How truly important are your essays?

itsintheprocess
Sun, 14 Jan 2018 04:35:21 +0000

I can only speak from experience so none of this is fact but the vibe I got from my state schools was that my essay wasn’t as important as my GPA/ SAT. My states school application were due much sooner than the OOS schools I had applied too, so the essay I wrote for in in state schools was good but my common app essay for OOS schools was MUCH better because I had more time. For in state schools I knew that both my test scores and GPA were far above the average (not trying to sound boastful…if you only knew how insecure I was during senior year) and they probably played a much larger role in my acceptance whereas my essay was like the cherry on top, so to speak.

My essay that I sent to my top choice school as well as other selective schools played a rather large role in my acceptances. I was still above average in those schools however it was more slightly above average, and many other applicants GPA/Test scores could have outshined me if (in my opinion) it wasn’t for my essay. For the OOS I had more time to write and edit my essay and I felt like I had written about a topic that was much my personal and couldn’t really be applied to anyone but just ME. I remember reading this analogy somewhere last year (probably on CC) that GPA/Test scores get you through the door (ie if your scores/GPA are way below the schools range they won’t even bother), but your essays, LOR, EC etc are what get you job in the end. I feel like that is a very fair assessment of the admissions process.

In short your essays are VERY important for selective schools (if not all schools). It may not seem that way for schools that offer automatic acceptance for a certain GPA, but for selective and highly selective schools they can make or break you.