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Application essay
View on Wikipediafrom Wikipedia
 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (October 2016) |
An admissions or application essay, sometimes also called a personal statement or a statement of purpose, is an essay or other written statement written by an applicant, often a prospective student applying to some college, university, or graduate school. The application essay is a common part of the university and college admissions process.
In the context of academic admissions, there are key distinctions between a statement of purpose, a personal statement, and an application essay. A statement of purpose is a formal essay that outlines an applicant's career goals and reasons for choosing a specific field of study or program. It often includes a tentative research plan and highlights relevant experience and accomplishments. A personal statement, on the other hand, is more personal and introspective. It provides insight into an applicant's motivations, values, and life experiences, often demonstrating their character and passion for their chosen field. An application essay, while similar to the other two, is typically broader and may cover a range of topics. It might ask applicants to reflect on their past experiences, discuss a significant event, or express their thoughts on a given topic. The objective of this essay is to assess the applicant's writing skills, critical thinking, and ability to articulate their thoughts coherently.
Some applications may require one or more essays to be completed, while others make essays optional or supplementary. Essay topics range from very specific to open-ended.
United States
[edit]The Common Application, used for undergraduate admissions by many American colleges and universities, requires a general admissions essay, in addition to any supplemental admissions essays required by member institutions. The Common Application offers students six admissions essay prompts from which to choose.[1] According to Uni in the USA, the Common Application essay is intended as a chance to describe "things that are unique, interesting and informative about yourself".[2]
The University of Chicago is known for its unusual essay prompts in its undergraduate admissions application, including "What would you do with a foot-and-a-half-tall jar of mustard"?[3][4]
Recently, many colleges have started to use short-answer responses instead of full-length essays. In 2023, Harvard replaced its long supplemental essay requirement with five 200-word short answer responses. Harvard cited the need to know more broadly about applicants' backgrounds following a Supreme Court ruling banning the use of race as a factor for admissions.[5] Other highly-selective schools like USC, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, and Yale have followed suit.[6] Some colleges such as Williams and Amherst have eliminated supplemental writing from their applications entirely, instead giving students a choice to optionally submit an example of their academic writing.[7]
A 2021 study in Science Advances found that the content of the admission essays submitted to University of California had stronger correlations to self-reported household income than did SAT scores.[8]
While admission essays' prompts are varied and leave room for creativity, they may unintentionally be misleading, potentially widening the achievement gap between lower-income, minority students and their higher-income peers by perpetuating an "undemocratic curriculum" that favors students already familiar with implicit academic expectations.[9]
United Kingdom
[edit] |
A personal statement is part of an application sent to UCAS by a prospective student at a UK university. In a personal statement, the student writes about what they hope to achieve in a UK university course, what they hope to do after the course and why they are applying to this particular university.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Tips and Samples for the Common Application Essay Options". Archived from the original on 2010-10-28. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
- ^ "How do I apply? - The Good Schools Guide". Archived from the original on 2012-11-04.
- ^ Tamar Lewin, "Earful Over Cheeky University Essay" (December 31, 2009). New York Times.
- ^ "College Report Archived 2012-04-13 at the Wayback Machine." Chicago Journal.
- ^ "Harvard Overhauls College Application in Wake of Affirmative Action Decision | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Archived from the original on 2023-10-19. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
- ^ "A How-To Guide for the Short Answer Questions for Highly-Selective Colleges". College Essay Guy | Get Inspired. 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
- ^ Goldberg, Julia. "College removes supplemental essay from application, forms working group in wake of affirmative action ruling". The Williams Record. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
- ^ Alvero, Aj; Giebel, Sonia; Gebre-Medhin, Ben; antonio, anthony lising; Stevens, Mitchell L.; Domingue, Benjamin W. (2021). "Essay content and style are strongly related to household income and SAT scores: Evidence from 60,000 undergraduate applications". Science Advances. 7 (42) eabi9031. Bibcode:2021SciA....7.9031A. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abi9031. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 8514086. PMID 34644119.
