Do College Admissions Essays really matter?

[LetsHugItOut]

Not a direct answer, but: You've put in a lot of work over the last four years to position yourself well for getting into college -- why not knock yourself out for the next month, write a couple of great essays, and feel as good as possible about your application?

Essays might not be the most important piece of an application, but they are important. And I disagree with the poster above -- "imaginative" and "great" ARE things you should be shooting for in your essays. Admissions officers aren't looking to pick apart or criticize your essays -- they're looking to get a sense of the student. The only two real objectives of admissions essays, IMO, are 1) to reveal something about the student and 2) to stand out.

If your essay topics are open-ended (like the common app was when I applied in 2005), a good route is to pick a quirky interest of yours and write about it. The quirkiness will stand out; that it's an interest will reveal something about you.