Do Application Essays Really Matter?
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May 26, 2009 Posted by Leah Adams
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently covered a story making a big splash on the other side of the pond, where the University of Cambridge Admissions Director has apparently stated point blank that personal essays and teacher references play no role in the university's admissions decision. This is an interesting commentary (or a disastrous public relations situation if you're Cambridge), but certainly not cause for panic here in the US that the same might apply to our college admissions process. Instead, it is an opportunity to juxtapose our education system with Britain's and, in turn, identify the "lines in the sand" that higher education institutions in all countries draw.
First, the fact that UK universities have been making their admissions decisions based on hard academic data has long been apparent to those of us working in the college admissions world. After all, when an American student walks in my office and tells me that he wants to apply to Oxford, LSE, Imperial, St. Andrew's or the like, I start by telling him to forget everything he already knows about the college admissions process. This is because students in most European education systems, and the UK’s in particular, begin to pursue an academic specialization starting in the last two years of high school. At the end of high school, students then take a set of nationalized exams based on their concentrations. Their teachers predict results for those exams, and these predictions are what universities, such as Cambridge, use to make admissions decisions. All this specialized preparation favors those who can fill niches in UK society, because the culture expects their university graduates to do just that.
In contrast, the emphasis in the US admissions process is decidedly retrospective and holistic, which makes sense seeing that often American undergraduates will enter university slightly underdeveloped academically. Admissions professionals intend for students to explore different academic arenas, which, while enriching life on a college campus, will also, in theory, make them more prepared “Americans.” We value well roundedness, participation, and “spark.” All are values that might make a person successful in American culture.
The one downside, however, of having no national education standard is that it makes admission officers’ task of discerning the difference between an “A” or an honors course at one school versus another more difficult. Thus, US universities have widely turned to standardized tests like the SAT and ACT as another criterion in assessing applicants. Although imperfect instruments, standardized tests can be prepared for. One can gain admissions to higher ranked universities by getting better scores.
The bottom line is that US universities need subjective factors (i.e. personal essays, recommendations, activity lists, interviews etc.) to help them distinguish one applicant from the next. The good thing is that this is something applicants truly have control over, and a well-prepared essay or interview can make a difference, if all else is equal.
This situation helps us to reflect on how different the two systems are, but also demonstrates a fundamental admissions truth: admissions processes are logical and created to account for a fluctuating set of national, cultural, and insitutional priorities. While comparing the two systems of secondary and higher education as well as their respective admissions processes, the core question remains the same. How does a system of higher education properly admit top students to their premier universities so as to preserve the hope that those top students will be top contributors to that culture?
On that note, my post next week will flesh out the comparison of the US and UK systems, detailing the nuances of higher education overseas, as well as offering more tips for how to use this information to your advantage as an applicant to universities in the US or abroad.
Leah W. Adams
Educational Counselor
PrepMatters