i know that a bad essay for top tier schools will drastically hurt your chances, but let’s take a state school such as Rutgers for example. How much emphasis do schools like these, with about a 60 % acceptance rate, put on the essay anyways? Let’s say one was a decent applicant with a 3.8 UW GPA with a multitude of APs, good extracurriculars, and a 2150 SAT looking to apply and hoping for merit aid… Could a bad essay topic actually make the admission officers decline you, ot is it highly unlikely?
It can if they see something in the essay that makes them concerned about having you on campus (safety, drugs, mental health issues). Or if you tell a story that reflects badly on you (bad judgement). You would think applicants would be smart enough to avoid these topics, but I have seen some clueless essay ideas floated out here.
It could make things difficult. The essay is the tool for getting to know you and what separates you from other applicants with similar statistics.
Different schools weigh the components of your application differently. Some are more numbers driven; others are more holistic. I don’t know much about Rutgers, but according to the Common Data Set, essays are “Considered,” while rigor, rank, test scores, and GPA are all “Very Important.” This leads me to think that Rutgers probably focuses more on your stats than on your essays (I think I’ve heard that this is common among schools of that caliber, but googling the school name and “common data set” can confirm this).
But obviously, it’s still good to write the best essay you possibly can. If you’re on the fence, it could mean the difference between an acceptance or a waitlist/denial.
Don’t write a bad essay. Why on earth would you risk it when even a decent (not spectacular) essay would make a school pretty much a lock for you.
I am sure no one means to!
Yes, but it depends on some things. I know where I teach, they focus on enrollment so they will admit almost anyone who has okay stats. Essays are pretty much ignored.
I doubt they will ignore an essay like the infamous Pot Brownie essay (Wesleyan, described in the Gatekeeper’s book). If you sound like you are going to cause trouble on campus, it will hurt you. But I agree that colleges that are hurting for applicants will probably accept an applicant with an essay that is merely weak or uninteresting.
I hope your essay will be better written than your opening post.
Is your question about the impact of a bad essay? Or about the impact of a bad essay topic?
@GMTplus7 Bad essay topic. Let’s say for example, one had to describe an important life experience and what effect it had on his or her life. Would a WEAK but well written topic hurt an applicant’s chances?
I’m not sure I understand your goal. Are you trying to get by without spending a lot of time and thought on your Rutger’s essay and hoping to get in anyway? Or are you trying to undermine your application so you get rejected with the hope that your parents will “have” to let you go away to your preferred school? If it’s the former, I wouldn’t count on an acceptance because adcoms have to use something to weed kids out. A weak essay sounds like a good reason to me. If it’s the latter, that could backfire as well because parents in that situation have been known to approve only the local cc as a backup.