Does anyone have a shred of evidence that colleges even read the essays in detail, let alone read between the lines !!!
And make any relevant decisions based on them??
Although I don’t believe essays do anything, I would love to hear from parents who think (and have evidence to back it up), that essays really help students in college applications, besides being a box to check ( vs. their parent’s bottom line, their grades, SAT scores, other factual data, and such)
Well, I can tell you that when I was accepted to the college I’m attending, I received a handwritten note from the regional AO welcoming me and saying that the committee was especially impressed with my essays and cited some examples. So for some of these colleges that haven admissions rate of <10%, I do think they can be the differentiator.
However, as I often say, the plural of anecdote is not data.
My D’s acceptance letter also specifically referenced details from her essay so they certainly read it.
In some cases I believe that an essay can serve as one of those tie-breaker items among equally qualified applicants. It won’t get a person into a college he or she is not academically qualified to attend. But the essay can humanize an applicant, tell something about a person that isn’t obvious from the application, show creativity etc. The essay isn’t very long and IMO it should be viewed as an opportunity not a burden.
Is every essay read by every admissions officer? Maybe not. It is possible that an overworked and exhausted admissions officer will not take the time to read the essay of an applicant who is clearly not academically qualified for that institution. But in cases when an applicant is a viable candidate he/she should use every chance available, including the essay, to try to differentiate him/herself from the pack.
Oh, they totally read them. And often discuss them when making admissions decisions. An applicant I know who got into an uber-selective university was asked if the adcom could use his essay as an example of the kind of work that really stood out. Funny thing, the essay was in part about the applicant playing with Legos as a child.
I can’t speak for all universities, but my son’s acceptance packet contained a handwritten note from the admissions officer which referenced his essay’s topic and content.
My son got a holiday card from U of Chicago referencing his essay. (They had accepted him EA.) He started off the essays with all the reasons he had thought he didn’t belong there, so I think they thought it was pretty funny. I know I thought it was clever and sounded very much like him.
Do most colleges read in detail the essays of every accepted student? My daughter worked in the admissions office of and says the answer to that is yes. But she has gathered that they don’t for EVERY one who applies. There are certain " cut-offs" which at the middle 50 for grades and ACT . If those aren’t present there is a skim of the entire application to see if there is something that makes up for it. A special extra-circular or something in a quickly read of the essay that points to special circumstance ( low income, first gen, family turmoil or tragedy etc…) . If that’s not there, there is no careful reading of the essays. My guess is that this is pretty typical at many schools.
Please read this:
I’m not sure if the above is available without logging in. Below is an excerpt regarding essays:
*"In personal statements, we had been told to read for the “authentic” voice over students whose writing bragged of volunteer trips to exotic places or anything that “smacks of privilege.”
Fortunately, that authentic voice articulated itself abundantly. Many essays lucidly expressed a sense of self and character — no small task in a sea of applicants. Less happily, many betrayed the handiwork of pricey application packagers, whose cloying, pompous style was instantly detectable, as were canny attempts to catch some sympathy with a personal story of generalized misery. The torrent of woe could make a reader numb: not another student suffering from parents’ divorce, a learning difference, a rare disease, even dandruff!"*
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Deleted link to wordpress, which is not allowed.
I don’t think they read essays all the way through of applicants that have little chance of getting in as maya54 point and they don’t read essays all the way through that aren’t interesting to keep them reading.
My daughter’s acceptance at one college also referenced particulars of her essay and her supplements too. They read them, absolutely, and they matter more at the most selective colleges. Doing a half-hearted, haphazard job on the essay can ruin a student’s chances
Daughter had multiple notes from AOs that mentioned specific phrases in her essay. We still believe the essay is what got her in at a top school.
She had a 33, 1530 and 4.0 so good stats but not perfect test scores. She had strong EC’s but no state or national awards. Essay had nothing to do with any of the standard responses you see on CC as ideas for essays and clearly revealed who she is including progression across her life.
Short answer: Yes. UChicago presented D1’s essay at off-campus information session as an example of “what worked well”. She created her own question and answered it rather than use one of their creative questions. Friends happened to attend the session with their younger son and recognized her essay.
