<p>I have a friend who has “paid help” for their student. Not only does this paid person vet (rewrites it) every word that this student sends out, but it is also sent to a Harvard person that also vets it (changes it). I’ve seen many many students who had much more than the normal help. The more money the parents have the more “help” is given. Totally not fair. I don’t think all these things can be sniffed out. IMO. I admit, I’m jaded. I’ve seen too much.</p>
<p>I think it is ok to have the kids ask for general help. Adcom’s don’t look to see if the kid is a great writer. I think what they want is to better know the kid. If at the end of the essay, they feel like they have a better understanding of the applicant, the essay has done its job.</p>
<p>I had never before heard that SAT essays were sent to colleges. I don’t believe that is the case, but I’m open to hearing that I am wrong. Furthermore, which essay would they send? The highest scored essay or the essay that was part of the Writing section in which the best score was recorded? (They are not necessarily the same). Finally, if having to read thousands of typed and edited essays wasn’t enough, who the heck would want to wade through thousands of handwritten, scanned essays?</p>
<p>Yes, colleges officials who so choose can view the actual SAT essays. See [Online</a> Essay Viewing for Admissions Officers](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/scores/online-essay-viewing]Online”>SAT Scores – SAT Suite | College Board)</p>
<p>Note also that:</p>
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<p>Sally – Care to make a guess as to how frequently that option is actually used? I was aware that college officials could view the essays but my understanding is that it is an opportunity that is rarely seized upon, at least at all but the most highly selective schools.</p>
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<p>Good question and I don’t know the answer. Won’t even guess. I do know that some of my admissions pals who once claimed that they didn’t look are looking now—not necessarily for all applicants but when they feel there may be some reason to do so–usually to compare the SAT essay with the application submission. But my sample isn’t nearly big enough to give me a true sense of what the overall practice is.</p>
<p>It does make some sense that they might look if they receive a masterful personal statement from a candidate who received a low essay score on the SAT. I doubt it would really pay to bother looking if the SAT essay score seemed more or less in line with the perceived quality of the personal statement. Anyway, thank you for your insight.</p>
<p>To be honest, you can often tell that the applicant received way too much help with their essay. in reading an application you expect all responses to be in the same voice. It is surprising how often the voice used in the ‘big’ essay did not match the voice in the short response questions. Alternatively, you get an amazing application essay and a teacher LOR that ranks the student’ writing skills as ‘above average’. It is sort o like judging the applicant’s ECs. The majority of the time your response is neutral. The applicant’s essay and ECs are simply OK (no reason to reject). However, when the ECs require two pages or the essay looks like it was written by an award winning writer you start looking for conformation. You take a close look at every item written by the applicant. You expect teachers and GCs to confirms the applicants claim EC activities and leadership positions or amazing writing skills.</p>
<p>Sally that was one of your best articles ever! Your passion for the topic clearly shines through. </p>
<p>Honestly, like the rest of the process, it will always be flawed and gamed by the rich and influential.
