Essays demonstrating “Categorical thinking”, linking ideas with articles and prepositions predicts higher academic success than essays with “dynamic thinking”, using “me” and “I”, which are associated with lower GPAs. Hmmmmm…
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0115844
err, what???
As written. The study suggests prediction between the type of essay and college performance. Another thought when writing essays. Seems they are saying essays connecting thoughts and ideas are predictive of better academic outcome that those that are about the write with perhaps a less enhanced writing style and complex thinking. From the linked article:
Letter dropped off a word above-- should say " than those that are about the writer with a perhaps less enhanced…"
I read the article and based on what’s there, I reiterate my “whhhaaat” comment…
College essays MUST be personal narratives. The best college admission essays are personal narratives (even if, indeed, they provide context and organize complex thought, as should be obvious).
More articles and prepositions > verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, negations…???
How can one say the+noun > I, for instance?
It sounds like a computer analyzed essays and pulled out commonalities - a good essay has voice, style, meaning, depth, all things a computer can’t judge, but which should (and are) judged by essay readers.
If this is UT, in particular, the whole thing is weird since admission then was linked to being top 10%, not to essays.
I’m sure the research makes more sense than that, but the article doesn’t really do it justice.
Yes, it WAS a computer analytic study. But there is a difference in a personalized essay that tell a story by joining historical pieces, vs one that sounds more “listy”, for lack of a better word. Just found the article interesting…
It’s confusing because “dynamic thinking” sounds w-a-a-y-y better than “categorical thinking”.
The journal article itself is at the bottom of the first post.
And agree, the descriptive terms for the types of thinking could be better. Hope a computer didn’t generate them 
Seems like it is saying that essays which clearly describe more complex ideas predict better college performance.
Agreed, ucb. Which is probably surprise to anyone.
^I understand, it’s just the way some of the sentences are worded.
And some of the analysis doesn’t mesh with what I know (ie., deeply personal essays would be more complex than general essays grappling with big ideas… because the average senior can’t write something original and fresh about a big idea, whereas they can, if they work at it, write a page and a half about themselves that is complex, deep, personal, sounds like them, and is thus unique. The sentences themselves may be quite simple, but the writing is powerful - which is why roboreaders have huge limits.)
Overall, yes, complex thinking and good writing are better predictors of college success than shallow thinking and mediocre writing, which will come as a huge surprise to anyone involved in college admissions or college education. 
Does the study take into account college essays that were written in binary?
Not that I did that, of course, but I did tell my parents that I should have 