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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Do essays often make or break a decision? [/quote]

Rarely make.

But if kid is a braggart or comes across the wrong way, could break.

[/quote]

It’s true that essays won’t turn an unqualified applicant into an admission. But in a sea of highly qualified applicants, essays absolutely make a difference. Check out YouTube and Reddit for Ivy students who have read their admissions files; essays *always* figure prominently in the comments. [/quote]

I agree with this. I have two kids currently attending top 20 colleges. And I'm quite certain their essays helped them considerably. With these schools, absolutely every applicant is going to have a stellar academic record and outstanding test scores.

The essay is the only part of the application where a student has a genuine voice. They should take advantage of it. They only need to impress one person. Its purpose is to get an admissions reader to advocate for you at the table. That's it. And as the OP noted, essays are scored just as highly as GPAs and ECs. I think they're quite important for the most selective colleges. As are the teacher recommendations.   [/quote]

This is true.  And I was floored by the number of supplemental essays and short answer questions at some of the top 10 schools.  However, I truly think they allow for a much better picture of an Applicant's personality as much as a struggle it was for my kid to get them all done.  They really come at you at many different angles.  And I think they can tell the voice of the common app essay in comparison to these other questions--whether its authentic or not.

My least favorite are the schools that only have 1 supplement that is the 'race box'.  It's not clever and not a good prompt.  They should have had a choice of 2 questions--1) if you wanted to talk about your race and background and 2) another on some other topic for those that don't want to answer that one.[/quote]

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