College Admissions

College Admissions Since the admissions committee is reading hundreds of essays, it’s your job to move them, make them laugh, and force them to realize that they need you at their institution. Your essay should exemplify the manner in which you think. Instead of basing your character off of grades and standardized test scores, the essay provides the reader with a sense of your personality and views from your perspective. Imagine an admissions counselor reading that in your college essay. While it seems like an interesting story, the excerpt above is a complete lie. For a small college, there is a chance that you essay will only be read by a couple of individuals, but for a larger school it can make its way through several hands before being put down. While essays don’t weigh as much as grades or course selection, if you are applying test-optional or to a smaller school, more attention will be given to this section of the application. You can be certain that you did not spend all that time crafting the perfect essay in vain. How much weight a college puts on that portion of the application may differ. Just how many readers digest your words can vary as well. Still, don’t waste the opportunity to put another dimension on your application file. Usually one to two admissions officers read an essay. Some colleges will choose only to look at your GPA, Course Rigor and SAT/ACT scores. If you GPA and Test Scores are high enough, they may not feel that and essay is necessary. (And keep you from writing a panicked, 20-page dissertation about your relationship with your dog). So even though there's no word limit, they'd like somewhere in the 4-10 pages range. High school students are not usually writing papers that are longer than 10 pages anyways, so that isn't very limiting. Some campuses have a pool of reviewers, while others are more specific. The essay should be in the student’s voice and parent’s are not always the best advisors for this part of the application. The college is learning about you from what you write. But, if they start writing the essay know that the college may very well determine that the work was not yours. Is your parent going to write your essays that are assigned by professors while you are in college? The college cares how you write not how your parent writes unless they are also applying to the same college as you. I recommend that students try to find an adult other than their parents to help with essay editing. Each student needs to be able to claim authentic ownership of their essays. Mom and Dad may be great help during the brainstorming process of generating essay topics. Your essays are necessarily a reflection of your mind, and the admissions officers want to know that you have the “soft skills” to excel in their program. Rest assured that admissions officers do, in fact, read your essays. Also, admissions officers view them as an important part of your application. No matter how qualified you are, you can kill your chances with a bad essay. On the other hand, if you are minimally qualified or even if something fall bellows the minimum, like your test scores, the essay can be your chance for redemption. While it is okay to have a parent proof an essay, they are not always the best option. Asking someone who is slightly more removed from the application process may be the wisest route to go. While parents mean well, any constructive feedback may be misinterpreted, creating conflict at what can already be a stressful time. Teachers, guidance counselors, even friends are viable candidates when looking for a second opinion on your writing. College courses have high writing standards, and most professors who assign essays have lofty expectations for those essays. Instructors can be rather difficult to please and their reputation is well-known on campus, striking fear into the hearts of students who are committed to getting good grades. Join thousands of students & parents learning about finding the right college, admissions secrets, scholarships, financial aid, and more. The reader should never think about fact checking what you’ve written. Your essay should be genuine and based on fact, not fiction. You don’t have to pull out all the stops to impress the reader, you just have to be authentic and creative. There should be no mention of how miraculous your life is and how profound you can be. Additionally, these types of essays frequently present the student as some type of savior, who is privileged enough to spend the money to fly and participate in an activity overseas. Just remember that brevity is a mark of good writing. As much as you might be convinced that you can't possibly unleash your full essay potential without a few extra paragraphs, the truth is that you need fewer words than you think you do. Good writers do a lot of editing and rewriting to say more with fewer words. If you really can't find any length guidelines anywhere on the admissions website and you're at a loss, I advise calling the admissions office. They may not be able to give you an exact number (in fact, they probably won't), but they will probably at least be able to tell you how long most of the essays they see are.