<p>My kid just submitted her special status app to Pitt. She did not want to have to agonize over the essay question, so despite it having a 7000 max char count, hers was pretty short. (She asked me to proofread it and there were no errors.)
I'm wondering now how much weight Pitt puts into the essay?</p>
<p>Pitt deems the application essay as “important” on its Common Data Set. However, sometimes it’s better to have essays short and concise. The quality of the essay is more important than its length, so if she had well organized thoughts and a meaningful story, it should be sufficient. Pitt ranks the essay as more important than recommendations, extracurriculars, and volunteer and work experiences, but less important than GPA, SAT/ACTs, and course rigor.</p>
<p>if it’s special status and she has high test scores and GPA, essay probably does not matter much at all unless she is in merit scholarship range. </p>
<p>It is the special status app and I am hoping she gets a merit offer. The essay I mean is the 3rd optional question on the app.
Now I’m wondering if she should submit the optional essay that they mention in the standard app.</p>
<p>I just recently submitted that application about a month ago so I know exactly what you mean. I don’t think it’s necessary to submit another essay (the one in the standard app) because the special status application was meant to be sufficient for those that qualify for the special status to be admitted. If they wanted us to think about another essay, it would have been in our special status application. Submitting another essay would probably make almost no difference in the admission decision to be honest.</p>
<p>So far as I can tell, the third optional essay in the “select” app is the same as the optional essay in the regular app, isn’t it?</p>