<p>This has been a concern of mine for years. Both my daughters just suddenly developed “the voice of one who knows” back in middle school. They started producing school writing assignments that I was just convinced they’d lifted from some place. I literally for several years was just mortified by how adult and polished their writing was. It took teachers to convince me it was really their stuff, their voice. I think by the time a student is applying to college, there are ample opportunities to signal to admissions folks that they are extremely accomplished writers - transcripts, recommendations, essay contests, and the reading as well as writing scores on the SAT and ACT. So we weren’t worried about D’s application essays. We worried that they were too risky in content but so far so good. If the non-literary student suddenly produces a super professional application essay, I think it would be very suspicious.</p>