On Writing The College Application Essay, 25th Anniversary Edition

On Writing The College Application Essay, 25th Anniversary Edition Keep in mind that every college is different and individual admission officers may be influenced by different factors. With that said, the Essay is dying a quick death. Most schools fall in the “just don’t care” box at this point. Having at least one essay score is helpful in case a student decides to apply to a Required college, but it is unlikely to play a role at Optional colleges. We contacted Miami, and they are still maintaining that it is required for placement. Given their testing page, I find it hard to believe that they are rejecting students for not having an essay score. We will be leaving it up, however, until we get clearer guidance from the school. If you pair good college choices with good applications and essays, you’re likely to be happy with your results. 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. You can’t make it in college if you can’t write. At any point in time during your college education, you’ll probably have one or more papers to write for your classes. Colleges would be irresponsible to offer you a place in their program if you do not have the basic skills needed to succeed. Also, we know that the 25th-75th percentiles scores at the most competitive colleges are 8-10, so your essay score should not be a concern. 8 falls within the 25th-75th range of enrolled students at even Berkeley and UCLA. The admissions officer reads to determine if they should offer you one spot out of probably relatively very few. Many applicants will have high GPA’s and SAT scores, volunteer in a local organization, or be the president of a club or captain of a sports team. Admissions officers are looking for something, anything, to distinguish your essay from the pile. Mom and Dad may be great help during the brainstorming process of generating essay topics. Parents may know other details about the student that they should include in the essay. Parents are also a great second pair of eyes for grammar and spelling errors. The essay needs to be a reflection of the student’s creativity, writing ability and personality; not the parent. 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. I would still suggest that a English professional still read over the essay for expert editing purposes. However, parents should not try to change the voice of the student, which can be difficult to refrain from. The admissions officers reads as 1 out of 1000’s and possibly even 10,000 or more. Your English teacher reads your essay to assign one grade out of many. I recommend that students try to find an adult other than their parents to help with essay editing. Parents are blinded by love and perhaps perfection. Each student needs to be able to claim authentic ownership of their essays. The did say that a single test with an essay is fine. They are so different that they can’t really be compared.