Your essay sucks.

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>" The point is that Caltech's applicant pool has a proportionately larger amount of people who score 800 on Math SAT IIs, especially since the applicant pool is probably more self-selective than Harvard's and also proportionately more math/science-inclined than Harvard's. Add to that the fact that Math IIC 800s are pretty common to begin with, and you have why during one year Caltech's freshmen all have 800 on that test--not because they place <em>that</em> much emphasis on test scores, but because so many applicants have that score, it happened by chance."</p>

<p>I would bet that there's a large overlap in Caltech and Harvard's admission pools. Harvard doesn't fill its class with students scoring 800 on the M part of the SAT because Harvard isn't as stat-centered as is Caltech. Essays and ECs probably count for more at Harvard.</p>

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<p>Harvard isn't as focused on science and math as Caltech is. Caltech isn't the place for would-be humanities majors; it's for you if you're great at math. And if you're good at math, the SAT II ought to be a piece of cake. Especially since you can miss about five problems and still get an 800. Doubtless the overlap between MIT and Caltech is much greater.</p>

<p>There's enough math/sci geniuses out there that Caltech could build multiple classes with qualified applicants. I don't see how its admissions process ought to be more "numbers-driven" than Harvard. How could it not face the same problem as places like HYP, with so many applicants with identical test scores and GPAs? How could it also not care about essays and recommendations?</p>

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<p>I go to a big school and my teachers liked me alot, but I doubt they added 'personal anecdotes'. They checked good to great boxes, which they told me, but I can't see what they wrote. Most of the things I care about (politics) take place out of school or in activites unrelated to my academic teachers. You can see why my chemistry teachers rec, for example, doesn't have much personalization. My teacher mentioned how I helped my friends in class, I'm a quick learner, I'm funny etc. but nothing really unique probably. I was told these things were mentioned, and I was happy to hear it. Also, our classes are huge, so getting good grades is one of the only ways to stand out. How else can someone stand out by recommendation? I think rec's are to show personality and intelligence, but not on a very deep level.</p>

<p>Oh, and what is wrong with words like 'diligent' in a recommendation?</p>

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<p>The hope would be that you have made yourself stand out in class AND beyond. For instance, I got my recs (I'm a freshman at Stanford) from my junior year Analysis teacher, my U.S. history (junior year) and Contemporary World(soph year) teacher, and an optional one from my theatre teacher. </p>

<p>I struggled in my Analysis class. I got C's on 75% of the tests. I went in every single Tuesday after school and got help from my teacher until I understood what was going on. I got borderline A-s both semesters. But by the end of the year, my teacher knew me, and how hard I worked. He also knew things about my life outside of math because when you're sitting in a classroom till everyone else who wants help is gone there's always some amount of outside discussion. He also reccomended I take AP CompSci my senior year and I took him up on it, even though I had absolutely no experience. </p>

<p>My history teacher was from the one subject I never took an advanced class in. I HATED history. But when I had him sophomore year I worked extremely hard for his class, and junior year his class was my rest time (after lunch, you know how it is). But he was a vibrant person, who my friend and I would stay after class to talk to, about our current projects in theatre, about the world, anything. So while being academically capable in his class wasn't anything special, he knew me on a more personal level.</p>

<p>Lastly, the nice thing about my optional rec was that I lived in the theatre from January freshman year till I graduated. My theatre teacher had seen me grow from bumbling actor/dancer into reasonably good actor, commanding stage manager, and aspiring director. And my essay was focused on what I wanted to do with theatre. </p>

<p>I never got so much as a glance at my recs, but it doesn't matter. The point is that it IS possible to stand out, even with classes of 30+ kids, with teachers who teach 100+ kids.</p>

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<p>"I would bet that there's a large overlap in Caltech and Harvard's admission pools. Harvard doesn't fill its class with students scoring 800 on the M part of the SAT because Harvard isn't as stat-centered as is Caltech. Essays and ECs probably count for more at Harvard."</p>

<p>There would be a large overlap, but those would be the math/science students. I bet Caltech's average Math IIC score of their applicants are higher than that of Harvard's simply because Caltech's applicants would be more math/science inclined. Personally I wouldn't be surprised if all (or almost all) the prospective math/physics students at Harvard had a 800 IIC, and since Caltech is filled with great math/science students, that's why so many would have an 800. I think it has less to do with Caltech being so focused on test scores and more to do with the nature of the applicants in general. </p>

