How can admission essays carry even an ounce of weight going forward?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are hundreds of these companies now.

Feedback on any of the below?
www.kolly.ai
www.esai.ai
www.textero.io
www.athenaco.ai

Good lord.

Had you really never heard of these? I've heard of all but textero.

NP. I haven't. Why/where would I hear of them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How could you be sure that the data you uploaded to these AI tools are not "shared" by others. AI tools are learning from you too, and your idea (if any or no matter how tiny) will be learned by AI and will be provided to other users. I would stay away from it.

That's such an antiquated way of viewing the post-AI world. Everything is being shared.
Your kid's essays aren't (1) that special or usually even that distinguishable, and (2) likely used by ANY college counselor that you hire or essay editor.

If that's your stance, make sure you don't hire anyone for any part of this.

The reality is that the essays will become less important. It's more about your overall story. Themes that emerge that fit a specific school (not talking about classes or professors). How your application is boiled down to a sentence or two (Lee Coffin had a GREAT episode this spring where he talked just about this).
I do think the LOR has (already) become MUCH more important.

I kinda agree with you on this. Particularly in private schools it's about the whole package, less about each individual element. Counselors (and students as well) already have a clear idea what level of schools this kid is heading way before the application season. Who are the smart driven kids, and who are the layback chill ones, they don't fluctuate much. A 3.8 kid may drop to 3.7 but without force of God it's very rare to see they drop to 3.5. Same with test scores.

Of course there are still surprises for example an HYP kid may end up at Penn, a T30 kid may end up at Brown. I think that's where the fine details such as essays kick in. A mediocre essay will not hurt you much (HYP to Penn), a great essay may help some (T30 to Brown). But if you are not obsessed with ranking, yeah it's all about the whole package.

Public school may be different.

💯 agree - also at private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are hundreds of these companies now.

Feedback on any of the below?
www.kolly.ai
www.esai.ai
www.textero.io
www.athenaco.ai

Good lord.

Had you really never heard of these? I've heard of all but textero.

NP. I haven't. Why/where would I hear of them?

Some are mentioned in A2C and here quite a bit.

[Anonymous]

So much bullshit in US admissions system.

Let them write essays at the testing center like SAT.

WTF is wrong with this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How could you be sure that the data you uploaded to these AI tools are not "shared" by others. AI tools are learning from you too, and your idea (if any or no matter how tiny) will be learned by AI and will be provided to other users. I would stay away from it.

That's such an antiquated way of viewing the post-AI world. Everything is being shared.
Your kid's essays aren't (1) that special or usually even that distinguishable, and (2) likely used by ANY college counselor that you hire or essay editor.

If that's your stance, make sure you don't hire anyone for any part of this.

The reality is that the essays will become less important. It's more about your overall story. Themes that emerge that fit a specific school (not talking about classes or professors). How your application is boiled down to a sentence or two (Lee Coffin had a GREAT episode this spring where he talked just about this).
I do think the LOR has (already) become MUCH more important.

I kinda agree with you on this. Particularly in private schools it's about the whole package, less about each individual element. Counselors (and students as well) already have a clear idea what level of schools this kid is heading way before the application season. Who are the smart driven kids, and who are the layback chill ones, they don't fluctuate much. A 3.8 kid may drop to 3.7 but without force of God it's very rare to see they drop to 3.5. Same with test scores.

Of course there are still surprises for example an HYP kid may end up at Penn, a T30 kid may end up at Brown. I think that's where the fine details such as essays kick in. A mediocre essay will not hurt you much (HYP to Penn), a great essay may help some (T30 to Brown). But if you are not obsessed with ranking, yeah it's all about the whole package.

Public school may be different.

💯 agree - also at private.

Disagree. Those kids you labeled T30- ha. You don’t know them. Mine was uw4.0, 35ACT, 5s all APs and lots of ECs outside of HS. They actively choose those schools(Penn, Brown,etc) they didn’t settle —and you classifying any kid that gets into any Ivy as T30 material is so douchey.

These jealous parents that think they know every kid in their school intimately are atrocious. Likely, humble kids that don’t have mommy and daddy lobbying for everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So much bullshit in US admissions system.

Let them write essays at the testing center like SAT.

WTF is wrong with this country.

