The number and type of essay questions on applications varies with each college. No two college applications are the same. Many colleges use The Common Application (with its predictable choice of one short answer question, and a choice of a long essay question and an additional information question), but most Common Application colleges also have supplemental forms of their own that contain additional requests for information and sometimes essay questions. Here is the URL for The Common Application: http://www.commonapp.org

Quite a few colleges offer a menu of questions and ask applicants to choose one or two to answer.

THE BOTTOM LINE
While student grades and test scores are critical factors in the making of admission decisions, essays may be an even more important factor, especially for private liberal arts colleges and the more selective universities. Like nothing else, essays give readers a sense for how well you express yourself, and particularly how unique and different you are from the rest of the applicants. Essays have the potential for helping you to stand out from the crowd.

Even if you have great test scores and grades, a poorly written essay can lessen your chances for acceptance. On the other hand, if your grades and test scores are mediocre, but your essays are great, sometimes this can turn the tide toward acceptance.

At their best, essays offer a peek into a student’s soul.

FAQ #1: The directions for one of my essays say that it is to be 500 words. What I have written is 700. Will that be a problem?

ANSWER: This might be a problem for some colleges. Admissions officers want you to follow application directions and are pretty strict about that. Essays that are far short of the word limit or way over might elicit a negative response from an admissions reader. Why risk it?

If the word count of your essay is just a few words over the prescribed number, that shouldn’t be a problem. One way of checking is to cut and paste your essay into the space provided on the online application to see if it fits. If it does; no problem. If it doesn’t, then begin cutting.