<p>Caltech's male to female ratio is roughly 2:1. Does that mean Caltech likes to admit boys more than Harvard does? No, it just means that in the applicant pool, the qualified people tend to be males, simply because of the types of applicants Caltech attracts.</p>

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<p>"Oh, and what is wrong with words like 'diligent' in a recommendation?"</p>

<p>"Diligent" often is used as a code word for a student who gets good grades because the student works excessively hard to give the teacher exactly what the teacher wants. "Diligent" may be viewed as meaning a student lacks things like creativity, a passion for learning and brilliance.</p>

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<p>When Michele A. Hernandez worked at Dartmouth, she noted that over 90% of the essays she read were just plain bad ... see A is for Admission. She also noted the challenges students faced when they tried to put their entire lives into one essay ... which they often tried to do. Obviously ... that doesn't work so well for an essay-writing strategy. </p>

<p>Anyway, Dartmouth doesn't have a sub 10% acceptance rate. Clearly, a significant number of people with not-so-great essays are/were being accepted. I think things like love of learning, academic potential, and academic achievement are far more important than the essay.</p>

<p>See these statements by Richard Sorensen, former Assistant Director of Admissions at Harvard with more than 30 years of experience in college admissions work. Sorensen is a graduate of Harvard College and a Rhodes Scholar.</p>

<p>"After completing ThickEnvelope’s Application, you might ask why there’s nothing about the essay. Why not? Because the essay is not as important as advertised. The overwhelming majority of student essays make little impact on bleary-eyed admissions officers. They’ve seen too many about the soup kitchen epiphany. In the most recent admissions cycle at a famous Ivy League college across the Charles River from Boston, half of the essays went left unread."</p>

<p>"Only rarely will a truly superb essay – a compelling narrative about a uniquely personal experience in which the writer’s understanding of life changes – tip a marginal applicant into the admit pile, but not if an admissions officer suspects professional editing help. Sometimes a really bad essay – one that is incoherent or displays an unseemly amount of ego – can keep you out."</p>

<p>The director of admissions at Duke noted in US News and World Report how vulnerable essays were to professional editing and outside writing. It was often hard to tell who actually wrote the thing, in his view. Applicants that come from the scions of investment bankers can probably afford to have their essay written for them, by any number of trained professionals.</p>

<p>I think many people would say that the essay is an extraordinarily unreliable indicator for admissions. People will often have very different opinions about an essay. An admissions officer may not interpret the essay in the way you intend it to be read.</p>

<p>It counts, and obviously, everyone should put their best foot forward on it. An essay should jive with the rest of your file, but almost every former admissions officer that has written on the subject has said that the essay is not all it's cracked up to be. One former admissions officer, Rachel Toor of Duke, wrote that the only reason she stressed the essay in information sessions because it was the only thing that the applicant could really do anything about at that point. Everything else was a measure of previous achievment. Her book showed that the vast majority of applicants recieved the same rating on the essay, a "3", or "average". Admitted students did not seem to recieve higher essay ratings than denied students. In fact, the thing that was most consistent between each application she discussed was the essay. The huge majority seemed to have 3's.</p>

<p>Just my thoughts on the essay. Yes, it matters. No, I would not have a cow over it.</p>

<p>Joey</p>

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<p>"Just my thoughts on the essay. Yes, it matters. No, I would not have a cow over it."</p>

<p>Jprencipe,
I thought your post contained lots of valuable info. The only point on which I disagree is the above. Because elite college admissions are so difficult and because small factors can make the difference between an admit and a rejection, candidates should "have a cow" over their essays. An excellent essay or an essay that highlights a factor that the college is looking for may be exactly what tips a candidate in.</p>

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<p>Well .. my question would be, how do we know what a college is looking for?</p>

<p>I think a candidate should certainly go out of their way to highlight the unique aspects of their personality and experience. If you construct a well-written essay that highlights a unique and defining passion or experience you have, then you've put any college in a good position to see how you fit into their well-rounded class. I believe that's the essay's most important function - to show how you think, and what makes you tick.</p>

<p>I believe most of the time you spend on your essay should be thinking, writing, and revising, rather than over-editing. Certainly, editing is very important, but developing the core of the essay is most important. An over-edited essay about a trite subject will not stand out, whereas a slightly rougher essay about a unique part of you will shine much more.</p>

