"Finding Applicants Who Plagiarize "

calmom
Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:30:12 +0000

I really think that the essay should be another SAT2 type session, where the kids write under proctors, or at the colleges during the visits.



But that’s not the POINT of the essay !!! The college ad coms aren’t trying to administer a writing composition test - they are looking for some bit of info that gives them some insight into the kid’s personality and interests – something that brings the applicant to life so that they can make a decision based on a real person and not on a list of stats.

And that’s WHY they don’t spend hours reading those essays – they do enough reading that they can very quickly glance over an essay and get the gist of it. The reason they tend to discourage essays written on topics like the parents divorce or death of a pet is that they want the type of info that will give them some sort of insight as to what the student will add to their campus – something that gives a sense of who the kid is now.



When it’s because the kids is just trying so hard to be different and to impress the adcoms and avoid being run of the mill, it obscures the personalities.

And I feel sorry for those kids who are trying so hard to impress, when all the ad coms want to see is a piece of information reflecting the student’s voice. You are right that it doesn’t make a difference in many cases – but in many it does, and that’s the point. In many cases the SAT score or GPA is so typical for the applicant pool that it makes no difference – the numbers are good enough to get in, not good enough to impress – but no one advocates leaving those off. In a competitive applications environment the ad coms need to have a reason to admit each and every applicant that comes before them – and if the kid doesn’t have a grandparent who donated half a million to the campus building fund, and isn’t a heavily recruited athlete, and hasn’t yet won international recognition for their accomplishments — the essay might end up being the source of the reason.



My son’s essay was panned by everyone… My fourth child is now preparing for the onslaught this fall, and let me tell you, his school had him write the essays over junior years and they have been edited and checked by mentor, English teacher, gc.



That’s way too many people being part of the essay-writing process … and way too long in the making. My d did have college essay-writing assistance at her high school, senior year – everyone was supposed to submit an essay, it would be read and commented on and returned-- and whatever she submitted to please her high school was never used again, certainly not sent off to any college.