- ^ Warren, James (2013). "The Rhetoric of College Application Essays: Removing Obstacles for Low Income and Minority Students". American Secondary Education. 42 (1): 43–56. ISSN 0003-1003. JSTOR 43694176.
 | This article on a United States institution of higher education is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Application essay
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
An application essay, also known as a personal statement or admissions essay, is a concise written submission required by many colleges and universities during the undergraduate or graduate admissions process, typically limited to 500-650 words, in which applicants articulate their personal experiences, academic interests, motivations for study, and perceived fit with the institution.[1][2][3]
Admissions committees use these essays to evaluate applicants' communication skills, intellectual curiosity, resilience, and potential to contribute to campus communities, providing a qualitative supplement to standardized test scores and grade point averages that may not fully capture individual character or non-cognitive traits.[4][5]
However, empirical studies indicate that essay content frequently correlates with applicants' household income and SAT scores—explaining up to 50% of variance in the latter—suggesting it often reflects access to preparatory resources rather than innate qualities, with limited independent predictive power for college performance or long-term success.[6][7]
Criticisms highlight the essays' subjectivity, vulnerability to coaching or ghostwriting by affluent families, and potential to exacerbate socioeconomic disparities, as lower-income applicants without such support face disadvantages in crafting polished narratives, prompting debates over their fairness compared to more objective metrics like standardized tests.[5][7]
Admissions committees use these essays to evaluate applicants' communication skills, intellectual curiosity, resilience, and potential to contribute to campus communities, providing a qualitative supplement to standardized test scores and grade point averages that may not fully capture individual character or non-cognitive traits.[4][5]
However, empirical studies indicate that essay content frequently correlates with applicants' household income and SAT scores—explaining up to 50% of variance in the latter—suggesting it often reflects access to preparatory resources rather than innate qualities, with limited independent predictive power for college performance or long-term success.[6][7]
Criticisms highlight the essays' subjectivity, vulnerability to coaching or ghostwriting by affluent families, and potential to exacerbate socioeconomic disparities, as lower-income applicants without such support face disadvantages in crafting polished narratives, prompting debates over their fairness compared to more objective metrics like standardized tests.[5][7]
Overview and Purpose
Definition and Core Elements
An application essay, commonly referred to as a personal statement in university admissions contexts, is a self-authored written composition submitted by prospective students to provide admissions committees with qualitative insights into their character, experiences, motivations, and intellectual qualities that transcend numerical metrics like grade point averages or standardized test scores.[1][8] These essays typically range from 500 to 650 words in length, as standardized by platforms such as the Common Application, which is accepted by over 900 institutions and requires applicants to respond to one of several prompts designed to elicit personal reflection.[9] The primary function is to humanize the applicant, allowing them to demonstrate unique perspectives, resilience through challenges, or passions that align with academic or institutional goals, thereby aiding selective admissions processes where thousands of applications are reviewed annually.[10] Core elements of an effective application essay include a compelling narrative structure, often employing either a montage approach—juxtaposing disparate experiences to reveal thematic growth—or a narrative arc that builds from a specific anecdote to broader self-insight.[11] Essential components encompass an engaging hook to capture attention, such as a vivid scene or provocative question; detailed, authentic anecdotes drawn from personal life events rather than generic achievements; and reflective analysis that connects experiences to developed skills, values, or future aspirations, avoiding mere summaries of resumes.[12][13] Authenticity remains paramount, with admissions evaluators prioritizing genuine voice over polished but insincere prose, as essays serve to assess qualities like intellectual curiosity, ethical reasoning, and interpersonal potential that predict contributions to campus communities.[14][15] Formatting conventions emphasize simplicity to focus on content: double-spaced text in a standard font like Times New Roman (12-point), with 1-inch margins, and no extraneous elements like titles unless specified by the prompt.[16] While prompts may vary—such as reflecting on background influences or obstacles overcome—the underlying expectation is evidence-based storytelling that substantiates claims of personal development, often through specific, verifiable details from the applicant's history rather than abstract declarations.[17] This structure facilitates holistic evaluation, where essays weigh heavily in decisions for competitive programs, comprising up to 25% of an application's impact in some assessments.[18]Role in Holistic Admissions Processes
