The college application process is stressful for many reasons. It can be difficult to keep track of different deadlines, get sealed copies of your transcripts, and get those super-important letters of recommendation. But nothing seems to stress applicants out quite as much as writing the college essay.
How important is the college essay? What can you do to make your personal statement better, and why is the essay more important for some schools than it is for others? Keep reading to discover the answers you need to create a killer college essay!
How important are college essays?
Many frustrated applicants often find themselves asking “are college essays important?” Generally, the answer is “yes.” But how important will depend on the selectivity of schools you’re applying to. Remember, most colleges in America accept a majority of applicants. But on the very narrow end of the spectrum, some schools accept as low as 3.5% of students. So to understand how important college essays are as part of your application, you’ll have to narrow down the schools to which you wish to apply.
For example, when you apply to “top-tier” schools (though heads up that we think you should be wary of ranking systems), around 25% place “considerable importance” on the college admission essay (and another 30ish% give it “moderate importance”). And it’s important to understand how to write a college essay because many of these highly-selective just have way too many qualified applicants. Because of that, a good essay that helps a reader understand who you are and what you bring to their campus and community may make the difference in whether you or a similarly-qualified applicant get admitted.
These schools place more importance on the essays because personal statements can illuminate important qualities a candidate has (ranging from overall career aspirations to volunteer service) that things like a standard transcript simply can’t convey. So it’ll be important to understand how to write a strong college essay. And because these institutions are trying to build a village of diverse students who wish to create a better community, the essay helps to simultaneously demonstrate both your values and your commitment to helping others (side note: something that a good activities list may also help with).
What are common or cliche essay topics?
What cliche topics should you steer away from? Generally speaking, you should avoid the “resume” essay (where you essentially just list your various achievements) or the “big sports moment” or “big performance” or “sports injury” essay. It can be hard to make a cliche tale of being an immigrant work well (it’s an important story, but you’ll need to make it feel and sound different from others). And be wary of writing about your personal heroes, or that time you got a B in that one class but then raised your grade, or your first romance.
So with that in mind, and once you realize how important college essay admissions are, you’ll likely want to focus first on exploring less common essay topics. And any good advice on how to start a college essay must include understanding your audience, including what they do (and probably don’t) want to read.
Admissions committees read countless essays each year, and many applicants write about the same common and cliche topics. If you choose such a topic for your own college application essay, and write about it in the way other people are, it’s tougher for them to understand what you might bring to their community that someone else doesn’t. And you will now be dealing with a kind of unintentional curve: when someone has to read many essays on the same topic as your own, it’s entirely possible many of them will be stronger than yours. But if you choose a less common topic, the college will have few (or even no) other essays to compare it to.
There are of course exceptions to the rule, and you might be able to come up with an exciting new angle most other writers miss. But most of the time, getting noticed is easier if you go with a topic the college doesn’t see quite as much.
How do supplemental essays affect admissions?
Short answer: They can be just as important as your personal statement. UPenn, for example, has said that its ”Why Us” supplemental essay is generally more important. We mentioned earlier that your academic record is not always enough to let an institution know enough about you. Quite frankly, there will virtually always be someone out there with a similar (if not better) record. When it comes down to very selective colleges that receive many applicants with similar records, it may be a supplemental essay that helps give a reader a reason they want to fight for you.
At minimum, supplemental essays help admissions professionals learn more about you, adding texture and flavor to your application. Your essays help reveal things like your personality, hobbies, and special interests, allowing admissions to determine if you’re a good fit for the kind of academic village they are building. Speaking of being a good fit, the supplemental essay is a way to provide additional context for your special skills and expertise and for you to demonstrate how these skills plus your drive and motivation will help you leave a lasting impact on the college.
So the answer to “how important are college essays” (answer: more important the more selective a school is) applies to any supplemental essays you may write. Can a good college essay get you in by itself? No. But selective institutions focus on candidates that combine great academics with great essays. If you start researching how to write a good college application essay now, you can give yourself a serious advantage in understanding the qualities to show in a college essay.
How test optional/test blind have changed admissions
As you can tell, college essays are very important for applicants hoping to get accepted into prestigious institutions. And if you are planning to apply to any colleges that are test optional or test blind, then the essay probably becomes more important, since schools have fewer data points to work with.
If you don’t already know, test optional schools are ones that do not require you to submit ACT or SAT test scores as part of the application process. And test blind schools are ones that go one step further and actually refuse to look at test scores when it comes to choosing who they will admit.
Test optional and test blind schools have embraced this methodology because it helps them to attract a more diverse array of students than they would normally get. But if you are applying to such schools, keep in mind that your college essay will be one of the most important parts of your application.
Ultimately, the college essay remains important because it can be a key factor in the admissions process. So before you submit that application packet, make sure your essay has all the “write” ingredients to help you stand out.
Special thanks to Chris for writing this blog post.
Chris Snellgrove is an English Professor at Northwest Florida State College who specializes in literature, rhetoric, and business writing. As a freelance writer, Chris specializes in sales, marketing, pop culture, and video games. He has a B.A. in English from Troy University and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in English from Auburn University. When he’s not writing or talking to others about writing, Chris loves reading books, playing video games, watching horror movies, and disappearing into a comic book. He currently lives in Northwest Florida and would probably rather be at the beach right now.
Top values: Diversity / Equality / Social Justice
