Seems like Princeton’s approach of requiring a high school graded essay/paper for submission is a good idea
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I thought it was a good idea also. IIRC, it had to have the actual teacher’s grade on it, too - harder to fake and easy to verify.
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Even wealthy suburban kids can be interesting people and have options for their essay that will help them stand out. I told our kids to be as vulnerable as possible in their writing. It’s the only chance for the AOs to get to know who you are - who you will be on their campus. Smart kids are thinkers, dreamers, etc., and generally have something interesting to say. This is their chance to say it.
Our S19 wrote about friendship. Set his story in our local diner where he hangs with his friends. It was heartfelt and moving (if I may say so myself lol) and very easy for him to write because it came from the heart. His test scores and academics proved he could do the work. His essay showed he’s a real person who cares about connection. He had very good results with top LACs, all in RD.
Our D21 wrote a more typical essay about an EC that affected her in a very negative way and the pain she felt from separating from it. It was somewhat positive by the end of the essay but not sugary sweet and she told the truth when she wrote that it still haunts her. She also found this essay just flowed out of her because she was so affected by her experience. Her writing style is also very direct and to the point and her description of the day she quit dance would make most people really feel the gut punch. She was also very successful in RD with top 15 LACs, got into BC in RD which is a super low acceptance rate at this point, and received top merit at the private universities ranked a little lower down her list like Santa Clara and LMU.
You can’t make a student a great writer. That’s the thing. When I advise kids now, I tell them to choose something they need the AOs to know that shows who they are and it should be something that they find easy to write about. If it’s a struggle, it’s the wrong topic.
Editing to add - just like others here, our kids had hand written comments on their acceptance letters from AOs referring to their essays. I think they each had maybe four or five AOs write them a note and those schools weren’t all LACs.
Yes, and most of them move on to more lucrative careers as private college counselors so that they can “teach” the kids how to get into their dream schools. Sorry! I would much rather take a rubric based proctored product than one that can be gamed so easily.
I agree. I also agree there are about half a dozen better ways to show you are capable of doing the work versus through an essay.
We are splitting hairs here. My opinion will not move the needle. I wonder how many posters here on CC and A2C get help for their kids in this regard. That should be a poll. We are talking about highly rejective colleges here. Those rules are different.
My neighbor’s kid is going to an ivy league school with less than stellar grades as an athletic recruit and not one of those “lesser” ivies either! Found out last night while walking the dog.
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I’ve learned a lot from this year’s process. #1 child and all that. I stayed away from CC and Reddit until the apps were in, although I lurked here a few years ago.
Essays matter if one is chasing a T(whatever) school where one hasn’t won some kind of big prize or is hooked but has made the initial cut of grades/scores.
I don’t have proof other than the thousands of posts I’ve read here and on Reddit. A well-written (again, how to define other than you know it when you read it), unique essay that captures the attention of an AO and gives them a sense of “you” makes a difference.
Closer to home, DD22 had a sense that one of her “why us” was very good (able to use a childhood experience in the context of a unique feature of this college’s offerings) and was WLed (<3% RD).
Can this process be hacked by a high price consultant? Sure. But can a 17 year old write such an essay with no help? Sure. Is this the “fairest” way of creating a class. Probably not, but this is the system we have.
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Our kids did have their AP Lang teacher edit their essays but I saw all of the comments and edits via a google doc we all shared. He would comment things like “I’m not clear on your point here” or “you’re repeating yourself here and don’t need this sentence”. Not once did he add or subtract any particular word on his own. Our kids know their grammar and punctuation and I don’t remember any corrections there. He was more of a big picture guy helping them zoom in on what they wanted to say, asking them questions to get them to think about how they wanted to get their message across. He also had brainstorming activities for them to figure out what they’d like to write about the most. If I look at their first drafts of the essays and the final ones, those words are their own and you can hear each of their voices.
I guess there might be essay coaches out there that do way too much “work” for the kids and start writing a little too much of the essay. Seems like an AO would be able to see that, especially if the app had multiple essays. These AOs read a lot of essays and I bet they can pick out the ones that don’t seem written by a 17 year old. And, I know I know, someone is going to say that their student is a very advanced writer and doesn’t sound like a teenager. Sure, those kids exist but, really, there aren’t many of them.