Essays alone can’t get you in, and most kids smart enough to score a 32+ can crank out at least a decent essay. I also think that it is key to have a English teacher recommend you. Their recommendation is the easiest way to dispel any doubts (if you haven’t cheated).</p>
<p>Keep up the great work Sally. I created a Guidance Counselor Internship at my school, and someday I’d like to follow in your footsteps. :)</p>
<p>I wrote my essays entirely, with lots of passion and emotion. I told my parents to get the hell out of helping my essays, and they did. I wrote my Common App main essay in 2 weeks, let my english teacher read it, and she told me it’s super good and that she couldn’t find any mistakes. She even asked me if I could write this well in a timed condition. I told her no, since I only got 10/12 on the SAT Essay.</p>
<p>For my essay, there’s a big correlation between time spent and the quality of the essay. I’m sure this is the same for everyone else, though. The more time you spend, the better your essay.</p>
<p>And, yes, students do write differently than adults or professionals. I tried writing like an adult and I completely failed. It wasn’t possible!! I’m sure adults can’t write like us either, as they no longer think like we do.</p>
<p>I let my most trusted English teacher read my Common App essay, and my parents read it as well, but I was okay with not following all of their advice.<br>
I think the best thing to do to make sure that your personality shines through is to have your closest friends read your essays. They will know if it really sounds like you, and, if they’re anything like mine, they’re more brutally honest than anyone else.</p>
<p>Paying a 3rd party to ‘edit’ your essay sounds a little over the top to me. I wonder if they will also use that service when term papers are required in college??? LOL. Anyway…having someone other than your immediate family review the essay is probably a good idea, since they will more easily catch things that don’t fit or aren’t clear. Can a college tell the difference in the final product and does it make a difference on getting accepted, in my opinion probably not.</p>
<p>This posting brought back a disappointing memory of S’s fourth-grade teacher who accused him of plagiarism when he submitted a homework-assigned composition. For some reason, she didn’t believe that he could have written a pretty imaginative composition and used good grammar as well.</p>
<p>Fast forward - now I wonder what admissions folks thought when he read his college essays eight years ago. Did they question their authenticity as well? Mmm.</p>
<p>Most people thank that they can detect lying, but it turns out that people are worse than random at detecting who is going to lie. A few groups, like Secret Service agents are particularly good at it. </p>
<p>I suspect that admissions officers think that they know when kids have written the essays or gotten help but that in fact they are not much better than random. They’d have a clue if a C student in English turns in an A++ essay, but for a lot of cases, they won’t know whether a kid is imaginative, a strong writer, etc.</p>
<p>As to the question at hand, I’m sure there are some clear giveaways that show an adult writer or at least an adult editor … for example, if some kid were to say “in retrospect” I would have doubts about any 17 year old thinking about much in “retrospect” or using that choice of word. </p>
<p>That said, parents can help in the editing process. My son was using highfalutin words that made me cringe. I wish I could remember specific examples. There was also not enough ‘show versus tell’ or not enough ‘him’ coming through. </p>
<p>Another short essay was discuss something that is important to you and he decided to discuss the mission trips he did. Both my wife and I were like, 'who wrote this because this is not you. Do you get with your friends and discuss the impact on mission trips to your life, because you sure don’t talk about it with us. We told him to lose that one and share what’s important to him and NOT to guess what is important to an admissions reader.</p>
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<p>I have a 12-year-old, and my husband and I are constantly floored by what comes out of his mouth. For instance, in the course of a 35-minute-walk last night, we heard from him, “She cites only the most generic examples” and “I beg to differ.”</p>
<p>In most respects, my son is your basic 'tweener … so I beg to differ, too. ;)</p>
<p>haha my parents are both completely illiterate so that wasn’t a problem for me.
However, I had a few English teachers look it over, one of whom didn’t know me very well, and my best friends.</p>
<p>Yes, there are some words and sentences such as “delightful” which are so obviously edited by teachers to flow better and sound sophisticated, but the essay as a whole is still very me.</p>
<p>Its not fair that students get someone to actually write their essay. And then actually paying them to write it is completely wrong. It took me more than a month to finalise my essay. I had two people to read it for me and make minor changes but none of them wrote even a complete sentence for me, a few words here and there but nothing more. I’m very happy with my essay and with the fact that I can say it truely is my work.</p>
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<p>My husband often asks my son, “Will you be able to look at yourself in the mirror in the morning?” In other words, personal integrity should matter most of all, even if you don’t get extra credit (or any credit) for it. Granted, there are dozens of times throughout life when it’s frustrating to see others get ahead as the result of unscrupulous behavior. But I’m still a big believer in that mirror test … and I also hold out hope that the good-karma theory works, too … at least most of the time. :)</p>
<p>how do you feel that “thesaurusy” words are viewed in an essay? although clearly subjective, i am referring to words that my daughter knows, but wouldn’t use in day to day conversation, not words that she never heard of! i would think that “top tier” schools in 2011 would hope/presume that the dictionary/thesaurus are used</p>
<p>the schools must know that many of their smart applicants say LIKE as every 3rd word in their dailyspeak!</p>