In holistic admissions processes, application essays enable admissions officers to evaluate applicants' qualitative attributes, such as intellectual curiosity, resilience, and capacity for self-reflection, which complement quantitative measures like grade point averages and standardized test scores. These essays, often including a main personal statement and supplemental responses tailored to specific institutions, reveal an applicant's voice, motivations, and potential fit within the academic community, allowing committees to differentiate candidates with similar academic profiles. For instance, the University of California system's comprehensive review explicitly incorporates personal insight questions to assess personal qualities and experiences alongside academic achievement.[19] Admissions evaluations prioritize authenticity and effective communication in essays, with officers seeking narratives that demonstrate genuine insight rather than rehearsed achievements or generic responses. There is no universal rubric for personal reflective essays in college admissions or honors programs, as evaluation is typically holistic; however, common evaluation criteria include depth of reflection and insight (personal growth, lessons learned, self-awareness), authenticity and personal voice, relevance to the prompt and use of specific examples, clear organization and logical structure, engaging and clear writing style, and proper grammar, mechanics, and conventions. Essays are often assessed on a scale (e.g., 1-4 or 1-6) with emphasis on how well the essay reveals the applicant's character, experiences, and potential fit for the college or honors program.[20][21] Well-crafted essays showcase writing proficiency, which correlates with readiness for college-level discourse, and provide evidence of personal growth through specific anecdotes rather than abstract claims. At selective institutions, such as those employing committee-based evaluation, essays contribute to a holistic assessment by integrating with extracurricular records and recommendations to form a multidimensional applicant profile.[22] Empirical weighting in top-tier admissions underscores essays' significance, with analyses indicating they account for roughly 25% of the evaluation at the 250 most selective U.S. colleges, slightly trailing extracurricular activities but exceeding interviews or demonstrated interest. This role has intensified following the 2023 Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which prohibited explicit racial considerations, shifting emphasis toward essays' ability to convey viewpoint diversity and institutional alignment without demographic proxies. However, essays' subjective nature introduces variability, as inter-rater reliability can be low without standardized rubrics, potentially amplifying unconscious biases in officer assessments despite training protocols.[23][24]Historical Development
Early 20th-Century Origins
In the early 20th century, U.S. college admissions shifted from reliance on entrance examinations and high school certifications to more formalized application processes, driven by surging enrollments from public schools and diverse ethnic backgrounds. Prior to 1919, elite institutions like Harvard primarily admitted students via academic exams in classical subjects or certified secondary credentials, with minimal personal input required. Columbia University pioneered the modern application form that year, introducing an eight-page document that solicited detailed biographical data, including photographs, religious affiliations, and family origins, to facilitate selective screening amid growing applicant volumes. This form marked an initial move toward subjective evaluation but did not yet mandate extended personal narratives.[25] By the 1920s, Ivy League universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton adopted similar intrusive forms and supplementary methods to assess "character" and institutional "fit," explicitly aiming to curb the proportion of Jewish students, whose numbers had risen sharply due to strong academic performance on objective metrics. Harvard President A. Lawrence Lowell, alarmed by Jewish enrollment reaching nearly 25% by 1922, spearheaded the development of holistic admissions criteria, including alumni interviews and personal ratings derived from written submissions, to favor applicants from Protestant, upper-class backgrounds exhibiting traits like leadership and extracurricular involvement. These early personal statements—often brief autobiographical sketches or responses to prompts on motivations and qualities—served as tools for discretionary judgment, enabling administrators to prioritize subjective impressions over test scores alone.[26][27][28] This character-based approach, documented in internal Harvard reports and later analyses, reflected causal pressures from demographic changes and institutional preferences for homogeneity, rather than purely meritocratic expansion. While not standardized essays in the contemporary sense, these written components laid the groundwork for the application essay by introducing narrative self-presentation as a gatekeeping mechanism, with Jewish applicants disproportionately disadvantaged through inferred cultural mismatches. Adoption spread to other selective schools, embedding personal disclosure in admissions by the decade's end, though empirical validation of its predictive value for success remained limited.[29][25]Mid-20th-Century Expansion and Standardization
