I went to a college admissions program put on jointly by admissions staff from NYU, Columbia, Barnard, and Fordham, at Barnard, in 2004. It was structured exactly like the one TiggyB62 describes.
My kids attend(ed) single sex private schools. Both are rigorous, college prep, relatively expensive (and thus primarily UMC) schools for this region of the country. Neither has hosted anything similar as far as an “admissions night”. Both schools provide plenty of one on one counseling for college application/selection. Here though, a really bright kid may apply to one or two Ivys or the like as reaches and then some selection of larger state schools, schools like Case, Carnegie Mellon, Denison, etc. I think I know one kid who applied to all of the Ivys and a handful of other “most selective” schools. It is just not part of the culture here.
My supposition is that many of the things we hear about on this board are geographically driven as much as anything. I similarly assume that ad coms understand that “essay boot camp”, private college counselors, private tutors for the SAT, etc are not really a thing in large parts of the country.
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I really hate when CC-ers act as though the whole country is affluent suburbia.
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Ha, I would like to think that I live in a pretty affluent suburbia.
There are 2 college counselors in our high school for 400+ seniors.
Either I am deluding myself about being affluent or my tax dollars are not being put to good use. :o)
(probably both)
We did hire a private counselor for our kids just to put some distance between us and them during the (stressful) college application process. Must say that it was the best $1500 spent. I remembered on time overhearing my kid skyping her counselor regarding proof-reading her essay - the counselor was not impressed with my kid’s essay about making a spaghetti meal with the family. The counselor did not see how topic could tie in with my kid’s academic (or lack there of) achievements. Being an introvert push-over, my kid agreed to change the topic and to rewrite a new essay. For the next two weeks, she could not come up with anything meaningful So, I think my kid ended up submitting her original essay about spaghetti making. Well, at least, it is not about making some last second heroic clutch shot or building some homeless shelter in Iraq.
I haven’t read the full discussion, but most of the comments I’ve seen about essays imply they are treated in a similar way at all colleges. In the NACAC survey of college admissions departments, different colleges said essays had a tremendously different degree of importance in admissions decisions. A good portion said essays have considerable importance in their admissions decisions, and a good portion say they have no importance. A similar number of colleges ranked essays at all degrees of importance in admissions decisions, giving it more variability in importance than any other admissions category. The “elite colleges” that have been the focus of this thread generally say essays are quite important, although comments from admissions officers are quite varied. For example, a rep from an unnamed top LAC said,
“It was the files in the messy middle of each year’s applicant pool, whose numbers made them neither obvious “admits” nor clear “denies,” that got more extensive attention. Yet even in these middling cases, personal essays rarely got even cursory attention from admissions officers. There were simply too many files to consider in too small a time frame, and too many other evaluative factors that mattered much more.”
While a rep from from an unnamed “leading school” went so far as to estimate that 50% of the admissions decision is based on essays. A Harvard rep said.
"while looking at their perfect SAT scores and looking at their straight A records and reading the list of items on their resumes - those can be impressive, But the essay is really the one piece, along with what teachers say about a student, that can be the most compelling and most exciting. Those are the things that we usually end up sharing with the admission committee when we’re discussing, and making cases to accept applicants. The essay is usually the first thing that goes up on the screen, we say ‘Look at this kid, look at this thing he or she wrote.’ "
I’d expect that in general, essays are an important factor in admissions decisions at “elite colleges” that have a holistic focus. However, this does not mean a stellar essay is not going to make up for an academically unqualified applicant. Instead it is taken in context of the full application to help get a feel for what type of writer and what type of person the applicant is, among other things, both of which can be influential to the decision.
The “AND” can really help.
The 2018 Caltech Class Profile: https://www.admissions.caltech.edu/content/class-profile
includes admitted students that:
“Plays mandolin in a bluegrass trio”
“Did shark conservation work in Belize”
“Is a hula dancer and outrigger canoe paddler”
What he said. And I’ve seen this consistently for 10 years. Those who ask the most often and try self-consciously to communicate it never had it to begin with.
Just remember, folks, that correlation does not equal causation. Assumptions that a student achieved an admission because of an essay, specifically – and an essay which supposedly triumphed over applicants who were both quantitatively and qualitatively superior – are doubtful assumptions.
Most parents and students tend to look upon the process from the perspectives of hopeful parents (or parents merely trying to understand) and eager students trying to please. The student wrote a quirky essay, a creative essay, a bold essay. Voila! That must be it. But do you understand that the college holds the cards and The House always has the advantage? I’m not discounting the additional value that an insightful personal essay can contribute, nor the comments of various admissions officers recounting their own ooh-ing and ahh-ing. However, know this: The priority of every elite college is to stay in that category. It is an academic category, not a category of cuteness. If they were so foolish as to fill their STEM departments with frustrated creative writers, those colleges would soon lose their ranks, not to mention their appeal to applicants and faculty.
