Common App Essay Question

[BDoyle]

<p>So, I keep reading about all y'all who have spent many hours revising your Common App essay. Some people, it seems, spend weeks.
One post in particular: "Guys, please give me some advice on my ______ essay! Early Decision deadline is in 6 weeks!"</p>

<p>...
....
.....SIX WEEKS?! SERIOUSLY?! </p>

<p>So, my question to all of you is:
As a pretty able writer, how long do I really need to spend on my Common App? do I need to PM it to every Harvard graduate and give it to every teacher at my school? Do I need to copy it and post flyers all over the nearest university in the hopes that someone will grab it, recognize its flaws and correct it for me? ....This process seems ridiculous. </p>

<p>What's a (normal) amount of time to spend?</p>

[kabizzle]

<p>Well to be quite honest I’d consider myself a fairly able writer and I’m planning on spending… 6-8 hours total? I wrote a first draft and am currently having it looked at by a few people but I’m confident enough in my abilities that it’ll be more of a “change this section to show that you learned <em>__” rather than a “you misspelled </em>” type of thing. TBQH you really don’t need to have it looked at by a ton of people if you think it’ll be good enough but I’d have at least 2-3 people (read: teachers, parents, etc.) comment on it before you send it off. </p>

<p>Also, it’s at least 8 weeks until the Early Decision deadline :P</p>