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the GI Bill, dramatically expanded access to higher education for returning World War II veterans, with approximately 2.2 million beneficiaries enrolling in colleges and universities by 1947, causing nationwide enrollment to rise from 1.5 million students in 1940 to 2.7 million by 1950. This surge in applicants, coupled with the impending baby boom, compelled selective institutions to refine admissions criteria beyond academic transcripts and emerging standardized tests like the SAT, which had been administered to over 10,000 applicants by 1940 but proved insufficient for assessing non-cognitive traits.[30] Personal essays, often short autobiographical statements, proliferated as tools to evaluate applicants' character, motivation, and institutional fit, particularly at private universities facing capacity constraints.[26] In the 1950s, the professionalization of admissions offices—previously ad hoc or nonexistent at most institutions—facilitated greater uniformity in application requirements, including essays as standard components for holistic review.[31] For instance, elite schools like Harvard, which had pioneered subjective evaluations in the 1920s to manage demographic shifts, increasingly incorporated essay responses to gauge writing ability and personal qualities amid rising competition, with acceptance rates at top colleges dropping below 20% by the decade's end.[25] This period marked a shift from essays' earlier use in entrance examinations (which emphasized subject knowledge) toward introspective prompts focused on extracurriculars and aspirations, reflecting admissions officers' growing emphasis on predicting campus contributions over rote achievement.[26] The 1960s accelerated essay expansion through social upheavals and legal pressures, as civil rights movements and federal interventions prompted universities to dismantle legacy preferences and quotas, using personal statements to identify underrepresented talent and foster diversity.[26] Enrollment continued to balloon to 3.6 million by 1960 and 8 million by 1970, spreading these practices from Ivy League schools to public flagships like the University of California system, where essays complemented quantitative metrics in evaluating socioeconomic context.[32] Standardization efforts coalesced around common formats, such as 500-word limits on themes of leadership or adversity, laying groundwork for later platforms like the Common Application (founded 1975), though mid-century forms varied by institution while converging on qualitative depth to address admissions' limitations in an era of mass access.[33] Empirical assessments of essays' value remained nascent, with critics noting subjective biases but proponents citing their role in admitting high-potential students overlooked by test scores alone.[26]Late 20th to Early 21st-Century Evolution
During the 1980s, the Common Application expanded its membership beyond the initial 15 institutions founded in 1975, surpassing 100 colleges by 1980, all of which were private and highly selective, emphasizing holistic review processes that included personal essays to evaluate applicants' qualitative attributes alongside quantitative metrics like test scores.[34] These essays, often termed personal statements, evolved to provide insights into applicants' backgrounds, motivations, and personal growth, reflecting a broader admissions shift toward assessing "fit" and non-cognitive traits amid rising competition from increasing applicant pools post-World War II expansions in higher education access.[26] By the mid-1990s, membership grew to over 150 institutions, with Ivy League schools like Harvard and Dartmouth joining in 1994–1995, further standardizing essay formats while allowing supplemental prompts tailored to individual colleges' priorities.[34] The late 1990s marked a technological pivot with the Common Application's online launch in 1998, facilitating broader access and enabling more detailed essay submissions, which by then typically required 500–650 words focused on self-reflection and experiences.[34] This digital transition coincided with escalating application volumes—reaching over 500,000 unique applicants by 2010—and heightened selectivity, prompting admissions offices to rely more heavily on essays to differentiate candidates with similar academic profiles.[34] In the early 2000s, public universities began adopting the platform (e.g., University of Delaware in 2001), diversifying its user base and amplifying the essay's role in holistic evaluations that incorporated extracurriculars, recommendations, and personal narratives to gauge resilience and intellectual curiosity.[34] By the 2000s, essay prompts standardized around themes of leadership, challenges overcome, and personal identity, with the Common Application offering five options by 2010 to encourage authentic expression rather than formulaic responses.[35] This period saw essays critiqued for their subjective interpretation, yet empirical admissions data indicated their utility in predicting campus engagement over grades alone, though concerns arose about coaching and inequality in access to essay preparation resources.[26] Membership exceeded 300 by 2007 and 400 by 2010, solidifying the personal essay as a cornerstone of U.S. undergraduate admissions, distinct from earlier eras' focus on rote academic proofs.[34]Regional Variations
