<p>I see a lot of students obsessing about the application essay, and I often see such comments on CC as "he probably was rejected because he wrote a bad essay," or "it's essential to write a good essay for College X." I have to confess that I'm skeptical about how much difference an essay makes, except possibly in the case of extremely good or extremely bad essays. A few points:
1. I'm prepared to believe that a very bad essay--poorly written, full of errors, offensive in tone, etc.--can hurt a student who otherwise has good qualifications.
2. But I'm less prepared to accept that a very well-written essay could help all that much if the rest of the application doesn't suggest that the student is highly capable. I don't think it's really true that an adcom can always tell when an essay has been tweaked by a professional. They can tell when it's obvious, but how would they even know if it isn't obvious?
3. Im prepared to believe that an essay can help if it provides interesting or important information about a student that doesn't appear elsewhere in the application.
4. I have to believe that most of the essays blur together and don't stand out that much. An essay that really stands out is likely to come from a student who stands out in other ways as well.
5. Finally, like grades, scores, recommendations, ECs, and interview, the essays are only one element of the application. Marginal differences in essay quality are unlikely to be the deciding factor in very many applications, just as the difference between a GPA of 3.87 and 3.88 is unlikely to be the tipping factor.
6. So my advice? Write a good essay. Proof-read it carefully, and have a sensible adult who is not a member of your family read it to let you know if it makes sense and doesn't sound obnoxious. Include important info about yourself that's not elsewhere in the application, if there is any. But don't drive yourself crazy over it.</p>
<p>yeah i guess you make a fair point. even the great essays, the ones which are often praised as “unique” kinda fall into a pattern after the adcom has read a thousand of them.</p>
<p>Ya but writing good essays that stand out are really important if you want to go to one of the top universities, like MIT or Harvard, because they have no shortage of applicants that are capable in other areas…its the small differences that matter at that point. And since the application essay is the easiest thing to change in your application - if not the only thing - it is extremely important that you write a good essay.</p>
<p>A phenomenal essay will stand out no matter where you go. And the “must admit” essays are no joke either - there are some essays I’ve seen up here which, if I had a say in it, would get the writers in, no questions asked. It’s not like an average/good essay can BREAK your application (depending, of course, on the other applicants, and the university in question) - but something extraordinary can, more often than not, make a much greater case for you than the rest of your application put together.</p>
<p>Yes, small differences in the essay hardly matter - but submitting something good, versus submitting some very good/excellent/outstanding, isn’t a small difference.</p>
<p>I agree with estrat1. The essay is your chance to really prove who you are. Everyone’s pretty much just a big set of numbers until the essay comes around, then your application truly takes shape. Then the application becomes you, and the essay is your opportunity to show who you are, and in turn, hopefully set you apart from the rest of the pack. </p>
<p>Also, I think that the essays are more important at say “top” universities, where essentially everyone applying has great stats. Then the university can be somewhat self selecting about it’s admits, due to their essays. So, I would say that the essays are important, but nothing to entirely stress out about. I kind of think that the university looks for a particular sort of student to admit, and are out looking for the best fit. Should your essay fit what they’re looking for, great. If not, then maybe it wasn’t meant to be. If the latter happens, be bitter and convince yourself you would’ve hated it there anyway.</p>
<p>^ that is exactly what I said…about the “top” universities.</p>
<p>I understand what you all are saying, but what evidence is there that this is really true? If I were an adcom, I’d be hardpressed to decide between two similar candidates based on the quality of an essay. I’m pretty confident that the applicant actually got the grades and scores I see on the application, but I can’t be that confident that he wrote that essay on his own. Again, I’m not talking about information in the essay–that’s a different story.</p>
<p>I also think there’s some wishful thinking going on here–the idea that a really great essay will make up for less-impressive statistics and achievements. Again, I find that fairly unlikely, unless it conveys new information about the student other than that he is able to write–or obtain–a very well written essay.</p>
<p>I’ll tell you why it’s true. My brother got rejected from EVERY Ivy League school- even Cornell and UPenn- except for Dartmouth. His stats were good but not extraordinary; I’m thoroughly convinced the only reason he got into Dartmouth was because he poured his heart into his Dartmouth essay, since he was in love with the place. He’s not really a good writer at all, I think his SAT essay got like a 7.
All of his stats for every college were the same; all of his essays were pretty much the same, except for the Dartmouth one.
The essay really does make a difference.</p>
<p>If go to the forums for the Ivy League schools, and then click on ‘Applicant Stats’ at the top of the forum thingy, you will get a list of people who applied and got accepted or rejected.</p>
<p>You will see that a lot of people who still got accepted do not have great stats; they have relatively low SAT Reasoning scores and GPA. If you visit their profiles, you will see that a lot do not have a whole buncha ECs or volunteering either. So why were they accepted? Well the other major component to the application, of course: the essays.</p>