<p>I’m surprised to hear they’re eliminating “topic of your choice”, but I agree with what a lot of people are saying about essays in general. Essays are treated as sacred in the college admissions process, but they’re frankly somewhat ridiculous. It seems like rather than producing an interesting essay that describes who the student is, the focus has become all about being “unique” and “avoiding cliches”. Hey, University of Chicago wants 500 words about the taste of salmon? Can I relate this to the time I thought about a bird while tutoring inner-city schoolchildren? They’ve become pretty pointless and just another source of stress.</p>
<p>I don’t really like the idea of using SAT or ACT essays, though. I did badly on the SAT essay even though I’m a very good writer and have gotten As on all my papers and did very well on the AP essays. To me, the SAT essay doesn’t really test your ability to write, but your ability to provide a good answer to an SAT essay prompt. How about if colleges required a writing sample that a student did for one of their classes, with the grade? It would show how well a student could write, and each student could choose a piece that reflects their personality and their particular academic passions. It would show actual writing ability and allow the admissions office to compare the language skills of students from different schools.</p>
<p>To put it simply:
If you give me a few hours of solitude and silence, I will write you a shining and brilliant work of prose; give me a ticker, a room of manic adolescents, and enough pressure to give me a heart attack, and you might as well be eating dog **** when you read what I have. Give me only categories and you’re likely to receive an essay as personal, enlightening, and unique as this period. I want to go shopping for colleges, not essay prompts.</p>
<p>Only thing I can say is I’m happy to have made a narrow escape.</p>
<p>Seriously? In my opinion, the college essay is about showing admissions officers in what ways you are unique. Per definition, this uniqueness can take different forms; there’s a good chance that among 5 given essay prompts not one will be able to properly accommodate it. It is thus absolutely necessary that students be given the chance to write about a topic of their choice, guaranteeing that every single applicant is “permitted” to show what is outstanding about him or her.</p>
<p>In order to figure out what is unique about yourself, you need to sit down and think about it. This takes time. No plump SAT essay about some mundance and frivolous topic will enable applicants to reveal their innermost qualities. The thing is, the personal statement is not about showing your writing skills. Neither is it about the use of lots of “big words”. In the case of a college application essay, the eloquence of one’s writing is nothing but a means to convey a message - your message. To my mind, a good personal statement should make an admissions officer go: “That kid is going to make history. I want him.”</p>
<p>Frankly, if all college application essays are to transform into accounts of “the day we won the big game”, the essence of what they are actually about will be irrevocably lost. It is truly lamentable that today so many young adults seem to have no clue about what distinguishes them from others, or where their strenghts lie. Those who do, however, should be given the chance to express their uniqueness with no artificial topic restrictions imposed on their writing.</p>
<p>Actually, even when I edit my own essays, those essays do a freaking 180. And, trust me, it takes way more than 25 minutes for me to write a decent essay and edit it the way I want. It takes me maybe an hour.</p>
<p>If we were able to receive an hour in a room similar to that in the SAT for the application essay… I don’t think I would mind this quite as much. However, I’d also have to be able to type the essay. I recognize that not all people can type quickly, but I type about twice faster than I write - and more legibly, too - so we should be given a choice.</p>
<p>I’m currently in the midst of writing my college essays and it’s a pain, honestly. And I’m super glad to submit supplement-less apps. However, I do think it’s an opportunity to express myself and showcase my personality but I am not my grades, I am not those numerical indications that supposedly showcase my “potential” or “ability”. I think it’s incredibly limiting to take away the open-ended question. I think it would create even more generic and boring essays though you could argue that a student could always creatively respond to one of the outlined ones. I sorta took advantage of choice E and the open-ended option. </p>
<p>I scored incredibly low (not low as in 700 for some CCers around here) on the writing section of the SAT and I am know I am surely more capable than that. I think if a college were to focus solely on the wiring section as an indication of ability then it would only create a lot of discrepancies. The SAT (and probably standardized testing in general) is a test that caters to those who can afford to test prep for it. 20mins is not enough time to think, generate an argument, and then formulate some form of magnificence… on the first try! I have gone though at several drafts of my personal statement and I’m still doing my best to prefect it. I would probably agree with the suggestions of giving a longer time limit for a proctored writing session. I don’t think they would allow computer for typing though, sounds like too much resources and I don’t ever see them allowing students to bring their own. Though, I might be bias because I have to write with a pencil and paper to get my thoughts out.</p>
<p>I would be in favor of the SAT/ACT essay idea for the mere fact that, because of all the reasons outlined, the essay would be largely ignored! How much less stressful would the application process be if there were no additional essays to slave over? Can’t the interview portion serve as the “personal” or “unique” aspect of the application? I’d surely take rigorous, extended interviews that yield detailed reports of my personality/eloquence over tens of essays any day.</p>
