<p>As a high school senior awaiting decisions from a bunch of top schools, I have come to wonder: Do top colleges now solely look for stellar essays in admissions? I mean pretty much everyone with a serious academic attitude can conjure his/her fair share of SATs, AP scores and ECs. It is clear that getting 2300+ is no different from a 2100+ score anymore. Most of the applicants cannot be distinguished by stats. Colleges keep emphasizing that the essay is the "place where you show us who you are". This is great for people that write specially moving essays. </p>
<p>But what's happening to people that have a genuine love for learning. Sometimes their curiosity just doesn't translate too well on paper. While I was doing my essays, I certainly wrote some of the best essays of my life, but none of them were close to something that would be a part of a collection like "Essays that Worked". </p>
<p>Attending a high school with a very weak science department, my love for the subject has only been superficially viewed by my underqualified teachers. Most of the stuff I've done is nothing of National or International recognition. </p>
<p>Am I really just not a "fit" for these top schools? I'm sure a lot more students feel the same way as I do.</p>
<p>I think there's still a difference between a 2100 and a 2300, nothing to make or break an application, but the difference is still there. For those who can't express their love of learning through their essays, they are expected to show it through their extracurriculars. Start a math club if you love math, join the science team if you love science. Find an internship on your own if you love business. Join speech and debate if you love debating. There are hundreds of ways to show passion for a subject besides through your essays, although essays can be very influential in your application.</p>
<p>" Do top colleges now solely look for stellar essays in admissions?"</p>
<p>No, but since the majority of the applicants for the very top colleges have stellar stats, ECs, essays, and recommendations as well as factors such as where you live, what your SES is, what your religion, ethnicity, race, prospective major, sexual identity, etc. are also very important.</p>
<p>Someone who writes a mediocre essay is not likely to get into the very top colleges since those colleges get so many applicants whose entire applications are outstanding.</p>
<p>I don't know if your essay has to be brilliantly written to be powerful. You can use simple language as long as it truly conveys what you have to say. Some people overlook that and think strong vocabulary/sentence structure/whatever else is what makes a good essay - and partly, that's true... it adds to your voice. However, that being said, it's truly your voice, and although that's basically been branded into our heads, I don't know how many students actually understand it.</p>
<p>Your voice has to shine through the paper - in the simplest way I could possibly ever say it, write how you would speak to someone, except perhaps a bit more eloquently/sophisticatedly. Don't use language that would never escape your mouth like "moreover" or "heretofore" or something ridiculous like that. As my English teacher once said, *Who the hell says MOREOVER?<a href="And%20if%20you're%20reading%20this%20and%20are%20like,%20ZOMG%20I%20SAY%20MOREOVER%20-%20you're%20special.">/i</a></p>
<p>Seriously, even the worst writers can write some awesome college essays because these are some essays like no other - you can be extremely informal, and get away with it. So try it... just write with your voice, and edit it a bit to spice it up/make it acceptable for colleges. </p>
<p>And if it doesn't work, just ignore my post... ha.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I know what I just wrote is easier said than done - but perhaps it'll point people in the right direction.</p>
<p>"But what's happening to people that have a genuine love for learning. Sometimes their curiosity just doesn't translate too well on paper. While I was doing my essays, I certainly wrote some of the best essays of my life, but none of them were close to something that would be a part of a collection like "Essays that Worked"."</p>
<p>Honestly, essays will play a huge role, as will the whole package - what you do out of school, recommendations, etc. As Northstarmom and I have both heard, being a "pure intellectual" isn't the way to get into top schools anymore. Not unless you're Einstein incarnate [OK and I really mean EINSTEIN, not just as a symbol, but really something like that - in which case basically everywhere might take you]. </p>
<p>Believe me, though, if you don't write essays and have parts of your application which lead top schools to believe you'll offer that special something they want for their communities, no matter how much more of an intellectual you may be than some others, you likely won't make it in. Nevertheless, you <em>will</em> as a pure intellectual get into some school which'll let you shine, and if you stay on your path, you can make it to a stellar grad school. </p>
<p>Notice - the top grad students don't all come from the same places. Quite a few come from small, focused schools, though a fair share come from bigger ones.</p>
<p>"Someone who writes a mediocre essay is not likely to get into the very top colleges since those colleges get so many applicants whose entire applications are outstanding."</p>
<p>This is a good point to be taken, though I'll give it some context -- as a "pure intellectual" you may actually be more accomplished and capable of handling whatever given academic pursuit, but someone who has a similar application will probably be favored if they have a "soft factor" going for them.</p>
<p>Theres no doubt that writing good essays will help an applicant's chances. </p>
<p>Heres my point tho. Does an applicant today <em>have</em> to look good on paper. Some applicants, with their intellectualism AND their strong sense of community, just don't look as good on paper. </p>
<p>I guess it's just a consequence of modern day competition. Dam the baby boomers lol >_></p>
<p>"Does an applicant today <em>have</em> to look good on paper. Some applicants, with their intellectualism AND their strong sense of community, just don't look as good on paper. "</p>
