a few interesting comments on college essay writing

1. “A long bad essay is worse than a short bad essay.”( Anonymous
admissions officer at Brown University during an information Q&A session)
2. “In the essay, you have to be on stage. You can share the stage with
others, but the audience wants to see you.” (Lloyd Peterson, formerly of
Yale and Vassar, and now an independent college admissions counselor)
3. “If one views the grades and program of study as a skeleton, then essays,
the recommendations, and the activities put flesh and blood on the
skeleton. The totality is what makes an applicant become a real person to
the Committee on Admission. (Marianne M. Kosiewicz at the University of
Virginia)
4. “Of all the essays I have read, roughly 70 percent do nothing for the
student; 20 percent help the student because they do an outstanding job
bringing the two-dimensional application to life; and 5 percent kill the
applicant’s chances due to poor writing or inappropriate topics. “(Adam
Max at Emory University)