Bad Writing: Context and (Self) Definitions

University admission: Do personal statements and supplementary essays make those bad at writing disadvantaged?

I was asked to answer the above question on the website Quora.com:

I will try to answer it in two parts, one from the university perspective and the other from the student perspective.

I.

It might be helpful to you to take a step back and ask why many schools, especially selective schools, require essays as a part of the admission application. The answer you will hear from admission officers and those who write books and articles about admission essays give a fairly standard answer.

In the US, many schools try to choose a class of students based on factors that are not just numbers.  While it is accurate to say that numbers play the most important role (with some exceptions) in choosing who gets in, the word that is most often used to describe the selection process is “holistic”.  By numbers I mean the grade point average earned over the course of secondary school attendance, the rank in class (or estimated rank or decile) of students within their schools, the scores on standardized tests like the SAT or ACT, and marks earned (or predicted) on AP, IB, A Level exams etc. These scores, taken as an aggregate, predict academic success fairly well. (There is some controversy to what I have just written but there is a lot of data to support this assertion. The latest comes from one of the world’s greatest living scientists, Steven Pinker

 In addition, schools look for students with high scores because  both the percentage of students in the top 10% and the average SAT scores are used by US News and other rankings in the media to determine ranking. Elite schools expect students to present exceptionally strong numbers first and foremost (For example, in a survey of the entering class at Harvard the average SAT composite score: 2237.)  Given the exceptionally high level of competition to get into elite schools, a student who does not have great numbers is very unlikely to be offered admission (there are exceptions but very few compared to the overall entering class). 

The reason I mention all this? The evaluation process that schools undertake to select their students is intensive and time consuming and often appears to many on the outside  as opaque or at least fairly hard to understand. Schools that receive over 30,000 applications that need to be evaluated holistically must confront another set of numbers that are found on a clock.  Admission readers are under tremendous pressure to get through a large number of applications each day during reading season. In order to do this they have to be able to cut out some people quickly. Those students who do not have compelling numbers often will get a fast read. To put it simply, if a student with low numbers applies, even an exceptional essay will still not, in most cases, affect the decision significantly. (The exceptions most often are essays from students who fall into special categories such as low income or first generation college, or under-represented minority). Relative to the numbers, the essay is not nearly as important factor in an admission decision to elite schools.

On the other hand, schools pride themselves on having a holistic admission evaluation. If this seems like a contradiction, it isn’t. Think of it this way: you have to pass through several doors to be able to enter the inner sanctum of a highly selective school. The first one is unlocked through numbers. But there are several other doors a student must unlock in order to receive access to the school.

Essays, along with recommendations, lists of activities and accomplishments,  family and personal background, geography  (both domestic and international) and in some cases interviews, comprise the doors most schools have. Each of these comprises what the major part of the more subjective and holistic part of the evaluation.

If you are wondering why schools go through such a labor intensive process instead of simply accepting the students with the highest grades, best academic programs, and test scores there are several reasons. The first is scientific. While it is true that a student scoring 2350 on the SAT has a significantly better chance of doing well at a highly selective school than a student who scores 1600, there is almost no predictive value to differentiating between a student who scores 2150 and one who scores 2300. Those near the top 1% of test takers are all about equally likely to do well, so it does not make sense, even scientifically, to cull students by scores alone.

More importantly, however, the general feeling among many educators is that testing and to some degree academic program and performance depend on factors over which the student has little control. In other words, for many in education using only numbers would not be ‘fair’ to certain important groups that the university would like to reach and eventually enroll. The data shows, for example, that SAT scores are often tied to family income. Low-income students typically score lower, on average, on standardized tests than those near the top of the income brackets. In addition, low-income students often attend schools that don’t have the same quality of academic program and resources to pay for great teachers in comparison to those who come from the higher end of the economic spectrum. Holistic admission is one way of trying to ‘level the playing field as the cliché goes in education.

One way to think of selective admission might be as a rather intricate experiment in social engineering. Holistic admission permits schools to pick students on merit, but merit as defined by the school rather than the way an external test or set of classes might measure it. Most selective schools use holistic admission to pick students rather than only by the numbers. For example, a student from a disadvantaged background who does well academically but not as well as some one who has had a privileged or stable upbringing may be offered admission over someone with higher scores, grades and academic program.

Holistic admission, therefore, permits schools leeway in creating a class of students who will bring with them far more than scores. They will bring their experiences, talents, passions and voices.

The last word describes where essays come in.