<p>I think it's incorrect to think that someone who is intellectual and community minded wouldn't look good on paper. Community minded people are involved in their communities typically with some kind of leadership roles. Intellectuals write. They just don't sit around and think great thoughts. In fact, some of the greatest writers in history were intellectuals.</p>
<p>I think a great essay still isn't as much a necessity as it is strongly advised. The great essays are usually ones where ALOT of work and effort have been put into the writing process but also, as everyone has said, have voice and show personality. </p>
<p>I'm a firm believer that a great essay can make or break a borderline application, it's not something to take lightly.</p>
<p>"I think it's incorrect to think that someone who is intellectual and community minded wouldn't look good on paper."</p>
<p>This is true in the sense that prominent intellectuals who've done admirable things with their times usually have a story to tell, and I think it's less their eloquence and more the potency of the stories (combined with some skill in telling the stories) which will give the admissions officers valuable info. My belief is the admissions officers are looking to assemble a certain kind of class, filled with students showing special kinds of energy and talent. And only a skillfully crafted essay can make this energy known to the officers, who hardly know the given student.</p>
<p>That said, I'd not dismiss the OP's concern, which is that <em>not everything someone does with his/her time looks good on paper</em>. Even if it is a legitimate pursuit. I hate to use myself as an example, but it seems to get at what the OP means. A lot of my time, I just spent reading math books for my own satisfaction. Not doing debates, not carrying a leadership position, not founding a club. But heck, I think anyone who's met me knows I can deliver a pretty well communicated message on why I study math. Also, writing is one of my primary strengths. However, the essays demanded in college admissions are usually of a specific kind, those who try to <em>find out</em> about the students. Not ones which ask the student to demonstrate writing/analytical abilities. Unfortunately, not all students look as good when you ask them to write...because not all essay questions are geared towards them. Sometimes, NO essay questions are geared towards them. I think it is safe that someone who does EC's he/she is passionate about, for instance, has more to write about in the vast majority of what college essays actually end up being about...even if others may be terrific writers and have volumes of wonderful things to speak of on topics of their own interests.</p>
<p>In this sense, yes, the essay component to top schools can actually negatively impact students who don't have as much to say about the given topics.</p>
<p>"Am I really just not a "fit" for these top schools? I'm sure a lot more students feel the same way as I do."</p>
<p>You may be the kind of student who'd do very well at these top schools...that doesn't mean, however, that admissions officers will select you. Know that their goal is to assemble a class with certain kinds of talent, not necessarily the most straightforward kind of intellectual talent...<em>even though</em> you could make great use of their resources.</p>
<p>That's a choice on their part. We really have to live with it, because they're their own schools, and let you apply, and it's your and my choice to do so. The point, though, is that getting accepted to these famous names means something, but truthfully you can do better elsewhere than many do once accepted to those schools...pretty much do your best and realize it's hard to say after that. Any other attitude probably will leave you frustrated.</p>
<p>Oh come on... essays SHOULD be the biggest part of your app... a hundred points on the SAT are determined by a few problems right or wrong... </p>
<p>essays are what makes you... you. </p>
<p>It doesn't have to be the lost works of Shakesphere, or even about a significant event or understanding... It doesn't have to be moving, emotional, or knowledgeable... It just has to be about you... Those collections of "essays that worked" are clearly over the top and even most acceptees can't write like that. </p>
<p>For my Yale essay, I wrote about a biological/philosophical question I had while ordering pizza with my friend at a local pizza shop... :)</p>
<p>Yes and no! This is ONLY IF the essays are highly open-ended. Sometimes the questions they ask genuinely don't strike certain types of people in any particular way. A very interesting person who does a lot of self-reflection may have a tough time answering the questions the essays put forth. </p>
<p>"It doesn't have to be moving, emotional, or knowledgeable... It just has to be about you..."</p>
<p>See, that's the thing -- I think a lot of times, the topics don't really bring out YOU. I would argue that the only way to really know the people we're asking essays of is to meet them and have deep conversations with them for hours, and then, <em>even then</em>, it is hard to really know them.</p>
<p>I think essays get a better picture of what people do with their time than they do a picture of the given individual as a whole. Just most essays I noticed.</p>
<p>
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For my Yale essay, I wrote about a biological/philosophical question I had while ordering pizza with my friend at a local pizza shop...
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<p>I think this is a brilliant topic for an essay.</p>
<p>And for the poster above me, a writer should be able to manipulate the question to fit his/her needs. Usually the question addresses something that may SEEM as little in scope, but truly a piece that often can be zoomed into to reveal the larger picture.</p>
<p>Ideally essays shouldn't be a deciding factor in admissions, because great people can write crappy essays. However, admissions officers, especially those of schools that have to reject qualified people, don't have very much else to work with. It's a lot harder to reject the 2300 SAT 3.95 GPA guy who wrote a personal, revealing, and interesting essay than the 2300, 3.95 GPA guy who wrote a vague, abstract piece that begins, "From an early age, we accept death as the inevitable, but do not comprehend its actual denotation. Death is the impending future that all people must eventually grasp."* Ya know?</p>