This is also a great point.
I don’t disagree. The problem is that there are too many students who aren’t great writers. Students agonize over trying to write in a way they think a college wants to see. (#2, 3 & 7 in my original post.)
Essays are about personality. If they can convey their personality, they have an effective essay. And that essay can just be “good enough,” at least technically. Yes, being a great writer is helpful. I have worked with kids who are skilled writers, but with zero understanding of what they should convey in the essay. They don’t have to be great writers to get into a top school.
Students, show your personality.
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The idea of “good enough” is helpful to students when essays cause so much stress. Once more relaxed, the essays may even be better.
Whether or not an essay has to be stellar for admission to top schools depends on what else the student has to offer. A kid who has done conservatory prep at Juilliard or written an award winning play or started a soup kitchen might be able to get in with a mediocre essay.
I honestly think it is pretty rare for an essay to get someone into a top school. Colleges know that some students get a lot of coaching, and some don’t. I agree with @Lindagaf that many kids struggle to write and it might even help them to think of essays as less then deal breakers.
Agree with all the points above about personality, authenticity and so on. Great posts @NiceUnparticularMan .
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It’s tough to come up with good topics, but finding something unexpected is often a good idea. I recall D18 had to write a scholarship essay about an example of cheating/corruption and how to address it. Instead of a boring essay on politics, she wrote about sumo wrestling (the famous Freakonomics study), which was very well received (she won).
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Deleted.
Putting on my mod hat for a moment…
This is a thread about avoiding bad essays. Maybe someone can start a new thread about how strong an essay needs to be for top schools. This is not that thread.
EDIT: A new thread has been made to discuss when an essay is “good enough.” Feel free to continue that conversation on that thread, linked below.
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We heard at more than one info session that the AOs didn’t want to hear about a first kiss or “the big game.”
Applicants also often try to use the essay to explain something on their transcript. This is “the one time I got a B+” essay. This isn’t a good use of this real estate on your application. This is your chance to show them who you are as a person, so unless you can do something special, this is probably-- if not a bad essay – a not good one!
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