United States Practices
In the United States, application essays form a core element of undergraduate admissions processes at selective four-year colleges and universities, serving to evaluate applicants' writing ability, personal qualities, and institutional fit beyond quantitative metrics like grades and test scores. The Common Application, utilized by over 1,000 institutions, requires a personal essay of up to 650 words, with prompts for the 2025-2026 cycle unchanged from prior years and including options to discuss background influences, personal challenges, beliefs questioned, gratitude, accomplishments sparking growth, topics of intellectual passion, or a custom topic.[36] Colleges participating in the Common App indicate whether the essay is required or optional via an applicant-facing table in the application portal.[37] Many institutions supplement the main essay with school-specific prompts, often numbering from one to several and ranging in length from 100 to 650 words, designed to assess interest in the particular college or program. For instance, the University of Chicago solicits responses to unique, applicant-nominated questions emphasizing creativity and intellectual engagement, while Ivy League schools like Harvard typically require short answers on extracurriculars or future goals alongside a primary essay.[38] The University of California system diverges by mandating four Personal Insight Questions from eight options, each limited to 350 words, focusing on leadership, creativity, challenges, or talents to provide multidimensional self-reporting.[39] Applicants submit essays electronically through platforms like the Common App, Coalition with Scoir, or institutional portals, with deadlines aligning to early action (typically November 1), early decision (November 1 or December 15), or regular decision (January 1 to March 1) cycles. Admissions officers review essays as part of holistic evaluations, often reading the full application file—including essays, recommendations, and transcripts—in committees or individually before rating on scales for qualities like resilience and originality. According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, while high school grades rank as the top factor in decisions, essays contribute significantly to distinguishing candidates at highly selective schools, where quantitative profiles cluster tightly.[40] Practices emphasize authenticity, with guidelines discouraging ghostwriting or excessive editing, though applicants frequently revise drafts with input from counselors or peers; essays are scanned for plagiarism via tools integrated into application systems.[37] Following the 2023 Supreme Court ruling against race-conscious admissions, essays have faced heightened scrutiny for indirect demographic signaling, prompting some institutions to refine prompts for neutrality while maintaining emphasis on personal narrative.[26]United Kingdom Practices
In the United Kingdom, undergraduate university applications are centralized through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), where applicants submit a single personal statement shared across up to five course choices at different institutions. This contrasts with systems requiring multiple tailored essays, as the UCAS format limits customization to specific universities. The personal statement serves to convey the applicant's enthusiasm for the chosen subject, academic preparedness, relevant skills, and experiences that align with course demands, such as independent reading, projects, or work placements demonstrating subject interest.[41][42] The document is capped at 4,000 characters (including spaces) and 47 lines, compelling concise expression of motivations and evidence of suitability rather than expansive narratives. Admissions tutors evaluate it primarily to assess course interest (cited by 88% of professionals in a 2023 survey) and gather contextual details on the applicant's background (65%), though readings average just two minutes, with 39% skimmed in one minute or less. Academic potential is inferred secondarily (40%), while non-academic elements like work experience receive less weight (29%), particularly in non-vocational fields where only 6% focus on transferable skills. Grades and predicted qualifications remain the dominant factors in decisions, with the personal statement influencing outcomes significantly for only 51% of admissions staff, and more so in highly selective or vocational programs.