Overall I believe your plan and rationale make sense. Worse case if they reviewed your IR score and asked about it in an interview can explain that you know why it went wrong, didn't answer it all, weren't prepared for the new exam section etc. No I don't believe 4 would be a problem. But I agree if preparation for a re-take would cut that much into your essay/application prep then it may not be worth it. As for the optional essay, that is a tough call. If you have nothing else that you want to use the optional essay for in terms of adding to your application, you could write something very brief, but I think it'd also be fine to leave it out, that one is borderline. Overall I think the main basis for a decision will be based on the rest of your application, and if they notice it and it's a concern they may ask you more about it in an interview if the rest of the application is strong enough for an interview (so that is the true challenge!). Good luck! Keep us posted.
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