How Admission Decisions Are Made: Essays, Recommendations, and Interviews Columbia SC

How Admission Decisions Are Made: Essays, Recommendations, and Interviews

The personal essay
A great essay can really make an admission official sit up and take notice, although personal preference may prevail. Some evaluators are all about content and are impressed by sophistication and insight, while others won’t get past your writing style and mechanics if there are errors. How do you know what you’ll be evaluated on? You probably won't, unless it’s been clearly defined in the application materials.

However, it’s fair to say that most colleges aren’t going to place the same emphasis on your essay that they will on your transcripts and test scores. If you’re a poor student, your essay isn’t going to change that, but putting your best effort into it certainly won’t hurt. You don’t know who will be impressed with what you have to say, but it may be the one thing that sets your application apart from the 50 others they read that day.

Whatever you do, don’t blow it off. That will most definitely work against you!

Letters of recommendation
The quality and depth of letters of recommendation varies tremendously. You won’t be penalized if a recommendation is poorly written or offers only superficial information, but one that's clear and comprehensive can make a difference. Having someone agree to write one for you is a great favor, but telling them how you would like it written may be a little rude. That being said, you pick the letter-wr...

Author: Amy Ambler

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