I refuse to answer that question! The new (intimidating) college essay

On January 25, 2012, someone on the College Confidential discussion group posted this thread:

Have you ever removed a college from your list because of the type (or number) of essays?

Responses poured in, mostly from the parents of students who had actually given up an application because they were intimidated by the essay questions, and many from the students themselves. A woman’s daughter dropped three applications and added one that had easier essay requirements. An aunt reported that her nephews applied to only one school, Iowa State, because the school did not require essays. And another self-proclaimed lazy procrastinator that his colleges are based on the ease of his essay requirements.

Colleges dropped out by students executed the tactic and were led by Wake Forest and U Chicago: Barnard, Brown (2x), BU, Bryn Mawr, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, University of Chicago (8x), Claremont McKenna (3x), Columbia University (3x), CMC (2x), Cornell, University of Delaware, Duke, Elon, Georgetown, Grinnell (2x), Marquette Honors Program, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, MIT (2x), UNC (3x), Northwestern, Notre Dame (2x), NYU (2x), U Penn (3x), Princeton, Puget Sound, Rice (3x), Rutgers, Tufts (2x), Stanford (2x), Syracuse, UVA, Wake Forest (8x) and Yale (2x).

Why the aversion to unique essay topics?

You could rant about how students are lazy or haven’t received enough training to think for themselves or think creatively. I might suggest that if our educational system did a better job on these fronts, and with the teaching of writing in general, students would not shy away from writing essays that challenge them to invest time and thought. You could also suggest that students don’t start their application process early enough to ensure they have the time and attention for a few unusual essay questions.

All of those things may be true, but I’m more interested in the schools’ logic behind asking unusual questions like “What does Play-Doh have to do with Plato?” (U Chicago), “What is your favorite amusement park ride? How does this reflect your approach to life?” (Emory University), “Imagine you had to wear a costume for a year of your life. What would you choose and why?” (Brandeis University) and “What would you do tomorrow with a free afternoon?” (Yale).

Why the bias towards unique essay topics?

Universities may be proving to be keeping up with the times. Some apps ask for short 25-word essay responses, like “My favorite thing from last Tuesday” (University of Maryland), perhaps for the Twitter generation. Tufts, George Mason, and the University of Dayton allow prospective students to submit a video essay instead of a written one. Students can take advantage of the opportunity to communicate in ways that are spreading like wildfire in the world of social media.

the right fit

In the College Confidential discussion, most students reported that they dropped out of schools not just because of essay requirements, but because there was an additional reason the school was not a good fit. Some were not enthusiastic about their visit to campus. Some realized when asked why they wanted to attend a particular school that they did not have a good reason. Conversely, some students reported that they indulged in writing difficult essays because a school was clearly their first choice. Some loved writing the same essays that drove other students away (including the Wake Forest and Chicago essays). And a student turned down a school (Wash U in St. Louis) because he didn’t No ask a supplementary essay question! He thought the school was trying to boost its US News ranking by encouraging applications. Not surprisingly, two other students applied to Wash U (as well as many other schools, Dartmouth, Harvard, and William & Mary, to name a few) because of the simplicity of their essay requirements.

Perhaps universities like Wake Forest and U Chicago are shooting themselves in the foot. Several anecdotes appeared in College Confidential’s discussion of students being accepted to a school with a simple application (Harvard, for example) while still working on essays for another school. Schools with longer or more complex essay requirements could be losing some qualified and motivated students in addition to those who just don’t care enough to jump through hoops.

However, for most schools, it seems like they are doing a good job weeding out applicants. If an Honors application intimidates you, that’s a very good sign that you shouldn’t be in that program. If an essay challenge makes you realize you’re not ready for that challenge, regardless of the reason, then that school has done you and itself a favor. What a great strategy to win the number of applications for a group of students who will face an extra challenge or two because they really want to go to a particular school.

As one member of College Confidential put it: “Frankly, there are too many excellent, well-rounded students applying to top universities to single out a select few without asking creative and weird questions. That’s where you start to see a student’s personality and that It’s what gets you in.”