I attended a program Tufts does on the competitive admissions process. They walked us through the process for several applicants, using materials from real applications from the previous year. First we looked at the grades and scores, then the EC’s, then personal information gleaned from essays, interviews and recommendations. It was interesting to see how the audience’s opinions of the candidates changed as information was added.
But, sure, they were probably lying about reading the essays.
I’ve read descriptions of the admissions process as described by AO’s at various schools. They generally say every application is read completely by two readers.
Maybe they were lying, too.
Many schools ask for supplemental essays on top of the regular Common App essay.
You’re right. They’re probably not reading them. Most likely the classes are picked using a computerized algorithm, the whole process is very quick and the AO staff spends January- April drinking Starbucks and laughing at how they made the applicants jump through hoops writing essays no one ever reads.
The AO at Johns Hopkins (I’m pretty sure that’s the school) has essay writing advice on their website that includes what they say are actual essays of admitted students, along with readers comments. The staff probably makes them all up. They’re certainly not reading and commenting on the essays.
There is plenty of evidence for highly selective college reading admits’ essays. For example, the FERPA requests from a couple years ago showed that Duke admission readers rate applicant essays on a scale of 1-5 as discussed in the article http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2015/03/ferpa-request-gives-inside-look-duke-admissions-process#.VXGoSEI9b8k . These same essay scores have been used to the Duke Arcidiacono studies that compare how well these Admission readers essay ratings correlate with academic success at Duke, confirming that they really exist.
However, this does not mean every applicant’s essay is read in detail. The article above mentions half of applicants are determined to be “uncompetitive”. The college may spend significantly less time and effort on uncompetitive applicants, including spending less time on essays. Another group that may spend less time on essays is less holistic colleges, that essentially admit based on GPA/scores and/or colleges with auto admit type policies based on GPA/scores.
Public U’s will read them as well. Stellar credentials alone is not reason enough to be admitted when there is a surplus of good applicants. Take those essays seriously! You are who you are, not what some counselor advises you to present yourself as. I see the essays as showing yourself to be a real person, not a bunch of statistics.
btw- your beliefs do not matter at all. You do not determine reality but rather need to live with it. Consider this- no college needs you as a student but you need a college to want you. Your essays reflect your interest/attitude et al. With so many students to choose from a half hearted essay will not impress.
D received a personal email from the Admissions Director before acceptances came out at one school, complimenting the writing in her essays, referencing specific points she made in the essay. In this email, the AD also encouraged her to apply for some additional scholarships that we didn’t know were available. This school ended up offering the biggest merit package she received in the process. Grades and scores often don’t set you apart, particularly at competitive schools. The essay can be the differentiation that prompts an AD to contact you and maybe even offer you more money to attend.
There’s my personal evidence. Invest time and effort in your essays, it pays off.
Of course, as mentioned above, if you don’t have the grades for a certain school, the essay may never be looked at. Someone described the UC process as apps starting in a pile that is sitting on the floor. The app has to have a certain gpa/test score combo to get moved from the floor to the table. So if your app never leaves the floor, the essays won’t be read.
One more data point (or anecdote): I have a family member who has worked in college admissions for years. A while back this person worked in the admission office of a large, fairly prestigious state university (top 100?) – a school that gets more than 20,000 applications a year. Anyway, this family member says they read every single essay for an application that meets their bare minimum criteria of ACT/SAT/GPA… Most essays are read by two readers.
A good essay may or may not help you get in, but a bad essay will keep you out.
Look at the Common Data Set for colleges in section C7 to see how highly they are considered. For Rutgers, a large STate U, it is “considered”. For Princeton, it is “Very Important”.
I know a number of admission counselors and directors from different types of institutions. They all read every essays. The essays are assigned a value, they can be a factor in admission, and in some cases it identifies a student who is unable to write at a college level or a student who may indicate through lack of effort that they may not attend if admitted. They all have stated in one way or another that if a student applies, even if the test scores and GPA indicate that they will not be admitted, that it is respectful to read the entire application, essay included.