How Important Is The College Essay?

How Important Is The College Essay? Put another way, would doing the writing help him at schools where it is “optional” assuming his score is not great but not terrible? Your encouragement, ideas and overall support can go a long way in helping your students write their essays. Having at least one essay score is helpful in case a student decides to apply to a Required college, but it is unlikely to play a role at Optional colleges. My daughter is trying to get in as an out of state student to University of North Carolina and University of Michigan as her top 2 choices. She scored a 33 on ACT with a 6 writing, which she took because Michigan said it was required. She clearly wasn’t prepared for the writing section, so she just took it again and scored a bit lower on her composite but the same on the essay. Also, we know that the 25th-75th percentiles scores at the most competitive colleges are 8-10, so your essay score should not be a concern. As much as I rail against the essay, I still recommend that students take it â€" at least once. Your daughter didn’t waste her time, she created some options. Policies on viewing essay results are all over the place at essay optional schools. Many admission officers would view it as a “plus factor.” It’s wonderful that your daughter did so well. That’s why you should spend a fair amount of time getting the essay right. The essay is an integral and important part of the application process. For some students, it can make the difference between getting in or being deferred, or even of being rejected. In fact, many colleges will recalculate GPA based only on core subjects alone, such as math, science, English, social studies, foreign languages, etc. It's also recommended to take AP and honors classes, as an advanced curriculum is preferred to straight A’s in less challenging courses. A good essay conveys not only who you are but how you express who you are! As such, the essay needs to be focused and well written. If you are honest and choose a topic close to your heart, you will be able to talk about it easilyâ€"so it will be easy to write! And if it is honest and easy to write, and you have had someone check for errors, it will convey who you areâ€"often in a way that is better than any transcript can convey. Then we went to a college fair and spoke to a Michigan Admissions Officer who said Michigan has decided NOT to require writing. She wants to apply to both as Early Action, but doesn’t have time to retake ACT without writing for that deadline. Do you think reporting her 33 ACT with the poor writing score will hurt her at UNC or Michigan, even though they say it is not required, and UNC says it is discouraged? OR should we send her 1450 SAT without a writing score? They are so different that they can’t really be compared. Emphasize to students the importance of writing an informed essay. For example, they should not write about a fantasy meeting with a famous artist and get the titles of the artist’s paintings wrong. Because that is the only way students have to “tell their story.” The essay reveals a great deal about you as a student. It may show what is important to you, how you react to events in life, how you solve problems, how you relate to others, and it might reveal something about your personality. In addition, it gives the admission office a great writing sample. Son is sophomore who will be taking the September ACT. He is not a great writer, does not like writing, and does not want to take the writing portion. He likely will score in the range and apply to a variety of schools (a couple top [sub-10% acceptance rate] privates and top publics, as well as some less competitive universities and colleges). Do you think lacking the writing score â€" which likely would be average â€" will hurt him? Keep in mind that every college is different and individual admission officers may be influenced by different factors. With that said, the Essay is dying a quick death. Most schools fall in the “just don’t care” box at this point.