How important is the common app essay?

Mine is very mediocre and I want to know how much it would hurt my chances?

If it’s mediocre, why don’t you work to improve it? Of course it will hurt you.

If you’re a borderline candidate as it is, it can hurt your chances.

The essay has a chance to take you over the top too if you’re borderline, so it’s worth putting some time into it.

@anxiousenior1 I am working to improve it, but idk what to say. I hate all the prompts and did the best I could ¯_(ツ)_/¯

@ChicagoSportsFn Idk if I’m borderline or not. My gpa is borderline, but the rest of my application is very solid.

To make up for the borderline GPA, your essay needs to be good to give you a chance with your app.

According to College Data, NYU considers the essay(s) as “Important.”

I’d get that essay out of the mediocre range and into the above average category.

Pretty much like SATs, GPAs, Extra-curriculars, Honors,… the essay is not everything yet a very important part of any school that uses the Common Application. I highly recommend you work with your counselor (and fast, deadlines) to improve it.

And what do you mean by you “hate all the prompts.” There is one prompt that basically says “Write anything”, sure everybody says avoid that general prompt but if you have a great story that you want to share and doesn’t fit into any of the given prompts, you can still submit it.

You don’t want to have any regrets in April (or in Feb if you’re doing ED2) like “oh I wish I put in more time in my essay” or “maybe if my essay was better, I could have gotten a better scholarship.”

Good luck!

I chose the write anything one, but I don’t want my essay to come off as me just complaining about how “unfair life is”. I still ended it on a positive note, but idk, maybe I just don’t like it because it’s personal.

Mind reading it for me?

@ferrarivettel @ChicagoSportsFn