<p>I have heard that some colleges require essays on their application, but either (A) do not read them at all, or (B) read such a small percentage of them that it is really not part of the process. Does anyone know of any schools where that is the case and why they would do that? What are your feelings about such a practice?</p>
<p>I think an admissions rep I talked to from Ohio State said that if your scores/GPA are good enough, your application is barely even read at all by the committee, let alone the essays. But she noted, if you're that far above an admission committee's criteria, someone will likely be reading your essay, just probably at the scholarship/financial aid office.</p>
<p>i'm pretty sure that many large state schools are overwhelmed by applications and accept people primarily based on GPA and SAT scores. (at least rutgers does.) essays will probably help you if you're borderline--don't quote me on that though. </p>
<p>essays are probably most important for applicants to highly competitive schools where almost all applicants have high GPAs, SATs, etc.</p>
<p>Spouse has always maintained (being a 30+ alum from Wharton School), that initial college app reads must focus on test scores/gpa first. Obviously, I doubt that admissions is going to spend a lot of time on an app whose scores may not be anywhere near the median range and with the volume of apps these days, there has to be a starting point for elimination. I would also be willing to bet that the more technical majors (enginnering, math, sciences) are much more numbers oriented with regard to majors.</p>
<p>Having been on numerous adcom committees for graduate schools, I can tell you there is a very early 'out' pile by a low level staff person/administrative assistants, then the set go up to the committee and 'outs' are quickly sorted and not read further. Only if one meets some specific cut off criteria (often things that are quantifiable and comparable across applicants), does anyone read the softer and harder to evaluate stuff. </p>
<p>If this is what we do with relatively small numbers compared to undergrads, I imagine all schools do this to a degree when they have so many more applicants. It's only rational: I can't imagine why it would be different at undergraduate colleges (though they may vary on what easy-view criteria and cut-offs they use to do early sorts).</p>
<p>^Is 3.7 considered in the "out pile" for gpa's? Not to promote a bizarre attitude, but that's what my counselor implied to us.</p>
<p>My friend called up Washington University and they basically told him we don't care if you have great essays because we probably won't even read them cause your SAT score are too low.</p>