II

Many schools talk about the essays and what they mean but here is one good summary

"The essay is one of the few things that you've got complete control over in the application process, especially by the time you're in your senior year. You've already earned most of your grades; you've already made most of your impressions on teachers; and chances are, you've already found a set of activities you're interested in continuing. So when you write the essay, view it as something more than just a page to fill up with writing. View it as a chance to tell the admissions committee about who you are as a person." Carleton College, MN

In some cases, the voice a student uses in her essay will address experiences or circumstances that compel a reader to advocate for them. These essays, to make a large generalization tend to be content based. Students who has overcome significant hardship, or who come from a diverse background, or who even from a diverse place might persuade an admission officer that their voice, both in the essay and in the way they have lived life will add to the mix of the class. Many of the prompts on the Common Application lend themselves to these content-based essays  A clearly written essay on these topics can have a determinative effect on an applicant's chances (so long as they have already passed through the numbers door first).

I have spent a lot of time talking about why highly selective colleges do what they do and how but I have yet to answer your question.  I have tried to give you the context that essays fit within in the selection process (The many links embedded in this response should give you some idea of how much there is to  say about essays, admission and writing.)

I actually have a couple of questions, not just for you but for anyone who describes themselves as a bad writer. What make you think you are a bad writer? What is a bad writer anyway?

I ask these questions because I have taught writing to university students and have worked with secondary school students, university students, graduate students and university graduates with their writing and most people I know have the capacity to write at the very least a good essay, and with work and revision, a very good or even great essay.

Are some people blessed with gifts through their genetic code and upbringing?  Of course, but writing a compelling essay is not nearly as hard as most people think it is. If you follow some basics steps to writing an essay,  I am fairly certain you could write a clear, concise essay. If you want help you might read some of the many essays posted on my blog as well as some of the links embedded throughout this response.

Some of the students whose essays I’ve posted (search the  phrase “essay test” for lots of examples) on my blog worked tirelessly to get these essays to their present form. Others (one I know of for sure) came virtually full born from the mind to the screen in a very short amount of time. (Life is not fair) .

Are you at a disadvantage compared to the student who has wonderful words shooting from her fingertips? You are at a disadvantage in terms of how much time it might take to write a strong essay but I am not sure you are at a competitive disadvantage in admission if you get rid of the bad writer label in your head and just write, write, revise and revise (etc.). This is not the place to give a full tutorial about how to write a good essay, but you need to get over your self-definition and get on with the writing of your essay.

I can tell you this, if you tell yourself you are a bad writer you are probably right. You have already limited yourself and in so doing you may not put forth the time and effort it takes to write a good essay. I have yet to meet a  good student who could not follow some pretty simple advice from those who know a lot about writing. On the other hand, I can tell you something that happened this week. I had a student ask me to look over a essay. From a numbers perspective this student is at the very, very top. All A’s, 2300+ SATs, national level awards in two academic areas. I just wrote the student this morning and said the chances were not good for getting in to top schools. Why? The essay is a mess. Now it may be that the student’s other credentials outweigh the essay, but that has not been my experience. A student who does not take time to craft at the very least a correct and well-organized essay will not likely get in to some of the very top schools. There are simply too many outstanding students. I also know of a small handful of students who while not remarkable with resect to their numbers wrote so compellingly that they were moved to the yes pile. But both of these scenarios are rare. Most who apply with exceptional credentials also submit good essays. Some submit great essays too.

A long while ago in an article for the US News I coined the term McEssay for what most students submit to colleges: a technically correct essay that does not stand out but is not terrible either. Most essays fall into this category. If nothing else you can write a “do no harm” essay, an essay that is well-organized and uses details well and answers the question. If your other credentials are strong then this kind of essay may not hurt your chances of being accepted to a highly selective school.

You also need to find a good editor. There are many candidates who would fit into this category, but find someone you trust who knows something about writing. But you are the one doing the writing

The best writers in the world needs editors and so do some who describe themselves as bad writers. Editors can help transform essay into works or art or at least good prose.

There is one caveat however. There are some students for whom English is a second language. Some of them submit Hemingwayesque essays and  yet have verbal scores that are not great. I can say these essays are looked at with a high degree of suspicion. 

Does a student who is world-class athlete get a special look in admission? You bet. Does a Siemens award winner get a special look? You bet. Does a world-class writer get a special look too? Absolutely, but the number of essays that fall into this range are about the same as the number of athletes who are really performing at a national level. Most essays are ok, but just not that special to merit a huge emphasis in the admission evaluation process.

If you have a great story to tell then tell it clearly. Get over the ‘bad writer’ self-definition, and use some of the successful approaches to writing good essays. Almost all the students I have helped in some way with picking essay topics and with writing have found that writing essays for colleges and in college can actually be kind of fun. Really. You get to talk about stuff you know, you get to tell a story that casts you in a favorable light, and you get to share your voice with others. If some of the schools don’t end up accepting you it might be for all sorts of reasons, but you have had a chance to explore some of yourself –what Socrates called an examined life. And that ‘s what he said living is all about. Best of luck.