College Admission Essays

College Admission Essays Then a small group of admissions officers will review each application, looking over the scores and coursework and reading the college application essays. Moreover, B schools expect their prospective students and future business leaders to be original and innovative. However, you must demonstrate that you can read and follow directions. The admissions officers are looking for a reason to disregard candidates. So they use your essay, along with your letters of recommendation and extracurricular activities , to find out what sets you apart from the other talented candidates. Your college admissions essay is just a means to an end, which means it is totally fine if you lack intrinsic motivation to start the writing session. You don’t have to burn the remnants of your willpower to string together several undistinguished sentences. It makes more sense to outsource the project to experienced professionals who have honed their writing skills over the years of helping students like you. It may sound like a chore, and it will certainly take a substantial amount of work. But it's also a unique opportunity that can make a difference at decision time. Admissions committees put the most weight on your high school grades and your test scores . However, selective colleges receive applications from many worthy students with similar scores and gradesâ€"too many to admit. Don’t let them reject you because you hastily overlooked a sentence in the essay prompt. Most students want the college admissions board to view them as responsible, dependable, and academically ambitious. Through her writing, Callie allows the admissions committee to better understand her approach to learning new perspectives. This essay highlights her personality and values and helps us imagine how she will collaborate with others throughout different spaces on campus in a diverse student body. By broadening her initial anecdote and having the majority of the essay focus on her reflections and takeaways, we were able to spend even more time learning about Callie. Below you’ll find selected examples of essays that “worked,” as nominated by our admissions committee. In each of these essays, students were able to share stories from their everyday lives to reveal something about their character, values, and life that aligned with the culture and values at Hopkins. At a smaller school, it is more likely that the admissions officers will have the time to look at each essay, whereas at huge universities it would seem less likely. In terms of how many officers read each essay, that also varies from school to school. Some read regionally which means that one officer reads all the applications from all the high schools in a certain geographic region. Often they are read in committee where several officers might look at one essay. You have narrowed that list to the three or four most important ideas â€" the ones that will get you into your preferred college/university. Reading and answering the prompt may seem a bit obvious, but it’s often the obvious that people ignore. You should take the time to read and re-read the essay prompt, so you can answer it fully. Don’t be intimidated; unlike some college exams, the college application essay prompt is not designed to trick you. These are excellent essay goals, but you should also consider the essay in relation to your classwork. If your classwork already shows that you are studious and determined , then you may want to highlight another feature of your personality. When you have compiled all the pieces of your application and sent it to the college/university of your dreams, all of your hard work gets placed in a pile with hundreds of other applications. If you want to know how you will be assessed at any given school, you should feel free to ask the admissions office. Based on my experience, we read every essay at the institutions were I served. Typically, applications received two reads and a third if the decisions were split. The number of reads and the process for reviewing application essays vary from college to college. Among the top 250, I know my colleagues review essays because some are moved to “check” authenticity or to contact the school source to verify veracity of the context as provided by the student. The admissions officers are expecting you to celebrate yourself, to underline your strengths and personality, so they can make a quick, accurate judgment about you. At this stage in the college admissions essay writing process, you have considered the goals and psychology of the college admissions board. You have produced a list of ideas/attributes/details about yourself that colleges will find appealing.