Quote:
Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby
My understanding is that essays DO play a big part. They don't consider race on its own, they consider it as part of a holistic score for all the students who are in the "maybe" pile, along with essays and other demographic factors.
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I think essays definitely play a part. I was deferred from a large state school's early decision (or early action? Too long ago; don't remember) when the school was very much a "safety" school for me. I was well above the 75% for SAT scores, had a fine GPA, etc. and put almost zero effort into my essay, assuming I was a shoo-in. I'm also a member of a demographic the school sorely lacks, and assumed this would assure my acceptance as well. After getting deferred, my college counselor contacted the admissions office (she had some wicked connections) of that college to get some insight, and basically was told that my essay just wasn't up to scratch and they really used that as part of the early decision considerations.
If it were just based on statistics and the bullet points of my extracurriculars, I think I would have been accepted in the first round. (As a side note, this isn't UGA that I'm talking about)