College essays - what’s the current thinking?
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Anonymous
"Strategic" is code for writing about what you think they want to hear. Don’t do it. Keep it genuine. Remember it is only one part of an application, use it to communicate something about the applicant that can’t be gleaned from other areas of the essay (motivations, character, curiosity…). |
Anonymous
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As a parent w 2 rounds of college admissions, my vote is to just let your kid write whatever is meaningful to them. There is no need to over think, or guess or “game” the essay. You don’t know who is reading these, what their mood is that day, what other essays they have read that day that could affect their evaluation.
As long as the main voice is reflective of your student, not something an adult is trying to fabricate, then it will be fine. |
Anonymous
I’m convinced that guy is just a click farmer. He probably makes more off TikTok’s creator fund that off having an actual counseling business. So many of his videos are just summarizing threads on reddit. |
Anonymous
| I think AOs read so many essays that the best route is to let the student use their own style and write about a topic they genuinely like. Authentic enthusiasm for something is probably more appealing that overly coached and strategized. |
Anonymous
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On the "International Students" forum someone mentioned that those kids have a pro write their essay; Seeing that everyone that applies is a "Tom Edison Boy Genius", everyone that gets in is "Stephen Hawking - on the verge of a breakthrough", and the people graduating are barely able to function in the work-place.
I'm wondering what percentage of applicants don't write their own essays? |
Anonymous
Where is that forum. Here? Yes, its common for students in India/Asia/MENA to hire someone to write essay. Which is why so many schools require that Glimpse or InitialView video from non-US students - they want to see how they talk/present themselves. |
Anonymous
Sorry typo - I meant thread. |
Anonymous
Can you explain a bit more? For example, at what point will an essay make a difference between an admit vs reject? I feel that over the last few years, ESSAY has been such a big deal - the fact that everyone and their mother is now an essay editor is probably pushing it's "importance". Would be really helpful if you can elaborate when its importance is overstated vs when it would make a difference? |
Anonymous
Np. If the rest of the application is not strong or compelling, the essay won’t matter. Each application is the sum of its parts. Every part needs to be stellar. An amazing essay is not going to help get your kid into a T20 school - if the grades, scores, extracurriculars, awards and letters of recommendation are weak. Note: Essays don’t matter that much for purposes of admission for less selected schools. However, they may help with merit. |
Anonymous
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Saw this and agree with most of it (ignore the product they are trying to sell at the link):
https://www.myprompt.com/post/how-important-are-essays-for-me-in-college-admissions Put simply, colleges receive tens of thousands of applicants who all look the same – similar academics and similar extracurriculars. Admissions officers are looking for tiebreakers. Strong essays that stand out are a critical tiebreaker. Let’s take an inside look at how college admissions officers evaluate applicants. The easiest way to think about it is that there are two components: The Academic Score and The Personal Score. Academic Score: A combination of your grades, test scores (SAT/ACT, APs), and strength of curriculum (how difficult were the courses you took compared to what was available to you at your high school). Personal Score: A combination of your essays (what you write about and how you write about it), extracurriculars, recommendations, and interview (if applicable). You can then plot the scores. Using data Harvard had to release publicly, we’ve created a simple way to understand your admissions chances at Ivy and equivalent colleges based on your Academic and Personal Scores. The higher each score is – ESPECIALLY the Personal Score – the more likely you are to get in As you can see, it’s best to be in the Strong Academics, Strong Personal category (75% of admits). The next best is Sufficient Academics, Strong Personal (25% of admits). You may feel this is counterintuitive, but it works. Colleges have a ton of data on how students perform at their college after they accept them. They use this data to set the Academic Bar. If you’re above the Academic Bar (4 in 5 applicants), then the college believes you’ll be academically successful at their college. And once you pass the academic threshold, the personal side of your application matters much more. The real challenge is earning a Strong Personal Score. Only 1 in 5 applicants receive a Strong Personal Score. While nearly every applicant to Ivy and equivalent colleges has impressive extracurriculars, earning a Strong Personal Score requires setting yourself apart through your essays – what you write about and how you write about it – making your application impossible for admissions officers to ignore. In all, the data shows strong essays 10x your admissions chances at Ivy and equivalent colleges. You can click here for a more detailed analysis of the Harvard admissions data. _______________ Essays matter a lot at Ivy and equivalent colleges, where colleges have tens of thousands of academically similar students they need to differentiate between. However, as colleges’ or specific majors’ admissions rates increase (e.g., accepting 50% of applicants instead of 15% of applicants), the less important essays become. This is because colleges can admit nearly 100% of applicants in the Strong Academics, Strong Personal category. And then they have plenty of spots left for other applicants with Strong Academics, Sufficient Personal and those with particularly compelling Strong Personal profiles but only Sufficient Academics. We’ve put together a simple guide to understanding when essays matter and when they matter less. Keep in mind that a college’s overall acceptance rate often doesn’t reflect how important essays may be for you. Often, applying out-of-state to desirable public colleges has far lower admissions rates than applying in-state. For example, the University of Michigan has an in-state acceptance rate of around 40%, and out-of-state is under 20%. Additionally, applying to highly-desirable programs and majors can have far lower admissions rates. For example, the University of Washington has around a 50% admit rate; however, computer science is only about 25% for in-state applicants and 2% for out-of-state applicants (yikes!). Essays matter for … - Highly-selective colleges (under 15% admit rate) - Selective colleges (15-50% admit rate) where your academics are sufficient but not strong compared to other applicants - Large colleges where you’re applying to highly-desirable programs (e.g., Computer Science) or desirable out-of-state destinations Essays matter less for … - Selective colleges (15-50% admit rate) where your academics are strong compared with other applicants - Large colleges where you’re applying in-state or applying to less competitive programs |
Anonymous
| Not hiring an essay coach - in the world of coaches and AI, an essay written from the mind of a 17 year old boy will be refreshing. |