Not All Opinions are Created Equal

College Essays
1

This is a spin off of something I just wrote on a thread in this forum.

But I think it’s important enough to get its own thread.

I read an essay the other day from a student. He didn’t like the review he got from his guidance counselor, and wanted input. I read another essay from another student-- his English teacher had suggested some revisions, but he wanted to reach out to the CC community for input.

And I think it needs to be said: Not all opinions are created equal.

If I had a legal problem, I could ask my lawyer. And if I wasn’t happy with his answer, I could certainly ask another lawyer. Or I could post the question on Facebook. And either way, I would get lots of opinions.

But there’s a vast difference between “opinions” and “educated opinions.”

In writing your essays, naturally you’ll want input. But stop and consider the source of that input. My opinion, as a math teacher and freelance writer, does NOT outweigh that of your English teacher or your Guidance counselor!! Your guidance counselor and your English teacher are most likely to be your best resources-- this is their profession. The odds are good that they’ve been doing this for years, and are good at what they do. If they give you advice, strongly consider taking it. They know their stuff.

But certainly don’t discount their advice in favor of that from a group of internet strangers, particularly random ones. If you want to pinpoint a few members here whose opinions you respect, that’s one thing. Take a look at the reader’s profile- how many “likes” and “Helpfuls” have they received? What sort of advice have they offered? Do they seem to know their stuff??

But randomly putting it out there-- “Anyone want to critique my essay?”-- what good does that do? Is there any way of knowing that the person critiquing your essay knows anything at all??

At the very least, you run the risk that your reader will miss the same errors you’ve missed yourself. Or you run the bigger risk that his advice will be bad advice. (There, I’ve said it. There ARE such things as bad questions, and there IS such a thing as bad advice.)

Anyway, I wanted to put it out there. Think carefully about who you ask for advice in this very important part of the admissions process.

And the best of luck to each of you.

2

I’d just like to add that you should also avoid having too many people look at your essay because then it’ll lose your voice and become over-edited and stale. Also, at the end of the day, think about the advice you’re given and if you really don’t agree with some of it (or if you’ve been given conflicting advice), don’t feel as though you have to take it.