Bring it! Every kid at our private Catholic would be Harvard bound since 99% of American kids can’t write for sh@t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How could you be sure that the data you uploaded to these AI tools are not "shared" by others. AI tools are learning from you too, and your idea (if any or no matter how tiny) will be learned by AI and will be provided to other users. I would stay away from it.

That's such an antiquated way of viewing the post-AI world. Everything is being shared.
Your kid's essays aren't (1) that special or usually even that distinguishable, and (2) likely used by ANY college counselor that you hire or essay editor.

If that's your stance, make sure you don't hire anyone for any part of this.

The reality is that the essays will become less important. It's more about your overall story. Themes that emerge that fit a specific school (not talking about classes or professors). How your application is boiled down to a sentence or two (Lee Coffin had a GREAT episode this spring where he talked just about this).
I do think the LOR has (already) become MUCH more important.

I kinda agree with you on this. Particularly in private schools it's about the whole package, less about each individual element. Counselors (and students as well) already have a clear idea what level of schools this kid is heading way before the application season. Who are the smart driven kids, and who are the layback chill ones, they don't fluctuate much. A 3.8 kid may drop to 3.7 but without force of God it's very rare to see they drop to 3.5. Same with test scores.

Of course there are still surprises for example an HYP kid may end up at Penn, a T30 kid may end up at Brown. I think that's where the fine details such as essays kick in. A mediocre essay will not hurt you much (HYP to Penn), a great essay may help some (T30 to Brown). But if you are not obsessed with ranking, yeah it's all about the whole package.

Public school may be different.

💯 agree - also at private.

Disagree. Those kids you labeled T30- ha. You don’t know them. Mine was uw4.0, 35ACT, 5s all APs and lots of ECs outside of HS. They actively choose those schools(Penn, Brown,etc) they didn’t settle —and you classifying any kid that gets into any Ivy as T30 material is so douchey.

These jealous parents that think they know every kid in their school intimately are atrocious. Likely, humble kids that don’t have mommy and daddy lobbying for everything.

What??
We were agreeing on private schools being feeders….
What are complaining about? Weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How could you be sure that the data you uploaded to these AI tools are not "shared" by others. AI tools are learning from you too, and your idea (if any or no matter how tiny) will be learned by AI and will be provided to other users. I would stay away from it.

That's such an antiquated way of viewing the post-AI world. Everything is being shared.
Your kid's essays aren't (1) that special or usually even that distinguishable, and (2) likely used by ANY college counselor that you hire or essay editor.

If that's your stance, make sure you don't hire anyone for any part of this.

The reality is that the essays will become less important. It's more about your overall story. Themes that emerge that fit a specific school (not talking about classes or professors). How your application is boiled down to a sentence or two (Lee Coffin had a GREAT episode this spring where he talked just about this).
I do think the LOR has (already) become MUCH more important.

I kinda agree with you on this. Particularly in private schools it's about the whole package, less about each individual element. Counselors (and students as well) already have a clear idea what level of schools this kid is heading way before the application season. Who are the smart driven kids, and who are the layback chill ones, they don't fluctuate much. A 3.8 kid may drop to 3.7 but without force of God it's very rare to see they drop to 3.5. Same with test scores.

Of course there are still surprises for example an HYP kid may end up at Penn, a T30 kid may end up at Brown. I think that's where the fine details such as essays kick in. A mediocre essay will not hurt you much (HYP to Penn), a great essay may help some (T30 to Brown). But if you are not obsessed with ranking, yeah it's all about the whole package.

Public school may be different.

💯 agree - also at private.

Disagree. Those kids you labeled T30- ha. You don’t know them. Mine was uw4.0, 35ACT, 5s all APs and lots of ECs outside of HS. They actively choose those schools(Penn, Brown,etc) they didn’t settle —and you classifying any kid that gets into any Ivy as T30 material is so douchey.

These jealous parents that think they know every kid in their school intimately are atrocious. Likely, humble kids that don’t have mommy and daddy lobbying for everything.

Telling me your DC didn't go to private without telling me. Kids nowadays are collaborative not overly competitive, they tend to share all the information among themselves. Honey, your "humble" kid has to do so much "ECs outside of HS" and hide all these information from everyone. And you helicopter mom comes here to brag about it? Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How could you be sure that the data you uploaded to these AI tools are not "shared" by others. AI tools are learning from you too, and your idea (if any or no matter how tiny) will be learned by AI and will be provided to other users. I would stay away from it.

