Does NC State care much about essays?

Colleges and Universities A-Z North Carolina State University
1

I’ve heard mixed things about NC State admissions. Some say that State only cares about GPA and test scores and that they ignore things like letters of recommendation. I’ve also heard that they don’t pay much mind to essays, given that they weren’t required until they joined Common App. Can someone give me some insight into NC State’s admissions?

2

My information is from 2012. My daughter and I were at an info session with a member of the admissions staff. She explicitly said NCSU only looked at GPA, SAT and class rank. She laughed when asked if letters of recommendation were read. Daughter applied EA and was notified she was in by December 10, though I have heard from a GC applicants are not finding out EA decisions till late January now.

3

I’ve got two kids at State now. I agree with Petula with regard to the weight given to essays. I have also had admissions folks tell me that letters of recommendation are ignored because, amazingly enough, all the letters say the student is great (sarcasm).

However, I would not leave a section of the application blank. While I firmly believe that State has numbers driven admissions, when it comes to the applicants on the threshold of having scores high enough, I would bet that simply doing the essay could be the difference in getting admitted or not.

4

I agree with above. ^^^^^^ Applicants should certainly do the essay, and put at least some effort in it.

5

I could be wrong, but I think the essays are considered when it comes to scholarship consideration - at least for some departmental scholarship which don’t require an additional application.

6

I have a very average profile. 3 Bs out of 5 classes in junior year. 1440 SAT.

I got into the Engineering college(CS intent-Fall 2017) and I feel that my essays had a lot to do with.

I had a perfect essay about what my goals are and why NC State would be the best match for me.

The essay about obstacles, I wrote about a problem I solved as student council president and used it to brag about thr student council thing.
Used the common app essay to brag about my programming skills and projects.
I skipped the diversity essay cuz I had no clue.

I feel that my essays made the adcom understand my interests and talents more than anything else. If you have a strong profile, go ahead and not care. But for average applicants like me, the essay makes or breaks the application.