Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern.

Who told you that??

Personal essay is required and you better have a great personal essay when its acceptance rate is under 10%

They do not require anything more than the Common App Essay. No school-specific essay. Makes applying easy. Weird.

Why do you want to make it difficult?? Weird.

Kids already have done all the real work for 4 years, all the extracurricular activities, and then tests & the main essay.

The school would have plenty of info already whether an applicant is right fit.

Throwing in an extra 'why our school' wouldn't even make much difference.

Kudos to Northeastern for making it a little bit easier for the already stressed kids.

The don't require it for ED apps? Seems like that it would be important at that stage.

They don't need it especially for ED apps. ED applicants decided after extensive research and shows the biggest demonstrated interest to the school. You have plenty data and the personal essay says much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern.

Who told you that??

Personal essay is required and you better have a great personal essay when its acceptance rate is under 10%

They do not require anything more than the Common App Essay. No school-specific essay. Makes applying easy. Weird.

Why do you want to make it difficult?? Weird.

Kids already have done all the real work for 4 years, all the extracurricular activities, and then tests & the main essay.

The school would have plenty of info already whether an applicant is right fit.

Throwing in an extra 'why our school' wouldn't even make much difference.

Kudos to Northeastern for making it a little bit easier for the already stressed kids.

The don't require it for ED apps? Seems like that it would be important at that stage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern.

Who told you that??

Personal essay is required and you better have a great personal essay when its acceptance rate is under 10%

They do not require anything more than the Common App Essay. No school-specific essay. Makes applying easy. Weird.

Why do you want to make it difficult?? Weird.

Kids already have done all the real work for 4 years, all the extracurricular activities, and then tests & the main essay.

The school would have plenty of info already whether an applicant is right fit.

Throwing in an extra 'why our school' wouldn't even make much difference.

Kudos to Northeastern for making it a little bit easier for the already stressed kids.

Nice PR spin.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern.

Who told you that??

Personal essay is required and you better have a great personal essay when its acceptance rate is under 10%

They do not require anything more than the Common App Essay. No school-specific essay. Makes applying easy. Weird.

Why do you want to make it difficult?? Weird.

Kids already have done all the real work for 4 years, all the extracurricular activities, and then tests & the main essay.

The school would have plenty of info already whether an applicant is right fit.

Throwing in an extra 'why our school' wouldn't even make much difference.

Kudos to Northeastern for making it a little bit easier for the already stressed kids.

Anonymous wrote:How does one get through college without the ability to write? I guess STEM.

Instead of whining about college application requirements, just send your kids to non-competitive one’s, because it sounds like that’s where they belong.

Even STEM majors have to write. An engineer that can write better will go further in their career than one who writes like a HSer.

But I agree if your kid struggles with the basic general essay (common app), then your kid probably doesn't belong at schools that require it. It's very different than SAT/ACT testing IMO. Everyone needs to know how to write.

Anonymous wrote:There was a study last year that found that essays were inequitable and favor rich kids even more than scores.

Of course, many hire help. We hired a college counselor, however ours did NOT write the essays (as many will), but only helped with brainstorming, guiding and editing. Ultimately the essays were still our kids work. Even so, the counselor was a huge help with motivating the kid to improve the essay(s) and help formulate the best possible one. But if you don't have the $$ for that, your essay would not be as polished

But I could have easily hired someone who would have written most of it. And many people take that path

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a study last year that found that essays were inequitable and favor rich kids even more than scores.

True, I think an essay written or some prompt responses written in a more timed, standardized environment would be much fairer than the current model, where rich kids shell out lots on advisors to write essays for them

Some Parents here write the essays also 😱

Are there any services where someone will just read the essay and offer suggestions? My DD has one written and doesn't want to brainstorm and come up with a new idea. Most of the services I see are expensive as they include several meetings for someone starting from scratch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern.

Who told you that??

Personal essay is required and you better have a great personal essay when its acceptance rate is under 10%

They do not require anything more than the Common App Essay. No school-specific essay. Makes applying easy. Weird.

Colby is essay-free and application fee-free.

It is far away from much of the US but it is an exceptionally good college IMHO.

Anonymous wrote:There was a study last year that found that essays were inequitable and favor rich kids even more than scores.

True, I think an essay written or some prompt responses written in a more timed, standardized environment would be much fairer than the current model, where rich kids shell out lots on advisors to write essays for them

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern.

Who told you that??

Personal essay is required and you better have a great personal essay when its acceptance rate is under 10%

Anonymous wrote:How does one get through college without the ability to write? I guess STEM.

Instead of whining about college application requirements, just send your kids to non-competitive one’s, because it sounds like that’s where they belong.

Same thing for test when thrre are shit ton of quiz test midterm final etc. for competitive majors. Test optional kids are usually less competitive

Anonymous wrote:How does one get through college without the ability to write? I guess STEM.

Instead of whining about college application requirements, just send your kids to non-competitive one’s, because it sounds like that’s where they belong.

My dad did. He wasn’t a good writer but he was close to genius at math. High-ranking Navy officer running ship operations.

He attended USNA, which is top ten.

Not everyone is good at everything.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at any mailings your child receives to see if they're waiving the essay.

Check all of these, because things may have changed.

Susquehanna
U of New Haven
Goucher
Maybe Gettysburg
Alabama
Arizona
U of Central Florida

Some of the above sent mail saying they were waiving essays due to academic profile of child. I don't know how they get the info and maybe it's a crock.

More here:
https://blog.prepscholar.com/colleges-that-dont-require-essays

Sidenote: Probably best to avoid Univ. of New Haven due to financial difficulties of the school.

Thank you for the tip! 🙏