The personal essay is a minor “and.” For the most part, essay comparisons are distinctions – not major differences which would ever compromise the institution’s claim to academic excellence. Such a risk would not be taken for the sake of cuteness or weirdness – yes even CalTech with its question about “weird fun” (and the implication that if you’re not weird enough for us, we don’t want you).
Like the interview, the aim of the personal essay from the student’s perspective is to Stay Alive – and if possible, more than that, of course. Neither say nor write anything likely to categorize you as superficial, pretentious, unoriginal, bored, jaded, mean-spirited, or lacking in self-knowledge. It has to be placed in proportion to everything else in the application, and I guarantee you that the essay is not the primary consideration. However, I think many otherwise very well-informed and astute parents tend to elevate its importance beyond that just because they view admissions as “not totally logical” from whatever vantage point they’re coming. And not just with regard to one’s own S or D (“can’t figure out why he/she did/didn’t get admitted”). They got admitted because they were exceptionally qualified {on all measures) for that particular college & department, and were curious enough about knowledge and the world to communicate that, combined with adding variety to the campus experience for the student body as a whole. They didn’t get admitted “because” they were “weird.”
epiphany- well put.
^no one said that the essay is the “and” or the primary consideration. No one said that kids achieved admission because of an essay, specifically, or that an essay can supposedly triumph over applicants who were both quantitatively and qualitatively superior.
Lots of posters implied it, and it has been implied for about the 11 years I’ve been on CC. Or at least more hypothetical weight has been put on it from various quarters, and every year, than merits that weight.
As I touched on earlier, it depends on the college. At some colleges essays are a minor component to admissions decision. At other colleges, they are more significant. For example, Sarah Lawrence’s CDS marks essays as more important than grades, test scores, ECs , etc. The admission section of Sarah Lawrence’s website also makes it sound like essays are one of the most important, if not the most important criteria for admission, stating:
“We believe that outstanding essays and answers to application questions, along with solid secondary school transcripts, form the foundation for a Sarah Lawrence education. Your counselor and teacher recommendations also provide us…”
The admissions committee discussions at http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/65135/ also seem consistent with the CDS and website emphasis on essays, with comments such as:
"high-school grading systems vary, so to make up for that, Sarah Lawrence’s committee uses a sample essay graded by a high-school teacher to determine the curriculum’s rigor. "
…
"She hadn’t gotten one A in high school. “But her writing was gorgeous,” he noted. The girl explained in her application that she has test anxiety and problems with rote memorization. But she had good recommendation letters. Besides, Sarah Lawrence’s curriculum emphasizes writing over test-taking. She got in. "
Obviously, most colleges have very different admissions policies than Sarah Lawrence and do not place the same degree of emphasis on writing (particularly for engineering applicants and such), but Sarah Lawarence is far from the only college that treats essays as more than just a minor component of admissions decisions.
It seems that this thread has morphed into a debate about the importance of essays. Uniqueness (the “AND”) can also be conveyed in the activity list or in letters of recommendation.
The main point is that among the thousands of qualified candidates, you want to distinguish yourself in some way (actually in ANY way) that makes hands go up in the room when a vote is being cast by the admissions officers at the table. You want them to think “I want THAT kid on our campus.”
It seems more authentic, actually, if a guidance counselor or a teacher writes about your amazing talent/interests, rather than addressing them yourself in a personal essay.
Again, ANDs are not some checklist sort of bullets that can be used in marketing promos (beekeeper, hula dancer.) They reflect the qualitative assets.
Most kids applying to the elites (I don’t think Sarah Lawrence fits into the level of competition of a Yale or Swat) are top performers, have some good ECs. Yes, kid after kid with 4.0, good enough scores, in a tough enough curriculum. This is a process of elimination. There is no section where Harvard or Stanford are willing to cut much slack. They don’t have to.
You don’t “stay alive” in the process because you do some activity no one else does, did it longer, nor won an award few do, have a hard luck tale. (I barely even understand that thinking.) That may get some momentary attention, but staying alive is when, on top of your academics, you show the attributes they want- maturity, perspective, judgment, the self awareness, good will, flexibility and more. The Activities section shows some of that, (in that it reflects decisions made,) but adcoms don’t guess, “Oh, beekeeper, must be intellectually curious.” It’s the college app and you either show what they need to see or you don’t. It’s your vehicle, your moment on stage. The savvy kids don’t discount some aspect of the app because someone else told them it doesn’t matter or that juggling on a unicycle would make them “stand out” and that’s enough to make it to the final round. Or someone says their hard luck tale will stick in a reader’s mind. Instead, they think.
