5 College Essay Topics You Should Never, Ever Write About

5 College Essay Topics You Should Never, Ever Write About Do you seem like someone who will fit in at the school? If you’re a renegade, then you probably won’t be happy at a more conservative campus. If you spend your essay writing about how much you love city life, you might not enjoy the slower pace of a college town. Especially if you are applying to a college that is far away from your home, the admissions officers want to see that you will be happy in both the academic environment and the location of the school. Rest assured that admissions officers do, in fact, read your essays. 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. 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. Then we went to a college fair and spoke to a Michigan Admissions Officer who said Michigan has decided NOT to require writing. In fact, your essay could end up hurting an application for an otherwise strong candidate if it appears hastily written or not well thought-out. In contrast, smaller colleges, especially liberal arts schools, tend to take a more holistic approach to evaluating candidates, since these colleges tend to be more self-selective and receive fewer applications. Therefore, they can devote more time and resources to each individual application. While certain factors may impact the relative influence of essays, you should always put in your best effort. Factoring in your particular interests, talents, and intended major makes the importance of the essay even more nuanced. If colleges see that your focus is writing and receive a poorly-written or uninspired essay, they will be confused â€" and may wonder how well you understand your own strengths. Under no circumstances should you ever “blow off” your college essay. Even if the rest of your profile makes you a top candidate for competitive colleges, your essay always matters. That’s not the same thing as saying that it is important to them in the admission process. If you really feel that you will do poorly or that the anxiety might negatively impact the rest of your test, you should be OK without it. 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. Join thousands of students and parents getting exclusive high school, test prep, and college admissions information. Essays are an extremely important part of the college admissions process. Most schools fall in the “just don’t care” box at this point. 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. That’s a difficult question to answer because of all of the potential factors. 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. Also, admissions officers view them as an important part of your application. No matter how qualified you are, you can kill your chances with a bad essay. On the other hand, if you are minimally qualified or even if something fall bellows the minimum, like your test scores, the essay can be your chance for redemption. 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. Have you had a practice essay scored to know where you stand? Also, don’t expect an essay score to stand out in the same way that your ERW and M scores might. Some colleges feel that removing “recommended” would mean that they are diminishing the importance of writing as a skill.