I am applying to a dream school and I’m such a wreck. I can’t stop editing my essay. I need someone to read through both of my essays, preferably someone who is older than 25.
When do I know that my essay is good enough to stop editing it? Or rather, how can I stop nitpicking and editing it to death?
At the end of the day, you’ll never be 100% sure that your essay is “good enough,” especially when the stakes seem so high. But if you’ve ever heard of the Law of Diminishing Returns, you’d know that there’s a point where the quality of your essay will plateau (maybe even go back down) no matter how much time extra time you put in. I struggled with the same thing back when I was applying to schools, and I’m pretty sure my essays ended up sounding less like me as a result.
I say stop editing. Wait a day or two, then read the essay again. If you believe that you’ve conveyed the main things you want to convey about yourself to the schools, and it doesn’t have any spelling or grammatical errors, then it’s good enough. Having 2-3 people read your essay and tell you what they’ve learned or what they think about you after reading this will confirm that you’ve written an effective essay. They also might help you by letting you know if anything is confusing to them. But take any minor critiques with a grain of salt.
I vote on taking a break from it as mentioned above. The problem is you probably have it memorized and as you scan through it, you are listening to your voice in your head read the essay as you intend it to be heard. You need to be able to read it without that voice of familiarity. Set it down for several days if you can, maybe till next weekend. You will be surprised at how something you thought was flowing perfectly now seems choppy/unclear or vice versa - maybe it is perfect as is! Just fix things that are confusing - that is why it is good for random person to read it (someone that hasn’t see it yet). If they say, “What do you mean here, or I don’t understand this part…” Then that is something to consider revising.
One of mine had the problem of finishing apps up so early and started needless picking because she couldn’t consider them done when others hadn’t even started or were stressing over it all so bad. Sometimes it is just ready to be submitted, even this early and especially before they lose their character with over picking. 
Maybe one of the teachers, counselors, or admins at school can take a look? Good luck! No gloom intended…but have a backup to that dream school - it is great to dream big, but having one and only one dream school is really risky, I hope you have a couple you can be happy at and would consider dreamy.
I do! There are a bunch of schools I’ve applied to that are amazing. This is just one of those schools that if you get admitted, you don’t turn it down. And it’s not even the prestige… I’m in love with its programs for my areas of interest, and it has great resources for non-traditional students!
Thanks for the advice! You know, I actually gave it to a friend to read a few days ago, and I’ve spent the 48 hours since picking at it every few hours or so. I rearranged the order of some sentences to make more sense and things like that, but I went back and read the old essay that I had sent to her as an attachment, and I honestly couldn’t even tell what I had spent so much time changing. It sounded exactly the same! I think it’s probably done, but you can’t go back once you turn it in, and I’m nervous so I’m just procrastinating!!