Personal essays and other random questions about common app

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
1

Do they compare essays with same prompts to other essays of the same prompt? Or do they just generally compare all essays irrespective of the prompt.
Also, do they start reading the applications as we submit them, or they will start reading after the submission deadline ( eg. if the EA deadline for a university if Oct 15th. And we submit it on 9th, will they start reading it earlier, or they will wait for everyone to submit till Oct 15th, and then read. Does anyone know?

I also want to know, if we submit a certain essay now, and submit the application with that essay. And for the next deadlines or for regular decision if the student changes the personal essay for the other universities. Will it change the essay for the universities you already submitted applications to before?

I know these are weird questions, but I shall really appreciate if some one can answer.
Thanks

2

I’m having a lot of trouble with your choice of questions-- they sound as though you’re asking for permission to plagiarize.

Realize that they’re dealing with thousands of applications. Make yours as uncomplicated as possible.

And sit down, now, and write your own essay. One essay. No changes, no comparing, just one essay you’ve written.

3

No, definitely not asking for that. Never even thought of that. The child has one essay written, but she doesn’t like it very much. So she is not sure if she should write a better one for a different prompt, but she is not able to complete it in a week due to course load. That’s all!
Wow I am surprised that it could be taken in the wrong way.
The reason I ask about whether they compare same prompts essays, is because the child is not too sure if her essay is very strong and whether other people will write better essays for a certain prompt

!!!

4

Each application is read to completion on its own. Admissions officers don’t collect batches of essays and read them in a group (the way an English teacher might read and grade essays). Your child’s essay will be read in the context of her application - not compared to others one to one. And, yes, if she wants to write a different essay and change the common app for the future schools, she can do that.

5

Thanks! that eases some of the anxiety :slight_smile:

6

They don’t read the essay til they look at the whole app, and that is usually when all the pieces (transcripts, test scores, recs, etc) are received. But once she hits submit on her portion of the app, that essay is locked and won’t change. But she can change it for other schools.