<p>EDIT: Letters of recommendation also serve to outline unique aspects of the applicant and his/her personality. I think the essay component could be circumvented quite easily without sacrificing individuality.</p>
I disagree. If you want to get a good degree from a hyper-selective college, than you have to work A LOT harder than other colleges. Those who cheat and get in and are able to do well probably didn’t cheat much in the first place. but if you’re cheating everything and aren’t a hard worker, you’re screwed.</p>
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Writing style and voice can only be changed in extreme cases where others are heavily involved. I see no harm in someone making suggestions on topics or proofreading because in those situations it’s the writer who is still ultimately making all the choices and doing all the work.</p>
<p>anyone who thinks that students can successfully cheat on the essay doesn’t know much about writing. you can’t create a personal voice artificially. writing isn’t mathematics where you follow a certain formula and you get an amazing essay. yet following a certain formula is exactly what the SAT essay calls for. if someone else writes the student’s essay or edits it beyond recognition, you’ll be able to tell in most cases. and in all the other cases, you won’t get a good essay. in order to produce a voice, you have to do some proper soul searching, otherwise you’ll come off as shallow, not genuine. writing ability isn’t measured by how big the words are or how well the grammar is or how it’s “what adcoms are looking for.” if you’re going just for the last point and not focusing on anything else, you’re not going to get a good, reflective essay.</p>
<p>how well you write your SAT essay measures how fast you can write and how well you can write given an artificial formula. it doesn’t measure ability, much less voice. there’s no “show, don’t tell” in it. they might as well replace the application essays with a math test.</p>
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students have little power over their recommendations. not everyone has the best teachers or gets along with their teachers on a level needed for the teachers to really know who they are.</p>
<p>the only good thing about this is that they got rid of “topic of your choice.” personally, I think it confuses students rather than helping them. its easier to come up with an essay when you’re choices are limited.</p>
<p>Hey guys, I’m a reporter for The Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn’s student newspaper. I’m working on an article about the new Common App essay questions, and I was hoping for some prospective student input. What do you guys think of the new essay questions? Email me at <a href=“mailto:mamic@sas.upenn.edu”>mamic@sas.upenn.edu</a> if you’d like to be quoted.</p>
<p>Noo!! Never scrap the essay!
Sorry to be melodramatic, but I am pretty much counting on my essays for top schools because my SAT is sub-par (2100) for them.
I have always been told that I am an excellent writer. When I showed my essay to my English teacher, she barely changed anything (deleted two words, switched another one). And yet, I can never understand how I got an 8 on my SAT essay when my teacher gave me twelve on a practice one.
I know now that it’s mainly due to panic and stress. As my History teacher said to my mom, I will thrive in college because I like to take my time and perfect my essays. I definitely get much higher grades in at-home assignments than I do during time-restricted tests.</p>
<p>Gah! I did the topic of your choice this year so I’m happy I wasn’t born a year later! I didn’t show mine to anyone, but the person who interviewed me for an onsite admission told me mine was very good. :)</p>
<p>Get rid of the essay on the common ap. Don’t bother with the SAT essay on the common ap either, they have the score. And as others have said, a timed essay that follows a formula is not likely to be helpful to an admission committee. Individual schools that feel the essay is important will continue to require supplements that include an essay. </p>
<p>I feel as though even without the choose your own topic essay, there is still a broad array of topics to choose to write about. And I would argue, in my inconsequential opinion, that the removal of the topic doesn’t necessarily stifle creativity. It may even encourage creativity. Giving students the opportunity to write about anything may prevent them from coming up with creative ways to present information that colleges find important.</p>
<p>I can compare 3 kids I know well on how they did on the ACT essay. My son is not such a great writer (I mean relative to his strengths in math and sciences). So I made sure he practiced in the year between the 2 times he took the ACT. His score improved from 8 to 10 which we decided was good enough. His 2 friends practiced with him once. Both are excellent writers. One friend, I would say, is a superb writer. I saw same mind blowing samples from her. She is also a great test taker with near perfect SAT and perfect ACT scores. Her first ACT essay score was 8! After some practice, she managed to get a 9 and stopped trying at that time. The second friend got 12 on the essay both times. A good thing is that those essays do measure some trait consistently. But what is this trait? Why this extraordinary talented girl could not earn a better score? I saw her practice essay. She tries to write too much and ends up not finishing her thoughts. She simply needs more than 30 minutes. Anyways, I am sure her college essays were outstanding.</p>
<p>As far as replacing the take-home essay with a longer timed one, I think it still won’t get a more expressive “me.” Some people get tongue-tied and go blank when speaking in front of a room of people. That’s what I’m like when I have to write under pressure.</p>