[43][43][43] At selective institutions like the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge, emphasis falls on intellectual curiosity and subject-specific engagement, such as discussions of academic texts or research, over extracurriculars or personal backstory; tutors advise focusing solely on the course rather than institutions or non-academic pursuits. Less selective universities may deprioritize it if grades meet thresholds, sometimes not reading it fully for oversubscribed courses. The format disadvantages applicants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, who lack access to enriching experiences or professional editing, prompting critiques of inherent inequality despite its role in differentiating similar profiles.[44][45][43] For the 2026 entry cycle (applications opening September 2025), UCAS is reforming the personal statement to address these issues by replacing the free-form essay with structured responses to three questions: reasons for choosing the course or combination; how qualifications and studies have prepared the applicant; and how other experiences contribute to skills and attributes sought by universities. This shift aims to standardize evaluation, reduce biases from writing ability, and better highlight motivations and readiness, while maintaining overall length constraints. Subject-specific guides remain available to direct content toward evidence of academic fit.[46][47][48]Practices in Other Countries
In Canada, personal statements or application essays are frequently required for competitive undergraduate programs, graduate admissions, and scholarships at institutions such as the University of Toronto and University of Alberta, where they typically range from 500 words and emphasize applicants' motivations, academic interests, and alignment with program goals.[49][50] These essays differ from U.S. counterparts by placing greater emphasis on reflective connections to the applicant's chosen field rather than broad personal narratives, though they share a focus on demonstrating fit with institutional values.[51] Australian universities predominantly base undergraduate admissions on secondary school performance metrics like the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), with personal statements seldom mandatory for standard entry; however, they may be requested for scholarships, honors programs, or specific applications at universities such as Deakin, where essays outline prior education, employment, and study motivations akin to a cover letter.[52] This exam- and grade-centric approach minimizes subjective elements, prioritizing quantifiable academic achievement over narrative self-presentation.[53] In continental Europe, admissions processes vary by country but generally prioritize secondary school diplomas, entrance examinations, and numerus clausus quotas over personal essays; for instance, in Germany and France, selections rely heavily on Abitur or baccalauréat scores and competitive exams for fields like medicine, with motivation letters occasionally supplementing applications for international or specialized programs but lacking the centrality seen in Anglo-American systems.[54] In the Netherlands, platforms like Studielink facilitate applications based on prior qualifications, though some universities request brief personal statements to assess research potential or program suitability, particularly for English-taught bachelor's degrees.[55] Across much of Asia, application essays play a marginal role in undergraduate admissions, overshadowed by high-stakes national entrance exams; China's Gaokao, South Korea's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), and Japan's decentralized university-specific exams determine placement almost exclusively through test scores, with South Korea explicitly abolishing essay requirements in 2023 to enhance fairness and reduce coaching disparities.[56] In India, traditional public institutions like IITs admit via exams such as JEE Advanced, but emerging private liberal arts universities including Ashoka and FLAME incorporate 400-500 word essays on prompts evaluating critical thinking and personal experiences to differentiate applicants beyond exam results.[57] These systems reflect a preference for objective metrics to manage large applicant pools, though essays are gaining traction in selective, non-exam-driven contexts to gauge holistic qualities.[58]Content Characteristics
Common Prompts and Themes
Application essays, particularly for undergraduate admissions in the United States, frequently revolve around a set of standardized prompts designed to elicit personal narratives and self-reflection. The Common Application, which serves over 1,000 member institutions as of 2025, offers seven prompts for the 2025-2026 admissions cycle, unchanged from prior years to maintain consistency.[36] These prompts include:- Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
- The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
- Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
- Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
- Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
- Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
- Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.[36][59]