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[quote=Anonymous]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 – [b]ESPECIALLY the Personal Score – the more likely you are to get in[/b]

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. [b]And once you pass the academic threshold, the personal side of your application matters much more.
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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[/quote]

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