<p>Joey</p>

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<p>Joey, your figure is interesting. Maybe Dartmouth accepts everyone with a great essay, athletes and legacies! The numbers work.</p>

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<p>Essays don't immediately go from just plain bad to great. Surely there must be some gradient.</p>

<p>I imagine it works like this - lowest on the line are the poorly written essays about trite topics. Next come the well written essays about trite topics. Then come reasonably written essays about unique topics. At the top of the heap are unique essays that are very well written.</p>

<p>The "just plain bad" essays usually fall into the first category. Most smart people applying can at least write a well-written essay, even if it is about a trite topic. Writing a unique essay, especially one that is very well-written, is a much more difficult task.</p>

<p>Joey</p>

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<p>ahhh, so thats why diligent is bad. I guess I'm worried because I never went out of my way to be friends with my teachers on a more personal level. However, they both enjoyed my presence in class etc.</p>

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<p>Caltech doesnt look at essays much, it IS very numbers oriented. The only thing they give more weightage to is National and international olympiads.</p>

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<p>See ... diligent on the surface means that you do all of your work on time and that you're a good student. Teachers may intend to praise a student's work ethic with this word, but almost no student who is a "best in career/best this year" will have that said about them. This is because diligent implies that a student is not intellectual, and that the student probably adds almost no insight to class discussions. Highly selective colleges are looking to create a stimulating environment, in which merely "diligent" students probably aren't well suited for.</p>

<p>Joey</p>

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<p>i think diligent is a compliment, though the vast majority of students applying to the ivies are more than diligent. also, i agree with the bit about the quality of essays. if what youre writing about isnt substantial or worth anything, its not going to stand out</p>

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<p>" Most smart people applying can at least write a well-written essay, even if it is about a trite topic. "</p>

<p>At the elites, this probably will count as a negative. "Trite" does not sound like something written by someone with excellent analytical skills. Sounds more second tier.</p>

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<p>I also am one who think the essay is overrated. If you've ever looked at an essay sample book, which contain essays from the most elite colleges, you'll see that not all of them are that good. This is because different people have different expectations for an essay. When one might think one essay is creative, another may find it artificial and BS'ed. Personally, I find a lot of the "abnormal" essay that could be deemed very creative and well written to be quite artificial, as it more reflects a skill of the applicant rather than the person. Not everyone wants to be a creative or personal writer.</p>

<p>I think for even the most elite colleges, an essay that isn't overly bad is good enough. I would be surprised if more than 10% of the acceptees were accepted solely because their essays tipped them over. </p>

<p>That seems to be my impression but of course, NO ONE REALLY KNOWS. </p>

<p>As for the side discussion that's going on, I think diligent is a compliment, just not a very high compliment. It certainly is not a bad thing. So I think a diligent genius is not any worse than a plain genius.</p>

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<p>" Most smart people applying can at least write a well-written essay, even if it is about a trite topic. "</p>

<p>At the elites, this probably will count as a negative. "Trite" does not sound like something written by someone with excellent analytical skills. Sounds more second tier.</p>

<p>I meant trite in terms of the topic itself. The word I used may not have had the effect I intended. Perhaps the essay showed the applicant to be a careful observer and a deft writer, even if they wrote about something more ... common. </p>

<p>For example, music as an essay topic is rather common. But someone can write poorly about music, or someone can write about something original to their experience. For example, a writer can write a common essay about the abstract joys of music. That will probably not help his case. But another applicant can use music as a window into the way their mind works - showing the way he approaches learning music, and giving the reader insight into his specific interpretation of a certain type of music (just for the purpose of creating an example). The topic is the same - and it's an arguably common one. Yet I'd argue that one essay writer would make a much better impression on the admissions committee than the other.</p>

<p>I more meant trite as "repeated too often", as in, a topic that was perhaps repeated too often. I did not mean to refer to trite metaphors, or a trite writing style.</p>

<p>Joey</p>

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<p>There's something I still don't understand. If many applicants have the same or similar stats and colleges don't really care that much about the essay, then how does an applicant stand out among the masses? How does he/she show that he/she has a passion for learning if they can not show how through their essay? It just isn't clear to me how to show who your are as a student and a person to the admissions staffs. Could someone clarify this for me? Thanks.</p>

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<p>I agree. When I read "Excellent essay" I don't believe it. I disregard it. They should tell us what exactly they said in their essay.</p>