Would a change in an apps essay be disastrous?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Georgetown University
1

<p>Hi everyone, thanks for your time in advance.
I'm applying for MSB. I originally wrote a 1400-word essay for the extracurricular activities topic.</p>

<p>I'm an immigrant from a communist country. Due to my family's political relations in our native country, we went through difficulties under governmental regulations. The essay is about my internship at a human rights/politically-oriented U.S. media organization, how this experience led to a reflection on my childhood experiences, and inspired the development of a new political ideology. Specific details in the essay are quite heavy; I was confident that I was writing about a very unique experience.</p>

<p>But after some research, I found out that most people sent in about half a page for that topic. Though I was very happy with my original essay, I didn't want to appear disrespectful to the admission officers, so I tried my best to shortened the essay: it became half of its original length (approx. 1 page) before I sent it in for EA.</p>

<p>My original essay thoroughly explains the controls that support my thesis and led to my conclusion. I can't say I was very happy with the shortened essay - it is now a bit superficial because my controls seems underdeveloped: i.e., it sounds more like I pulled ideas from academic journals than I came up with the ideas myself. I deleted a lot of concrete facts and details explaining the stream of thought that led to my conclusion.</p>

<p>After the EA deadline, I showed the original essay to a family friend, who is an English teacher at one of Maryland's top private schools. He said it was the "absolute best, most original" college essay he has ever read, and asked me to call Georgetown so I can send in my 1400-word original essay.</p>

<p>I'm still considering...
But just in case - is it possible for me to email the admissions office and ask to substitute one of my essays? Has anyone ever done it? I really hope that it wouldn't negatively impact my application...</p>

<p>Thanks a lot!</p>

2

<p>Whether or not you get the essays ‘switched’, a 1400-word essay will probably not be read in its entirety. It’s simply too long</p>

3

<p>1400 words is definitely too long, but if the essay is compelling and keeps the reader’s attention, then they may read it. At the very least, I do not think you will be rejected on this sole factor. I have heard of people sending in what I consider to be obscenely long essays and still getting accepted to prestigious schools.</p>

4

<p>thank you!
i thought it over again today, and read over my revised essay. it just… doesn’t convey even 60% of what i originally intended to say. So I guess I will send in my veryy long version after all. Adults who read it all said it was very impressive and compelling, so I have a reasonable amount of confidence in it. I will also include a 2-sentences note at the end, explaining that I originally sent in a shorter version according to the requirements, but it does not fully represent my ideas; also, the shorter version contains sensitive political information regarding my family, which i would like to exclude in the long version.</p>

<p>Thank you for your time! Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated, I will probably send it in on Friday or Thursday just to see if there are any other comments.</p>