<p>any tips on colleg essays?</p>
<p>I think essays are generally overrated. A crappy essay can keep you out, but I honestly can’t imagine many scenarios where a reject-applicant might get saved by an amazing essay. (Actually, if your essay sounds too good, colleges will assume that you didn’t write it by yourself.)</p>
<p>I think that essays matter to the extent that you demonstrate an interest in the school (especially smaller colleges with ‘character’) and - for the most selective universities - that you draw together your various accomplishments into one cohesive whole. For example, you might try to present yourself as well-rounded or very narrowly focused in one area. You can explain what you hope to accomplish in college (which might benefit your classmates or the institution too :)). Etc.</p>
<p>hey b@rium I agree!
Do you think the claim of many Admission officers that a great amazing essay can turn the tables for a weak applicant at least to waitlist him/her is a less than honest claim?</p>
<p>I have never seen that claim made by an admissions officer, only by college applicants, well-intentioned parents and admission counselors who make a living editing college application essays. 
If there’s an army of admission officers out there saying that essays can make up for a lackluster academic record, I am happy to be persuaded otherwise!</p>
<p>No I remember reading certain interviews and I was just wondering</p>
<p>Well thanks for clearing that out!</p>
<p>If you remember where you read it, would you mind PMing me the link? Thanks!</p>
<p>I read it in a magazine
If I can I will try to scan it for you and then pm it :)</p>
<p>b@r!um, you are giving very bad advice to everyone! College essays should be amazing! They can save you! But obviously they have to be really BRILLIANT to save you from a clumsy academic record. For students with outstanding achievements such as Olympiad gold medals, 2400 SAT1, AP Scholars, etc., essays may not matter that much because they have a lot of other things to flaunt their genius, but students who don’t get such opportunities or who don’t keep good academic records, essays are definitely life-saving! Please stop telling people that essays don’t matter, because they do! Especially if you don’t have too much to show off!</p>
<p>^ and you have evidence where?</p>
<p>Look, I didn’t say that no one cares about essays and applicants should blow them off. I meant that essays are relatively unimportant compared to academics. Academics matter for all applicants; essays only matter for borderline candidates. I’d also like to point out that the OP expressed interest in big public universities which are less selective than Harvard and care less about fit than Haverford. If you play with the UC stat finder, you will see that you can predict UCSD admission decisions pretty well using only weighted GPA and SAT scores.</p>
<p>I was asking around about scholarship and I heard about FAFSA
does anyone know what exactly it is?</p>
<p>The FAFSA is a financial aid application for federal funding,it is for American citizens and US permanent residents ONLY.International students do not file FAFSA as the do not qualify for US government funding.</p>
<p>What if I am an American Citizen who goes to an International School that only uses English?</p>