there is fierce competition between the ACT and the SAT for states to contract with them for testing business, it is likely the ACT will remedy the rubric issues soon.”

The ACT has defended their stance by citing that a good score in one subject can be equal to a lesser score on the writing section, and that students are still getting used to the new writing prompts. However, students are still struggling to understand why they are receiving such low scores. The only thing that students can do is pay $50 to have the ACT regrade the essay and even then there is a possibility that the score won’t change.