<p>So, I had sent in my application about a week ago, and after reading my personal statements for the millionth time, I am starting to feel that my essays could've been written much better. The content is there, but I am suddenly finding all these revisions to my essays that I had not seen just a week before. </p>
<p>I have been told, and have read, many times, that UCs (and I am assuming many colleges) do not look at how the essays are written, but look primarily at the content. I just wanted to confirm (Being the paranoid student that I am) if this is true. It would be especially great if I could get feedback from someone who has been accepted into a UC with my situation, or a parent of a UC student, etc.</p>
<p>First, relax. There is nothing to do about it now.</p>
<p>You don’t say you were making poor grammatical and spelling errors, so do you just mean it could be better? I won’t say they don’t notice how it is written, I think they do expect good writing, but</p>
<p>Here is what UC says:
Your personal statement is important! Write it early, then have family, counselors, and friends review and give feedback. And, remember its a Personal Statement it is about you. It is not an English essay. Admission staff want to learn about you. What you did and why; what you learned and how you applied what you learned to aspects of your life. Use I statements did this, I chose to do that, I learned about . . . . Write it, rewrite it and write it again it’s your one opportunity to ensure we get to know you</p>
<p>My understanding is that the EC essays are different from other college application essays in that (despite what they post online) content really does count a heck of a lot more than style. The UC readers are looking for specific elements, such as overcoming adversity. If those elements are included, then your essay is going to be worth something, no matter how badly it’s written.</p>
<p>This is, however, NOT true of other colleges . . . so do some work on those essays before you submit them anywhere else! :)</p>
<p>Does this hold true for even the “upper” UCs like Berkeley? They would take a factual yet rigid essay over one that delivers the content with flair and nuance?</p>
<p>Well, see, Berkeley is more in line with schools like the elite privates, and so you probably will have to do both in order to impress them (which you have to do with the elite privates too).</p>
<p>Remember, your essays are your chance for the admissions to know you. Remember UCs get no rec letters, so the essays are even more important.</p>
<p>I’ve read a lot of essays over the past few months. How much editing are we talking about? The reason I ask is because style DOES make a difference in the overall presentation ( feel / tone) of the essay. It’s not like they will penalize you directly for not having the best writing style BUT it will indirectly effect how strong your statement is. How much really depends on how much editing you want to do.</p>