<p>I just strolled across this as it happened to mention UVa; however, I believe it's applicable advice for those applying to any college/university. Good luck with those upcoming decisions!</p>
<p>A</a> Few Essays That Worked (And a Few That Didn't) - NYTimes.com</p>
<p>Ugh… that worries me. Because I feel like my essays are kind of quirky and funny. I thought that was a good thing, but like the guy said, the humor might go right over their head and then I’d be screwed.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting though!</p>
<p>Thanks for the link jc40. I’m honestly debating my CA essay at this point. I tried avoiding the McEssay but I think I fell into the trap. UVA has my best essays by far which I’m very happy about because essays play such a large part of admissions at the school. Once the deadline passes, I’m going to start a thread where we can post our essays. </p>
<p>Remember, your writing the essays to show the adcoms who YOU are. I’ve seen so many students write essays they think the adcom want to hear. The essays are supposed to show you as a person. Your grades are where you can impress the adcom. Use the essays to express your personality and expand on your passions. Don’t be someone your not - they will see right through you.</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Queen - Under Pressure (Lyrics)](<a href=“Queen - Under Pressure (Lyrics) - YouTube”>Queen - Under Pressure (Lyrics) - YouTube)
3 more days guys - use them well!</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing the link jc40, and I agree with our advice UVAorBust.</p>
<p>Here’s a link from the UVA site that shares some helpful information about writing the essays.
[Essays</a>, Admission Information, Undergraduate Admission, U.Va.](<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html]Essays”>http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html)</p>
<p>The ol’e McEssay.</p>
<p>Quirky is fine!</p>
<p>I was the first reader on the Glee essay and held onto it to use as an example. It was very poorly written. I’m actually shocked that most comments on The Choice breeze right over the writing! The essay also failed to talk about the applicant in a meaningful way. That College question asks how something affected the applicant. Describing the work isn’t the task. Talking about how that work affected you is the task.</p>
<p>Well, after that comment, I guess I’m re-writing my entire essay. Dean J, for my piece of art, I wrote about my English journal. I said it challenged me because I had to decorate it and I had to find pictures that demonstrated who I truly was. </p>
<p>Also Dean J, would you mind clarifying what you mean by “The Choice.” Do you mean the choice of art?</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>My common app essay talked about procrastination, and what I learned from a very specific project. I’m a little nervous now… I didn’t get a good grade on the project of course, but I still talked about my initial problems with procrastination in 7-10th grade, and how it’s changed now. I hope the adcoms don’t take it the wrong way</p>
<p>@UVAorBust - ‘The Choice’ is the New York Times blog on college admissions that was linked to on the first post.</p>
<p>Oh, alright, thank you for the help Harambee.</p>
<p>A lot of second guessing goes on this time of year regarding application components. This includes your essays, extracurricular activities listed, recommendation letters, etc. After this, when acceptances start to roll in, you start to second guess the schools you applied to and maybe you should have applied to more. Take a deep breathe and relax. Believe in what you have shared within your application and essays. You will all get in where you are suppose to because the Adcoms know who is a good fit for their schools. Trust in the system, but more importantly trust in yourselves.</p>
<p>I thought the advice given in that video was very shallow. Saying that the essay was frowned upon because the applicant preferred Glee over John Lennon is a stretch. As Dean J said there were other reasons. What can you tell about an essay from those short excepts anyway?</p>
<p>I agree, Jacques Steinberg did not state one of the main points of why UVa did not like the essay. As Dean J stated-it was the writing. For those students that are finishing up their essays over the next few days please have someone proofread them for you. Most teachers and guidance counselors are still on break, so ask a trusted friend/adult whom you know is a good writer. Note, it is not to change your voice, but to make sure you have conveyed your personal take or story as it relates to the prompt.</p>
<p>Also, to add to above. They should also check for sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, flow of thought, etc.</p>
<p>I mean the essay was increadibly poorly written, but from what was shown on The Choice it didn’t appear to be horrible in terms of content. I feel like the whole essay woul have had to been posted in order for the reader to fully understand what made it so bad.</p>
<p>Sorry for the bad grammer in my post. I’m in the car on the way back from Florida (24hrs) using my phone that won’t let me edit posts.</p>
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<p>Aside from the statement that hearing the deaf glee club sing the song affected her, there wasn’t all that much about the applicant, was there? She told us something, but didn’t explain or elaborate.</p>
<p>Now, the argument made (actors sang with more emotion than anti-war activist singer/songwriter) definitely raised eyebrows because it showed a certain amount of naivet</p>
<p>I agree with that Dean J, I just said that because I didn’t know what was written in the rest of the essay. That essay seems like it was really forced. Honestly I’ve never seen Glee in my life but it sound highly unlikely that the deaf club sang with more emotion than anti-war activists. Apart from that, what sort of impact did the deaf club singing have on the girl. I think one of the fatal flaws of college essays is people not describing how a certain item or experience actually effects them. The writers often wonderfully dicuss the item but forget to relate it back to themselves.</p>
<p>Dean J - This is kind of random, but some of my friends have been saying they’re received e-mails from UVa saying they’ve made a decision but they’re not telling them what it is? Is that true? I submitted my application over a month ago but my application is still “Incomplete” because my transcript is still on my “To-Do” List.</p>
<p>In answer to the above post, my understanding is that UVa sends out “likely to admit” letters to a small number of students in advance. (at other colleges, these are often recruited athletes). This year, everyone else has to wait until the end of March to hear any decision.</p>
<p>As far as essays, remember that at most colleges, most admissions officers are relatively young, and therefore are more likely to get the humor of a teenager. Just don’t be too subtle. </p>
<p>Admissions officers are having to read many many more essays than in the past. Find out what everyone else is writing about, and then write about something else. I heard one admissions officer say that one year, it seemed like one-quarter of the essays were about a “mission trip”/luxury vacation to Costa Rica.</p>