It’s not uncommon for the dream colleges of high school teens to be some of the most prestigious in the land. And most of these elite institutions require applicants to submit essays. Can handing in a good college essay make up for less-than-impressive admissions factors like grades and recommendations and get you into your top-choice school?
A college essay is considered an academic admissions factor at most postsecondary institutions, including selective ones with a holistic admissions policy. However, its overall weight in the admissions process is not usually as substantial as that of high school GPA or academic rigor, although it can vary from one college to the next.
Everyone knows that an impressive academic profile is a must if the goal is to get into a top-tier school.
This usually means having high grades and standardized test scores, taking challenging courses, graduating at the top of your class and submitting convincing letters of recommendation. Handing in an impressive college essay is also a part of it.
Which Colleges Require Applicants to Submit Essays?
Many highly-ranked institutions of higher education by US News require applicants to submit college essays. As a matter of fact, in many of them, college essays have pretty much the same weight in the admissions process as other academic factors such as academic rigor, high school GPA, standardized test scores and class rank.
Selective colleges and universities will do anything and everything necessary to make sure that the available spots they have will go to no one but some of the most deserving college-bound kids.
And, in most instances, this entails asking aspirants to submit all sorts of documents and materials.
College essays are usually some of the most important applications requirements — whether they are just as important as or less important than other academic admissions factors will depend on the school.
Below is a table showing the different academic factors considered by admissions officers and which ones are taken into account at some of the top postsecondary institutions in the county, as per US News Best National University rankings, as well as the relative importance of each — very important, important, considered and not considered.
Princeton University
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – very important
- GPA – very important
- Standardized test scores – very important
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – very important
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Academic rigor – important
- Class rank – considered
- GPA – important
- Standardized test scores – important
- College essays – important
- Recommendation letters – important
Harvard University
- Academic rigor – considered
- Class rank – not considered
- GPA – considered
- Standardized test scores – considered
- College essays – considered
- Recommendation letters – considered
Stanford University
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – very important
- GPA – very important
- Standardized test scores – very important
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – very important
Yale University
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – very important
- GPA – very important
- Standardized test scores – considered
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – very important
University of Chicago
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – considered
- GPA – considered
- Standardized test scores – considered
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – very important
Johns Hopkins University
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – very important
- GPA – very important
- Standardized test scores – very important
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – very important
University of Pennsylvania
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – important
- GPA – very important
- Standardized test scores – very important
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – very important
California Institute of Technology
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – important
- GPA – important
- Standardized test scores – very important
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – very important
Duke University
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – very important
- GPA – very important
- Standardized test scores – very important
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – very important
Northwestern University
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – very important
- GPA – very important
- Standardized test scores – considered
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – very important
Dartmouth College
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – very important
- GPA – very important
- Standardized test scores – very important
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – very important
Brown University
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – very important
- GPA – very important
- Standardized test scores – very important
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – very important
Vanderbilt University
- Academic rigor – very important
- Class rank – very important
- GPA – very important
- Standardized test scores – very important
- College essays – very important
- Recommendation letters – important
As you can see, at some of the top colleges and universities in the nation, college essays are taken into account by admissions officers — their relative importance ranging from considered, important to very important.
As a matter of fact, at Caltech, college essays are an academic admissions factor that’s more important than GPA and class rank.
Which Colleges Do Not Require Students to Submit Essays?
The majority of postsecondary institutions that do not require applicants to submit college essays are community colleges and small liberal arts colleges. The same is true for most public or state universities. Reasons for such include having limited admissions resources and making the admissions process easy and attractive.
Planning on applying to a state university? Then chances are you will not be required to compose any college essays.
Most of the time, it’s because they want more students to apply — nothing can be more intimidating to a lot of high schoolers who dream of earning a bachelor’s degree than being asked to submit a written piece.
Generally speaking, colleges and universities that do not require college essays also do not check out some academic and non-academic factors that other institutions take into account in the admissions process.
For instance, extracurricular activities and work experience may not count. The same is true for demonstrated interest and recommendation letters.
Below are some public or state universities that do not require aspirants to hand in college essays. I will also point out some of the most important admissions factors their admissions officers consider.
| Name | Important Factors |
| Arkansas State University | Class rank, GPA, academic rigor, test scores, recommendations, talent |
| Arizona State University | Class rank, GPA, academic rigor, residence |
| California State University | Class rank, GPA, residence |
| Kentucky State University | GPA, test scores, residence, first generation, demonstrated interest |
| Mississippi State University | GPA, test scores, class rank, academic rigor, residence |
| Missouri State University | GPA, test scores, class rank, academic rigor |
| South Carolina State University | GPA, test scores, class rank, academic rigor, recommendations, EAs |
| University of Alaska | GPA, test scores |
| University of Idaho | GPA, test scores |
| University of Iowa | GPA, test scores, academic rigor, class rank, recommendations, residence |
| University of Nebraska – Lincoln | GPA, test scores, academic rigor, class rank |
| University of South Florida | GPA, test scores, academic rigor, class rank, talent |
| University of Utah | GPA, test scores, academic rigor, class rank, interview, residence, EAs |
| Utah State University | GPA, test scores, academic rigor, class rank, recommendations |
| West Virginia University | GPA, test scores, academic rigor, residence, talent, EAs |
Will College Essays Ever Go Away?
Although it’s true that many colleges and universities, including especially selective ones, require applicants to submit college essays, coming up with a good one is not enough to get you into your dream school — you will also have to impress admissions officers with the rest of your academic profile’s components, from GPA, rigor of curriculum to recommendations.
In most instances, if truth be told, college essays don’t matter as much as college-bound teens think.
Like what a former admissions officer at the University of Pennsylvania said in a Time interview, she never came across a phenomenal college essay suddenly making up for everything else.
And with artificial intelligence (AI) in our midst, it’s possible for college essays to mean even less in the college admissions process sooner or later — ChatGPT and other similar AI chatbots make it possible to write essays in just a few minutes.
However, when tested, results usually fail to answer essay prompts in a convincing way.
What happens if you go beyond the word limit in a college essay?
In most instances, it’s impossible for applicants to go beyond the required word limit when submitting a college essay as the college application software will cut them off. If the software doesn’t have this feature, admissions officers may choose to quit reading the rest of the essay past the word limit.
When should you start writing your college essay?
According to most experts in the college admissions process, it’s a good idea for college-bound teens to start writing their college essays during the summer before their senior year of high school.
This will give them plenty of time to focus on composing their written submissions before their schoolwork arrives.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the College Reality Check.
