Are essays really as important as they're made out to be??

College Essays
1

<p>Just curious about your takes on this.....</p>

2

<p>i dare to say so. id guess like 25 %?</p>

3

<p>No. GPA, difficulty of classes, SAT scores....THEN, essays--however, the essays do show whether or not you have a passion.</p>

4

<p>depends on what school. i don't think an average state school cares much at all about essays. I dare say Harvard cares A LOT aobut essays
generally, the better the school, the more important the essay is. it's impossible to put a % on its importance, but an absolutely brilliant essay could save your neck if you lack slightly in other areas. besides, essays make you stand out.</p>

5

<p>
[quote]
generally, the better the school, the more important the essay is.

[/quote]

That's definitely the case since a good majority of applicants applying to these top schools are qualified in terms of test scores, courseloads, and ecs. Your essays are your way to distinguish yourself from other qualified applicants.</p>

6

<p>I would say that essays are important. They provide more info about you, so you could make an impression on college admins.</p>

7

<p>I heard that something like 94% of essays in one school's application group made no difference in their admission decision, and then 2% helped and 2% actually lowered their likelihood of getting in (I think I heard this from a visiting admissions officer, but I can't remember exactly). Overall, I think it's probably not going to be a huge factor unless its absolutely amazing or absolutely terrible. Like JohnC613 said, it probably does matter more when there are more competitive students competing.</p>

8

<p>Community College-5%</p>

<p>Nyu Level School-25%</p>

<p>Brown-50%</p>

<p>Harvard-90%</p>