Application essays and college writing

sly_vt
Sat, 24 Feb 2007 16:22:02 +0000

“Is the college application essay a good gauge of what constitutes good writing at the college level?”

No. A college application essay is a personal essay, a la Anna Quindlen, as opposed to a research paper, lab report or literary analysis, which is the type of writing done at college. Some colleges require the submission of a graded writing piece (not creative writing) with the application – I think that’s a great idea, and more colleges should do that.

I’m just guessing here, but I imagine that sometimes an amazing essay will push a kid into the “accept” pile, that horribly written essays could be a factor in denial, but that the vast majority of essays play little role in the final decision but just affirm the information in the rest of the application.

I’ve taught writing at many different educational levels, and have concluded that writing is very difficult for many kids. Some have the gift, but many do not. It is like many other skills (playing piano, tennis or knitting) – you get much better with practice. But no matter how much I practice I will never play tennis as well as Serena Williams.

Since college is a place to learn, I would hope that kids learn to become better writers in college.

Of course, one could argue that the type of writing done at college does not always reflect the type of writing done after graduation.