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But that’s still imo, pretty substantive advice that would not be available to many kids whose teachers (AP or other) didn’t review their essays.
Makes a difference means it moves the needle as others have said, would an application that was headed for a rejection because of say rigor or ECs turn into an acceptance or would an acceptance based on recommendations, scores, turn into a rejection? I would agree that essays are more important if you’re unhooked than hooked (URMs, first-gen etc.
I know factually for athletes at ivies, that once a coach guarantees a spot, the student is told it doesn’t have to be great and basically not to worry about it, and that’s 15% of the class.
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Move the needle (to me) means stand out in a pile of unhooked high gpa, high stats, high rigor kids who are not Olympiad winners (or some very prestigious contest). To me, winners of said contests are “hooked” not demographically but in the same group as athletes.
So I can only apply this example in a small way for my high stat (but no interesting EC or award kid). The one supplemental she felt was the “best” got her the “furthest.”
I would not have been surprised if she had felt that way about the common app or some other supp and she got into a reach as a result (didn’t happen).
I quote this kid from Reddit (Harvard, international, full FA) - why should Harvard care that I love physics? The job of the essay is to make the AO/Harvard care that I love physics and want me there.
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Ok then more students you define as being hooked, the less impact the essay has. And I don’t think winners of Oympiads or writing contests are hooked like say, athletes.
“The job of the essay is to make the AO/Harvard care that I love physics and want me there.”
Most Olympiad and science fair winners apply to Harvard and about 25% of science fair winners get in, from a Crimson article a few years back. You can write abut loving physics but these students have actually shown it.
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This. My oldest got a perfect score on that section and would be the first to tell you that it was garbage. She is the most natural writer of my three, and the prep people had to re-wire her brain to write the essay in strict accordance with the “formula”. It was absurd.
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I am interested in becomming a reader part time. Where did you see someone recruiting. you can DM me.
Just do a google search, or use indeed, for college admissions reader. Some are hiring now, others will post within the next month or two. Even though the pay is terrible, typically $15-$25 per hour, it’s quite competitive to get these jobs.
Agree with a lot of what’s been said. I will add that putting together an application is an act of curation. The sections the student can control or influence: EC list/descriptions, which teachers to ask for recommendations, and the personal statement essay, should all be mutually reinforcing. I will reluctantly concede it’s an exercise in self-branding. The pieces need to work together to frame who the student is and what qualities the student will add to the school community. Are the pieces scored individually? Perhaps. But what’s the AO’s pitch message in the committee room?
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I can’t find the post now but the kid who wrote comparing love scenes in soap operas from different countries did very well. I imagine that’s all the AO had to say!
Well, that’s cool. I had a friend in high school who wrote a great college essay about how he wanted to be like Mighty Mouse. He is now a published writer and poet. There are exceptional writers who can color outside the lines and make art, trenchant commentary and a big impression, but most high schoolers are not about to take Joan Didion’s place.
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Interesting thing about Didion - she wrote like Joan Didion very early on.
During her senior year, she won first place in the “Prix de Paris” essay contest sponsored by Vogue and was awarded a job as a research assistant.
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My general understanding (take it for what it’s worth):
Big State schools spend less time looking at an essay than a private school…
A truly bad essay can definitely sink an otherwise good application.
For the bulk of applicants – submitting a fairly polished but generic essay – It’s not going to move the needle much.
Between a great essay and some luck – It could grab the reader’s attention, and actually be a positive.
For the ultra highly selective university – Any extra positive is critical. When a T10 school admits a 3.95/1470 student (instead of a 4.0/1550), it’s because that student had SOMETHING… it may have been a hook like recruited athlete, URM, legacy… or it may have been an essay or ECs that really stood out. So for those students, the great essay is their throw at the dart board, what can take them from almost no chance to the dart actually hitting the bullseye. And for those ultra highly selective universities, even the 4.0/1550 student often needs something a little extra – a great essay, great ECs, etc.
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It’s not “often”, it’s always.
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They do move the needle. I have had countless students have admissions officers cite the essay in their acceptance or send a note to them concerning it. You don’t know when they will be read or by whom, so in larger universities it may not happen until the final cut. If it comes down to a few close ones, that essay may make a student more memorable.
You deserve 10 stars for this!