New Essay Content at CC

faustarp
Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:03:21 +0000

First of all, that is a great new feature! I’m so glad to see it. I’m sure it will serve many, many students applying to college this fall and in the future.

I have a few questions about it though. Are you endorsing Yvonne’s opinion that “the most important part was the essay?” She assumes she knows why her classmate was not admitted to many of the schools she applied to, but another easy explanation makes sense. Many Valedictorians will apply to mostly schools that are highly competitive. It’s likely that if one is shooting for the best that there will be a lot of misses.
In addition, I can tell you personally that while I got an early start and put in a lot of work, but I ended up writing a pretty dismal essay. I am embarrassed when I read it. Even so, I was admitted ED to a respected university, which I credit to my GPA and my SAT scores. I would absolutely not recommend that anyone else gamble on this, and everyone should strive to write the best essay they can muster. When I applied I thought my essay was at least satisfactory. My personal story of admission is worth just as much as these other students’ experiences.

Also, I enjoy reading many essays for people who post here in the CC forums. I know people here self-select, but in the past month, out of the approximately 15-20 essays that I’ve read, I have seen nothing that is as well-written as the sample essays in the new article. I have seen some very nice and effective essays, but they always have a few flaws. Those essays have superior focus, themes, and style. I can’t find anything I would bring up for reconsideration; my response would be “that is fantastic!”
The point I want to make with that last paragraph is twofold. On one hand, it’s good that all students can see examples of such quality writing, and it gives them something to aspire to. On the other hand, if they are not as good at writing, they might feel intimidated, because they believe they’ll be going up against legions of similar essays if they decide to apply to the traditional “top schools.”

In general, I think that’s an excellent new resource to have on the site. I wish it was around for me to look at last year. When I offer feedback to people on these forums, I’ll definitely point to those sample essays as good examples of things I suggest.

PS. I don’t know exactly who “you” is here. I suppose CC in general, or Dave Berry, who wrote the article.