In practice, I believe that a good number of essays are inflated, exaggerated, curated by adults (paid or not) and rarely reflect the actual individual or their interests.
Why then do colleges put such emphasis on essays?
2 Likes
Probably because they feel comfortable at telling the difference between an essay that matches the rest of the applicant’s profile/background and those which are manufactured just for admissions purposes.
I personally think that essays measure how well one writes creatively. That may or in many cases, may not relate to how well they will do at their desired major. I think it has an outsized emphasis for what it does in reality.
2 Likes
I understand that admissions wants to hear the real person, the authentic voice. But in the end, so many of those essays seem similar, even the good ones. I can see it distinguishing the “no” pile from the “look further” pile, but not a lot beyond that.
If you are talking about the common app main essay/personal statement, I would estimate maybe 150 or so colleges care about those. And if there is a Why Us? essay or other supplementals those are typically relatively more important/valued.
4 Likes
You might want to read this thread.
1 Like
Some percentage of students likely pay people to write (or HEAVILY edit) their essay. But my honest guess is that it’s a small percent and, if a student is not capable or writing a coherent essay more or less independently, then they likely also don’t have the grades, test scores, and achievements to get into top schools anyway. A professionally written essay accompanying a 2.5 GPA obviously isn’t going to get anyone into a T20, so what does it matter?
In addition, I imagine readers - who read THOUSANDS of essays - are pretty savvy at distinguishing a genuine student voice from a professional voice.
But an essay that comes across as sincere and that matches the expected writing level of the applicant probably will benefit an application. Otherwise, it’s likely pretty much a wash. (Unless of course there’s some kind of red flag or something offensive or clueless or generally unsavory, in which case, it may be a significant negative.)
3 Likes
The Dean of Admissions at Amherst came to talk at my son’s school and was quite clear they are well aware of the essays that have help. And that is a no go. Now I’m sure some slip by but they are looking out for them. I don’t think Amherst is alone.
3 Likes
There is an essay reader group here on CC. I try to be ethical in the way I offer advice on essays.
I can’t back this up but have read and believe that most essays are neutral in effect. In fact on the other thread linked above I wrote about a “good enough” essay that “does no harm.” There are certainly some outstanding ones- not many- and some terrible ones and both might have an effect.
6 Likes
One thing that stood out to be from the Yale Admissions podcasts on essays is that they really enjoy good essays, indeed look forward to them. And seriously, imagine how awful it would be to review application after application if there were no essays? And then their basic theme was essays gave them a sort of introduction to the person that could be helpful in terms of understanding the whole application. So they were not so much an independent factor as something that could color the whole (short) process of evaluating the application.
And I really don’t think kids need to be exaggerating or getting excessive help in order to write essays that will be helpful in that sense.
On the negative side, I think they made pretty clear that some essays gave them a sense the applicant really did not share Yale’s values.
And I am not sure exaggeration or excessive essay help is likely to address that issue.
3 Likes
They have real value because they personalize an application. That personalization says a lot; You chose a topic with meaning. You are someone I like. You are dishonest. You write well. Lots of value in admissions knowing that.
2 Likes
I like to imagine the whole college application process like a dating app. Stats are like the photo and the essay is like the blurb where you can show your personality.
You might reject someone on the surface as not in your league but if they look good enough you will probably want to dig deeper . Of course, just like there are people who date solely on looks, there are colleges that will accept you on stats alone.
I tried to write my essays to be the most “me” possible. All of my supplemental essays are clearly written in the same “voice” as my common app essay. If the AOs read them and think, “She’s weird” then it’s probably not the right fit for me. Getting in to College X is not going to magically turn me into a different kind of person. I would hate to have an application that doesn’t represent the real me and then end up somewhere that doesn’t fit.
6 Likes
I think that for selective colleges, the real value of essays is the fact that they are subjective. Selective colleges have their institutional priorities, and they want to be able to follow them without lawsuits such as the Harvard admissions lawsuit. Essays can be part of an admissions “formula”, which gives a superficial impression of objectivity, while actually being completely subjective.
Your student health center is going broke because of so many students needing therapy? You can weed out the students who write about mental health.
Your school wants to keep its level of URMs steady despite the Supreme Court ruling? Your readers can be instructed to give extra essay points for this.
Your school needs more full pay students, yet still wants to be called “need blind”?
You can select for essays that seem to have been written by expensive essay coaches!
I teach at a fairly affluent public high school and conducted essay writing workshops for juniors in the Spring. I am sure there were students who I don’t know who had private help, but many kids are asking English teachers to review their essays. I would expect that students applying to state flagships, even competitive ones, are not paying hundreds or more for essay writers. And the ones who are applying to reach schools need the grades and everything else (which hopefully translates to being able to write effectively).
1 Like
Agreed. But not many essays are written by the student for top colleges, even state flagships for competitive majors.
This makes sense!
That personalization can be faked, bought etc. was the point I was trying to make. Not that an honest essay cannot be valuable.
I don’t know why you think “a good number” of essays are not written by students/kids who are applying to college - where did you get that information? Yes, many are edited by teachers, parents, etc. But curated or written by someone else in its entirety - I don’t think so. I am sure there are some but not a good number (which sounds to me like at least a quarter to a third).
2 Likes
Really? I don’t think that is true. S24 is applying to several extremely competitive schools (3.98UW/1580 SAT) - he wrote all his own essays with some feedback from his GC and me. He doesn’t have a private college counselor, didn’t have a SAT tutor or attend prep class. Not every great student has an array of professional help to curate their applications. For that matter most of his friends didn’t have paid essay help either.
2 Likes
I understand how you feel. People without admissions experience lack the understanding and appreciation for how easy it is to spot a fake or bought piece of writing. People who do this are the losers more times than not. As far as it helping an application… almost never.
2 Likes