Maybe it’s good to keep in mind Urena’s comment about turning the 40%into 14%.
Sorry, but this idea some kid can get oh-so-much discussion in committee, while they project and dissect merits he doesn’t show, is off. You need to get to the final 3X first.
I think if the admissions office sends a note referencing your essay, the chances are it was helpful.
I don’t think my older’s sons okay for an engineer essay would have made much of a difference one way or another. He had stellar stats, and I assume stellar recommendations.
OTOH, younger son was in the top 25% for SAT CR and bottom 25% for math. He had pretty high rank (6%), but mostly because his orchestra grades (two separate orchestras all four years all A+s) were factored in. He was a B+/A- student otherwise. Obviously I was not a fly on the wall when admissions decisions were made, but he got into some schools where he set new lows for GPA and SAT scores on Naviance, which leads me to think that something else made a difference.
I don’t think it’s just how clever the essays are, but they are an opportunity to show off that AND if there is one.
I agree that a special interest or talent will not trump qualifications. The qualified candidate must have a lot of ANDs just to stay alive, as you put it:
Great grades AND great test scores AND challenging coarse load AND great LORs
That still leaves thousands of applicants on the table at highly selective universities. How then do you pick from those that are untagged? A special talent or interest that you’ve cultivated for years sure can help you stand out. So now the sequence expands to:
Great grades AND great test scores AND challenging coarse load AND great LORs AND (for example) a champion hula dancer.
BTW, hula is taken very seriously in Hawaiian communities, nationwide. Kids practice in hula schools called halaus. There are hula competitions and master instructors. So, no mocking hula 
I recently read a book (sorry, I can’t find the quote) that admissions officers DO genuinely get excited about admitting kids with special talents (wouldn’t you, if you were in their shoes?) and that they compile a list of these special kids for final presentation to the dean of admissions. So, I really think that the Caltech link that I provided simply mirrors reality and isn’t a marketing ploy.
The issue is not “is this a marketing ploy”. The issue is the thousands of parents and kids who wake up one day junior year and realize that just because Mom and Dad think that their ever-so-gifted kid is headed to Princeton because that’s where grandpa went “back in the day”, little Johnny or Julie is just not that special once they actually look at the stats of who gets into Princeton.
So everyone moves into overdrive. Kid is going to spend the summer at essay bootcamp after digging latrines in Haiti. Kid is going to cram college to try and bring those scores up (why have the kid read actual books- which might actually and painlessly raise his/her scores when you can pay someone $100/hour to tutor?) Kid is going to turn his/her interest in retro Pokemon into an actual “thing” rather than a game s/he plays occasionally with friends.
Sigh. It’s so exhausting. The idea that the kid is going to go to Emory or Vanderbilt or Brandeis or any one of a hundred fine colleges instead of Princeton freaks everyone out.
And then the kid ends up at Emory or Vanderbilt or Brandeis anyway because how many retro Pokemon players who built latrines in Haiti can Princeton accept- even grandchildren of legacies???
Found it! From “Acing the College Application” by Michele Hernandez (who was an admissions officer at Dartmouth):
p. 46, under the heading “What About Strange and Unusual Hobbies?”
“The more strange and unusual, the better… The more unusual, the more you will be remembered in the admissions process… admissions directors are constantly searching for students with oddball activities or interests because at the end of the admissions season, all directors have to prepare a summary report on the prospective class… directors like to throw in some descriptions of the more interesting accepted students… ‘our class includes a fire thrower, a champion mogul jumper, a nationally recognized poet, the nation’s top debater, an Internet CEO of a start-up email business, and a published author.’”
If I wanted to go to Yale, I’d learn to ride a unicycle and juggle. Then, I’d get a used white tux and tie-dye it pink. I’d get a rainbow-colored top hat and cycle the streets of New Haven, juggling and offering free ice cream cones to anyone who would make introductions with a member of the admissions committee.
Would that be an ‘AND’?
Of course, if the special interest is started in junior year, as blossom duly derides, it will come across as manipulative and phony. What I wrote in #274, however, was:
“A special talent or interest that you’ve cultivated for years sure can help you stand out.”
If the special interest or talent involves authentic passion and long-term commitment, it can certainly help the applicant, as evinced by the quote in #276.
If you implement the plan in #277, JustOneDad, I’d take a trip to New Haven, just to see you cycling around. Sadly, I don’t know anyone in admissions at Yale, so I would have to pass up the ice cream cone.
Your question as to whether it would be an AND is clearly rhetorical, though.