My "Essay Revision" Process

Applying to College
1

I was chatting with a friend today who is also a senior and the topic of our college essays came up, specifically the Common App essay.

She told me she had already gone through “3 revisions” and had all of her teachers look over it, her parents, and a 3rd party admissions counselor. They all apparently gave her comments and suggestions for her upcoming “fourth revision”. Granted she is aiming a little higher than me in the college admission process, but is this really a thing people do? I’m an average student that just wants to get into my flagship state school, and I sat down a few weeks ago and wrote through my essay in one sitting. I wrote from my heart, I used proper grammar and I’m really proud of the work I did.

Is it really necessary to do a bunch of revisions and share this with everyone I know? I wrote about something personal and I was feeling pretty confident about the work I produced, but now I’m not so sure. Did anyone else keep there essay private and not fret over it too much?

2

It depends on how dedicated you are. If your friend is aiming for extremely selective schools, it seems worthwhile to work on the essays as strong essays are almost a must to gain admission into selective universities.

If you don’t want to show your essay to others, that’s fine. For me personally, I just showed my essay to my parents yesterday and realized how bad it was. Thankfully, I did not ask too late and still have 2 weeks before the November 1 Early Action Deadline.

Ultimately up to you. I’ve heard of people write their essay in one sitting and get into fantastic schools and others who spend countless hours editing and still not getting in.

I would recommend that you at least give it to somebody to edit, as they can offer a fresh new perspective on the essay and perhaps spot things that you might have missed.