That's such an antiquated way of viewing the post-AI world. Everything is being shared.
Your kid's essays aren't (1) that special or usually even that distinguishable, and (2) likely used by ANY college counselor that you hire or essay editor.

If that's your stance, make sure you don't hire anyone for any part of this.

The reality is that the essays will become less important. It's more about your overall story. Themes that emerge that fit a specific school (not talking about classes or professors). How your application is boiled down to a sentence or two (Lee Coffin had a GREAT episode this spring where he talked just about this).
I do think the LOR has (already) become MUCH more important.

I kinda agree with you on this. Particularly in private schools it's about the whole package, less about each individual element. Counselors (and students as well) already have a clear idea what level of schools this kid is heading way before the application season. Who are the smart driven kids, and who are the layback chill ones, they don't fluctuate much. A 3.8 kid may drop to 3.7 but without force of God it's very rare to see they drop to 3.5. Same with test scores.

Of course there are still surprises for example an HYP kid may end up at Penn, a T30 kid may end up at Brown. I think that's where the fine details such as essays kick in. A mediocre essay will not hurt you much (HYP to Penn), a great essay may help some (T30 to Brown). But if you are not obsessed with ranking, yeah it's all about the whole package.

Public school may be different.

💯 agree - also at private.

Disagree. Those kids you labeled T30- ha. You don’t know them. Mine was uw4.0, 35ACT, 5s all APs and lots of ECs outside of HS. They actively choose those schools(Penn, Brown,etc) they didn’t settle —and you classifying any kid that gets into any Ivy as T30 material is so douchey.

These jealous parents that think they know every kid in their school intimately are atrocious. Likely, humble kids that don’t have mommy and daddy lobbying for everything.

Telling me your DC didn't go to private without telling me. Kids nowadays are collaborative not overly competitive, they tend to share all the information among themselves. Honey, your "humble" kid has to do so much "ECs outside of HS" and hide all these information from everyone. And you helicopter mom comes here to brag about it? Give me a break.

Yep.
lol on helicopter mom.

[Anonymous]

I believe that is why Duke says they no longer score essays as of this year. They read them, but they do not get a formal rating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are hundreds of these companies now.

Feedback on any of the below?
www.kolly.ai
www.esai.ai
www.textero.io
www.athenaco.ai

Good lord.

Anyone put a dupe essay in there to see what it says? I may post an essay that’s public like this one posted:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/1223607.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So much bullshit in US admissions system.

Let them write essays at the testing center like SAT.

WTF is wrong with this country.

Where are these testing centers? I don't understand the logistics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe that is why Duke says they no longer score essays as of this year. They read them, but they do not get a formal rating.

Well, they're paying attention to the content, but now how it's written.

From the Duke school paper:

When asked about how the admissions office determines if an essay is AI-generated or written by consultants and if applicants are hurt if the office determines so, Guttentag answered that "there aren't simple answers to these questions."

Despite the changes, Guttentag wrote that essays and standardized testing scores are still considered in the admissions process.

“Essays are very much part of our understanding of the applicant, we’re just no longer assuming that the essay is an accurate reflection of the student’s actual writing ability,” he wrote. “Standardized tests (SAT or ACT) are considered when they’re submitted as part of the application.”

According to Guttentag, essays will now be used to “help understand the applicant as an individual rather, not just as a set of attributes and accomplishments.” He also wrote that the admissions office now values essays that give “insight into who the unique person is whose application we’re reading” and that “content and insight matter more than style.”

“Because of that they are not given a numerical rating, but considered as we think holistically about a candidate as a potential member of the Duke community,” he wrote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So much bullshit in US admissions system.

Let them write essays at the testing center like SAT.

WTF is wrong with this country.

Where are these testing centers? I don't understand the logistics.

It's like a school... but no teachers.

A room. Computers, pencils, and paper, and a proctor.
It's not that complicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So much bullshit in US admissions system.

Let them write essays at the testing center like SAT.

WTF is wrong with this country.

Where are these testing centers? I don't understand the logistics.

Have you heard about SAT??