<p>Yes I am a senior that will be applying. I think that the there have been many individuals that encounter their fair share of both optimism and pessimism in the admission process.</p>
<p>Sometimes things can go amazingly well and an applicant can get into schools that are surprisingly unexpected. I know that this does not happen all that often, but I don’t think we should discount that a chance, albeit small, is still a chance (I’m not talking about the OP though).</p>
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<p>Well, I guess I would argue that your entire record–your transcript, the types of courses you have taken, your test scores, the opportunities you have sought out and your talents and accomplishments, what your teachers think about you–would give the admissions officers a pretty good snapshot of an applicant. While some of these things can be manufactured (i.e., parents can oversee extracurriculars, people with money can get excessive tutoring), generally a strong applicant will be shown by the totality of his or her record. Personally, I don’t think that essays, which after all can be written by others, edited heavily by parents and relatives etc. or even be fiction, can or should outweigh an entire 4 year record. </p>
<p>Do I think essays are important, in order to flesh out an applicant or give an insight into an applicant? Of course. Do I think that essays often outweigh the totality of the record? No.</p>
<p>And I wish you good luck in the admissions process SAT 128!</p>
<p>I agree, the essays don’t outweigh the totality of the record. And sure, the transcript, courseload, test scores, and ECs give a good snapshot. But they don’t necessarily provide a complete snapshot.</p>
<p>As I said before, I don’t believe that the essays can necessarily make up for a bad record/stats, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t hold a lot of weight. Sometimes they can really make all the difference (although not often), but I am not saying that a person can usually cruise into a top school with just having written a great essay</p>
<p>Edit: @midatlmom Thanks for the good wishes hehe; I guess nobody really knows how the admission process really works, esp for each school. But your input def makes sense</p>
<p>SAT, it’s good to be optimistic but don’t bank on it. If it happens then it’s great. But every year, I’ve seen disappointment in April and I’m trying to tamper expectation.</p>
<p>@DrGoogle
Yeah I don’t bank on just optimism. I don’t think anyone should put all their chips into just shooting for the top and being too optimistic. Caution is also important and everyone should make sure to have matches/safeties. </p>
<p>But I also think that if a person is too pessimistic, then that person may never apply to a top school that they might just have a small chance of getting into. I think being optimistic to a certain degree is important, rather than just settling for safety schools due to fear of being rejected.</p>
<p>But of course you are right in saying that a person has to set their expectations in a realistic context</p>
<p>OP smells like a ■■■■■</p>
<p>Read this comment the OP made on the Penn board - he’s certainly a ■■■■■, because he was gay on this thread, and isn’t on the Penn thread reproduced below (and the below comment is bizarre):</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania-2016/1349734-greek-life-upenn-theta.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania-2016/1349734-greek-life-upenn-theta.html</a></p>
<p>hey just wondering what the girls are like in these sororities. Do these girls really put out often and easy for frat guys like is implied in movies?</p>
<p>also are there enough hot girls to go around or is it that there are a lot of hot girls and a lot more hot guys and its really difficult for guys who are average to below average.</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>-ambitionz</p>
<p>About the conversation on the essays: I expect the essays are like any other part of the application: A good essay, just like a good SAT score, GPA, or extracurricular activities, won’t make up for deficiencies in the rest of the application, but having a bad essay can make it much harder to get into an elite university. You’ve got to figure that the majority of the over 30,000 people applying to places like Yale are great if not outright amazing writers, so, in reality, it’s nearly impossible to stand out, unless you’re standing out in a bad way. </p>
<p>Keep in mind, though, that I’m a high school senior and have little idea of what goes on in the minds of college admissions officers.</p>