{"id":3179,"date":"2015-02-26t09:00:55","date_gmt":"2015-02-26t09:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/sat\/?p=3179"},"modified":"2015-04-14t00:50:44","modified_gmt":"2015-04-14t00:50:44","slug":"will-a-great-essay-get-me-into-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/will-a-great-essay-get-me-into-college\/","title":{"rendered":"will a great essay get me into college?"},"content":{"rendered":"
if you\u2019ve ever asked yourself this question, here\u2019s a short and sweet answer from ethan sawyer, the college essay guy<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n the short answer here is: no, an essay won\u2019t get you into college on its own. your acceptance at most universities is dictated primarily by your gpa, course-load (how hard your classes are) and, to varying degrees, your test scores, recommendations, and extracurriculars. <\/p>\n but.<\/p>\n when it comes to deciding between you and another student with a similar gpa, act score and extracurricular profile, that\u2019s when the answer becomes: <\/p>\n yes, your essays can make the difference. <\/p>\n so should you even spend a lot of time working on your essays? <\/p>\n i say yes. <\/p>\n here\u2019s why: <\/p>\n because, once everything else has mostly been determined–once you pretty much know what your gpa will be, you\u2019ve taken your sat for the second time, and you\u2019ve logged (or not logged) your community service hours–your essays are the last thing you can control. they\u2019re the last thing you can actually do something about. <\/p>\n in fact, if you\u2019re reading this blog post as a junior or senior and you have a college essay to write, you can do something about that right now. <\/p>\n