The College Essay Isn’t Dead
The college essay is a rite of passage in American life. Some students look forward to writing about themselves; most don’t, because they’ve never written anything like it before. Nevertheless, along with their GPA, SAT, and extracurriculars list, the admissions essay plays a key part in determining where students end up going to college.
There has recently been a flurry of headlines claiming that the college essay is dead and that nothing can be done to save it. This is patently untrue. The college essay not only isn’t dead; it’s the one component of the college application most likely to endure. Here’s why the college essay will continue to play a key role in admissions decisions for many years to come.
AI hasn’t killed the college essay
The single biggest reason people claim the college essay is dead is due to the rise of ChatGPT. As everyone knows, you can ask a Chatbot to write your essay for you, and if you give it the right directions, it will spout out a 650-word college essay that highlights some aspect of your personal life. The process is quick and hassle free; it’s much easier than forcing yourself to think long and hard about what you’ve learned in life so far.
But the problem, as we’ve pointed out before, is that while ChatGPT can write a college essay for you, it can’t write a good college essay. ChatGPT writes generic, functional text that makes you sound just like everyone else — and the whole point of the college essay is to distinguish yourself from your competitors. We read hundreds of college essays each year, and every now and then a student comes to us with something they wrote using ChatGPT. We spot it immediately - and we’re willing to bet that any college admissions officer would, too.
At best (assuming you don’t get caught by an admissions officer or plagiarism detection software), ChatGPT will generate a mediocre college essay that won’t do you any favors when you submit your application. Sure, it will allow you to complete your college application and hit “submit,” but your essay will be the equivalent of a B- or C+ at best. Will it get you into a good college? Absolutely not.
The Supreme Court hasn’t killed the college essay
A second reason people claim the college essay is dead is due to the Supreme Court’s recent decision to end affirmative action. Students are no longer able to disclose their race by checking a box on their application, so the one place left for them to discuss it is in their college essay. As a result, students will write about their racial backgrounds in generic, formulaic ways by framing race as something to be overcome: “My racial journey has been one of self-discovery, resilience, and growth.”
We don’t deny that the decision to end affirmative action has impacted the college essay. Of course it has. But we don’t see why students necessarily have to write about their experiences around race in stereotypical ways. Many will write about their backgrounds in intriguing, complicated ways, and they will perform extremely well on this part of the college application.
The college essay may outlive us all
If you take the various components of the college application, you’ll see that the college essay isn’t going anywhere.
The single most important part of the college application is grades, but grading systems vary widely across the country. For that reason, colleges look at essays and test scores – two standard markers of a student’s achievement – in addition to a student’s GPA. These days, more than 80% of colleges are “test optional,” meaning that students no longer need to submit their scores. The college essay, on the other hand, is required of all students – so it’s the final mandatory, consistent part of any student’s college application.
The college essay has become a tradition in American life. Other countries (France, the UK, Australia) have standardized grading systems in high school, thereby allowing students to be admitted to college without requiring a personal essay. But unless the entire US education system is upended, we’re willing to bet that the college essay is here to stay for a long time to come.