[I_teach_writing]

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1) Revise. Revise. Revise. Don’t be afraid to write the entire thing over three, four, or five times. I did. And it got me into one of the best English PhD programs in the country.

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These are all great tips but I don't agree with this one 100%. Revisions are definitely a good thing, but revising the essay too much runs the risk of taking out the "voice" of your piece. Admissions essays should be professional, of course, but they also need to be personal, and your first draft is probably the one that expresses your voice the clearest. So revise and correct that first draft but don't overdo it or the essay becomes too mechanical.

do you agree, teach?

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I'm glad you brought this up. As you note, there is often a difference between a personal and professional voice. As I was writing the original post, I was struggling with the distinction. I wanted to write in my 2p2 voice, which is me being a twentysomething dude, but I also wanted to maintain a sense of credibility so people thought I knew what I was talking about.

Writing with a sense of personal voice can be beneficial in an essay. You don't want to sound like everyone else, and you don't want it to sound sanitized. I guess you would have to find a balance between the personal and the professional. Writing in a personal voice is good, provided it is not the "voice" you use when you are out with your friends on Friday night.

I am not sure, however, that there is a necessary connection between the amount of time spent revising and how much one's "voice" comes through in a piece. Many professional writers, including poets, for whom voice is crucial, spend hours and hours revising. ***Rarely do professional writers think a first draft is good enough****. It is hard work to get thoughts from your head to words on the page, and few people get it right the first time.