<p>^ “Colleges were able to find perfectly acceptable students in the days before essays.”</p>
<p>When was that? 1850? ^</p>
<p>When I applied to college, about 126 years after 1850, the “essays” were short answers of a few sentences to a question on the application. You only had a small space in which to write them. I did not apply to HYPS or the top LACs, so I don’t know if their applications were different, but I didn’t have to do anything like the essays kids are writing today. We didn’t spend much more time on the essays than we did on the rest of the application. Today these essays go through multiple drafts and revisions and for a lot of kids take many many hours or work. So maybe there were essays back in the day, but they didn’t approach the essays that are expected today.</p>
<p>When I applied to college – 1969-- I had to write essays for all or most of the colleges that I applied to, which were places like Ivies and 7 sisters. I had to write real essays, not short answers. I even remember not applying to Tufts because while I loved the college, I didn’t want to spend time writing their long essay.</p>
<p>There are plenty of colleges now that don’t require long essays, but those tend to be ones that CC members aren’t applying to.</p>
<p>I have several problems with using the SAT essay. My biggest problem is that it requires writing with paper and pencil. My second problem is that it is writtin at 8 am.</p>
<p>I think it is safe to say that few, if any, college papers are written at 8 am using a pencil and paper. So how is the SAT essay a good predictor of well-written college assignments? Similarly, I also suspect that the majority of successful novels, NIH grant applications, legal briefs, etc… are NOT written on paper and pencil at 8 am.</p>
<p>Having said that, I think the idea to have yet another “standardized” test is brilliant. Offer the option to take the test in the morning or the evening, give them about 2-3 hours, and access to a computer, and let them choose from one of ten topics,. No need to actually score the essays- colleges would just be directly sent the essay instead of the score report. Yeah, it would be one more test to take, one more source of stress, but it would eliminate a huge part of the stress associated with college applications- writing the essays.</p>
<p>vicariousparent, I do agree with everything that you said. I happen to think that a 2-3 hour writing test, with computer access is a good idea too. At least colleges would know that everyone wrote their own essays, and that it was not overly corrected, and rewritten by other people.</p>
<p>All three of my DS’s hated writing so they chose to apply to schools with optional short answer sections instead of essays. Those still exist but are mostly the state u’s and small state colleges. .</p>
it would eliminate a huge part of the stress associated with college applications- writing the essays.
[/quote]
Do you really think that a standardized essay on prompts made up by CollegeBoard would replace “the college essay?” Not a chance imho. Colleges will still want to know why a student has chosen to apply to their college, or chosen a specific major. Colleges will still want their questions answered.</p>
<p>College essays and standardized tests aren’t meant to measure the same things. Another standardized writing test would just add to the burden.</p>
<p>Edit: I do like the testing structure you described… much more realistic and useful imho than the current SAT or ACT essay. I just don’t think it would really solve the “college essay problem.”</p>
<p>vicarious parent…I also like the structure you described, but it would only work if the prompts were secret until the test. Otherwise, anyone could pre-write (or have pre-written by someone) their entire essay.</p>
<p>What might work even better: 3 hrs, 2 essays. One secret topic, one generic “why I want to go to college and what I will do there” essay. If there is a major discrepancy between the two essays in terms of writing ability and ‘voice’, then it might give a clue.</p>
<p>Asking for graded papers seems to be a good backup for the essay. Obviously not infaillible, but with a little more credibility than the SAT writing section or the application prompt. I know Middlebury asks for one, and I sent in supplemental samples of my academic writing to a few colleges after I was waitlisted.</p>
<p>The SAT essay is incredibly flawed. I got an 11 when I wrote ironically-I wrote about Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan with big words and no context to the prompt. In contrast, I got an 8 the first time when I wrote an essay similar to ones I’d write in class. </p>
<p>One of the biggest problems (among many) is that the time frame is so short, and the grading time is short as well. Even pushing the time from 25 mins to the standard “AP English” 40 minutes time frame would greatly differentiate candidates and make the essay more viable.</p>
<p>Many schools on the Common Application have “supplemental” sections where the students have to write even more than the regular essay on the application. My D had complained about this last admission season we just went through. I did fax a graded paper with teacher’s comments on it to some schools who requested it as well. So if you have a great paper like that, keep it! </p>
<p>In looking at some schools for my S I now have noticed that they don’t consider the SAT Writing section at all! That score is left blank on admissions info on collegeboard, princetonreview, collegedata websites etc. I think my S is grateful for this as he really had to poked & inspired when it came to writing. His complaint on the SAT Writing was not enough time of course, as he really needs time to think about it! </p>
<p>I would doubt that admissions counselors have the time to scrutinize every essay & try to determine if applicant really wrote it or not!</p>
<p>How many students have essays ghostwritten? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? </p>
<p>And of the ones that do – many do get caught. Because there’s a great essay and no recommendation from a teacher that praises their writing. Because the main essay is perfect and the short answers are nothing close to perfect. </p>
<p>And while the essay is important, the applicant must also have a good package across the board. A perfect essay is not going to help a kid with a mediocre GPA and no ECs get into Harvard. I really doubt that there are many students who get accepted merely because of the strength of their essay. And many strong students are accepted before the admissions committee even reads their essay.</p>
<p>I’m not condoning hiring a ghost writer. I think it’s awful. But does the whole system need to be changed for what might be a handful of unethical applicants? Convince me that we’re talking about thousands of students who get into HYP because of ghostwritten essays, then I’ll be more interested in making a big change.</p>
<p>My S was asked to write for an online site based on some writing he submitted as part of his hobby. He was asked to write spec pieces for the site because he wrote so well, and he has since parlayed that into a fulltime paying job which he does while attending college. He writes fewer articles than he used to – he now hires writers – but he still does a great deal of editing, etc. Anyway, his SAT essays were horrible, okay not horrible … but much poorer in comparison, partially because he has lousy handwriting making it difficult for anyone to read. Secondly, he cannot for the life of him write in the formulaic way that scores better on those standardized tests. I recently read some of his work that he’s written in his honors english comp and literature classes, and I am amazed at his ability (as are his teachers, who keep asking him why he’s majoring in economics). No one would ever believe that this is the same kid who average scores his standardized test essays. His sister also scores poorly on those essays (in context with her other scores). She’s not a gifted writer as he is … but she’s much better when she has the time to formulate her ideas and go slowly. Time writing doesn’t work for her at all. So, I hate the idea of these essays getting more play. I’d rather see graded work from H.S. having more emphasis. At least that’s more indicative of ability.</p>
<p>I thought that’s what college essays were for. I must be out of touch. I do agree with the poster who wrote “karmic equalizer.” I just plain feel sorry for these kids with the invisible umbilical cords. That said, I imagine these kids are in the minority of all college going kids.</p>