How much do college essays really matter?

At the top 250 schools, your essays generally account for 25% of your overall application. This is only slightly behind the 30% for extracurriculars. Essays are actually ahead of the 20% for grades and coursework, 15% for test scores, and 10% for recommendations and interviews.

Does your college essay really matter?

As you can tell, college essays are very important for applicants hoping to get accepted into prestigious institutions. And if you are planning to apply to any colleges that are test optional or test blind, then the essay probably becomes more important, since schools have fewer data points to work with.

Do college essays make a big difference?

A well-written and thoughtful essay—reflecting who you are and what you believe—can go a long way to separating your application from the slew of forgettable ones that admissions officers read. Indeed, officers may rely on them even more now that many colleges are not considering test scores.

Do colleges actually read college essays?

Yes, admissions officers do actually read essays, but they might have already screened candidates first in a preliminary round. Every admissions office has a different process and it's impossible to sum up the exact step-by-step process for each admission office in one blog post.

Is it OK if my college essay is bad?

If a student's essay isn't great OR good, the admission officer will probably just skim past the essay and move right on to your transcript and your test scores to evaluate your candidacy for admission. Bad essays don't get read. Period.

Does Your College Essay Really Matter

Can a college essay hurt your chances?

Writing Generic Essays and Supplements

Writing supplements that lack authenticity or fail to address the unique qualities of the institution to which you're applying and how they align with your goals and interests will significantly hurt your chances of admission.

Is it OK to write a sad college essay?

While there's no definitive answer to whether or not sad college essays will work for every student, it's important to focus on presenting a well-written, genuine, and impactful story. If your "sad" topic is truly significant to your life and has shaped your character or values, then it might be a strong choice.

Are college essays more important than GPA?

The answer is your college essay. An opportunity to showcase your creative side, stand out, be more than just scores and grades, and most importantly tell your story.

Do college essays matter more than grades?

College essays are critical because the admissions committee at most institutions, particularly more selective colleges, want to know more about you beyond grades and test scores.

Are college essays more important than SAT?

Yet significantly more schools now consider essays important than give high weight to SAT or ACT scores, which since the start of the Covid pandemic have become optional at a majority of schools. NACAC reports just 5% of schools give scores considerable weight, with another 24% giving them moderate importance.

Is it OK to use first person in a college essay?

Not only is it fine to make “I” statements in your application essays, but colleges expect your essays to sound like you, too!

How bad is a typo in a college essay?

Take a breath and remember that college admissions officers, who have to read your whole file in a very short time, are not going to nit-pick over a minor error! They realize that applicants are 17-year-olds; a typo is not going to spell doom for your application.

Should you use first person in a college essay?

Using first-person pronouns (like 'I' and 'me') is absolutely fine when you're writing your college essay. In fact, it's encouraged because the essay is your opportunity to showcase your own voice and experiences.

What makes a college essay weak?

The main ways college essay topics go wrong is bad taste, bad judgment, and lack of self-awareness.

Why is college essays so hard?

Oftentimes, the reason writing the college essay is so difficult is because the student doesn't spend enough time picking the right topic before they start writing. Students look at the Common App essay prompts to generate ideas. And then they choose a topic that they spent mere moments thinking about.

How do I know if my college essay is good enough?

Can a good college essay make up for a bad GPA?

Your essays account for approximately 25% of your application — 5% more than your grades and coursework. So, if you meet the overall academic thresholds (including test scores) or have extenuating circumstances, you can offset a weaker GPA with strong essays.

Is it better to have a longer or shorter college essay?

For the Common App, try to stay within 550-650 words, even though the given range is 250-650. Any submission shorter than 500 words will make it look as though you simply didn't care enough to give your best effort. An essay shorter than 500 words won't be long enough to truly share who you are and what matters to you.

What grade do colleges look at the most?

Your first year and sophomore year affect your cumulative GPA, which is important to most colleges. However, a solid academic record in your junior year is likely to carry more importance with an admissions committee.

What GPA do most colleges prefer?

In general, admissions officers want to see more As than Bs, so having an unweighted GPA of above 3.5 can make a big difference. A GPA below 3.5 indicates to colleges that you have more Bs than As, and anything below 3.2 suggests that you may have some Cs in the mix, too, which will be a red flag for many schools.

How many essays do most colleges require?

On average, students write at least 20 college essays!

Almost all colleges require one personal statement essay and several supplemental essays on unique topics (like why you want to attend our school). Most students apply to 10-15 schools. That's actually closer to 30 essays!

How important are essays for Ivy League?

For Ivy League schools, you could argue that essays are even more important than for other universities. Since Ivies get incredibly high numbers of applicants, many of them have the strongest grades and the highest test scores. A stellar essay could distinguish you from other students.

Is it okay to trauma dump in college essays?

If a student does decide that they want to write about trauma in their essay, they should be cautious of how they frame it. Students should make it clear that their goal is not to seek sympathy from the admissions officer, but to demonstrate how they've grown from their trauma.

Is it OK to talk about death in college essay?

It is commonly said that students should avoid “the 5 Ds” when selecting a college essay topic: Death, Divorce, Disease (including Depression), Drugs, and Dating. This is not to say that these topics are not important or worthy of being written about.

Is name dropping bad in college essays?

It will only significantly increase the likelihood of rejection. Name dropping in college essays is one of the items on our checklist of things that will make rejection exceedingly likely. People don't like braggarts. People don't like people who are trying so hard to impress.