Hello,
How important are college essays (compared to your courses, GPA, SAT/ACT scores, extracurricular, etc.)? Would it be less important than other components since you could technically make up or fake certain stories to make them seem more interesting?
Thank you!
Google Common Data Set and look at section C7. There is no set answer for all colleges.
Colleges want to see how you write. It’s more about how you say it than what the subject is. Writing about fiction is fine. Coming across a lying is not okay.
I don’t see what colleges OP is thinking of. Of course the essay matters for holistic- not simply your style, but how it reflects your understanding of what the purpose is, what they want to see in you. It is not clever hs writing.
“since you could technically make up or fake certain stories” Lol, there’s the rub. Can’t fake a good one if you have no idea what they’re looking for and are more concerned with learning some formula for getting in.
It needs to be relevant to an admit review for that college.
Like others have said it depends on the school. Some care a lot about essays. It’s your chance to let the schools see you can write and to let them know a little bit about you that they wouldn’t get from the rest of your application. Sure, you can lie, but I’m not sure why you’d want to.