Reply to Competitive Colleges with no Supplemental Essays?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Essays are dumb when you don't even know who actually wrote it.

Kids have worked hard for years and schools should have plenty of data and information already.

No need to burden the kids more.

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I think they are really important in some instances. Have you read the book, Getting into Brown? There's a girl from LA whose parents were immigrants from South America with menial jobs and very little income. She woke in the night to find out her father had been stabbed (or shot, I can't remember). She talked about handling this crisis as a family and as an individual. She was a top student at a low performing school in a tough area (obviously) and excelled at Brown, becoming a doctor herself, ultimately. So her essay was crucial in terms outlining the kind of difficulties she faced and facilitating the social change that helped her move from a place of poverty and danger into one of academic success.[/quote]

Having an unfortunate event shouldn't be a major factor for getting into academic institutions.  
I'm sure that girl would have been done fine at any good school, get into a medical school, and became a good doctor without the sorry story.

I actually like essays, but it should be done in SAT style.
At the test center, they give everyone same prompt and time limit.
Students write about their thought, logics, etc.  You can incorporate your personal experiences as appropriate for the topic.
School can actually see the students thought process and writing skills, etc. etc.

Current system is so messed up.

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The US system is not set up for the most “qualified candidates with the highest scores” to always be admitted. 
That is not how “holistic admissions” work, and these schools do not want classes filled with only the “highest scoring” candidates. 
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