<p>If academically an applicant may be under par, or if they don't have as many ECs as expected, Really any reason that would normally put them out of the running for a school.</p>
<p>Maybe once in a blue moon, I wouldn’t count on it. Because they are already sorting people who don’t have the weaknesses by the essay, right?</p>
<p>If you mean at super-selective schools, you need to have a great essay in addition to great grades in greatly rigorous courses and great test scores, as well as great extracurriculars and other great qualities.</p>
<p>No one on CC has ever written less than a stellar essay. You can look it up! They are all self-reported to be the best essays ever.</p>
<p>Essays are generally only considered as proof-points for the GPA and standardized tests. It’s very rare that a student whose GPA/tests fall below the middle 50% of admitted students can gain admission through the strength of their essays, despite how wonderful they may be.
Content of the essay can play a mitigating factor if there were extenuating circumstances that would explain the lower numbers, but that would need to be backed up by a letter from a counselor or teacher.
Exceptions are generally made for recruited athletes or if an applicants’ surname is over one of the school buildings, not for terrific essays. A terrific essay, coupled with below par GPA/tests, beg the question, “What have your priorities been for the past few years?”</p>
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<p>I understand and agree with your general point but I think it’s a stretch to say it’s “rare” that profound essays aren’t meaningful in fully HALF of the admitted students accepted at selective schools – this is basically what you’re saying. Sure many people below the midway point of accepted students’ GPA/scores are denied. But by definition, half of the admitted class falls below this mark.</p>
<p>Personally, I think that it depends on the college. I’ve heard that for UPenn, only 1 in 7 applicants are affected by their essay. But, correct me if I am wrong, that smaller schools who have fewer applicants take essays more seriously. Liberal arts colleges may look at essays as more important than public and larger private universities.</p>
<p>It’s probably true that LACs consider essays more seriously than anyone else, and Ivies probably do too - I seriously doubt that any school that deals in volume (state flagships) has the capacity to seriously read every essay and have it make a difference.</p>
<p>As far as quality goes, I’ve read comments from people who read them for a living that despite what most kids think, they are really and truly horrible, by and large. Maybe 5 to 10% are any good, as judged by the readers. So a truly outstanding one at a program that values them will probably stand out. The key point is, the reader needs to think it’s good, not you.</p>
<p>As for whether or not they make a difference, I’m pretty sure at LACs, they do. D has been accepted ED2 to a Top 15 LAC, stellar GPA and rigor, but test scores were scraping the 25% line. She’s not an athletic recruit, so that didn’t come into play. She’s an excellent writer, her ACT essay was a 12, so some combination of factors added up, and the essays were probably at least some part of that - not that we’ll ever know for sure.</p>
<p>I read them for a living and agree that most of them are horrible, including at the very best schools. Having a really good one that’s different and memorable in a positive way can absolutely be a reason why someone in the lower half of the stat range gets in.</p>
<p>If this is anything like a regular admissions process, then it matters a lot. Essays could bump you over. </p>
<p>^ I have no idea what you mean by “regular admissions process”. Does that mean a regional state school that admits by GPA and scores is not a regular admissions process? You could make the case that colleges that use essays for admission are the ones who do NOT use a regular admissions process (because it is not the majority). The OP will have to check the common data set or the admissions web site of each college to see if/how much essays are used. At Bard, for example, you can gain admission through an essay application. <a href=“The Bard Entrance Examination”>http://www.bard.edu/bardexam/</a></p>
<p>Thanks to all of you that commented, i appreciate your insight. Now i don’t consider my essay great (and even if i did, I’d be biased) however, i do think it got the point I wanted to express across well. If any of you would like to read it, i can PM you. </p>
<p>I checked a few Common Data sets to see how schools ranked the essay in admissions importance. Swarthmore considers the essay “Very Important”, while test scores are only ranked as “Important”. So I would imagine for a school like Swarthmore, an outstanding essay would indeed make a difference. </p>
<p>Are we talking about ‘make a difference’ in general vs ‘make a difference if you are under par’ as the OP started the thread to ask “if you would normally be out of the running”?</p>
<p>Well i guess im just curious as to how much of an impact the essay can have in general. I know it varies from school to school (and ive checked the common data sets to see weight). most of them rank them as highly as GPA, test scores, ECs etc… </p>
<p>A good essay can at least push someone over the edge for better or worse at most places. </p>
<p>One of my clients just got into a bunch of his reaches that Naviance said were impossible given his GPA. Not impossible given the best essay I read this year! We went through several drafts, and he just killed it in the final version. In one case, his admissions officer emailed him to tell him how fantastic it was and how lucky Competitor School X was to get the student. It can make a big difference.</p>