The Required Paper
October 9, 2025 2025-10-15 12:17The Required Paper
The usefulness of college essays
A college essay is an admission requirement to get into a college of the scholar’s desire; some colleges require it, others do not. The essay can be about almost anything the student wishes to write about. From life experiences to embarrassing moments, it provides a glimpse of who that person is and showcases why that college should accept them into their school, what they would contribute to their school, and how it illustrates their skills.
“I feel like they are, because they get an idea of who the student is, who is going to the campus, and what the student can accomplish,” said Deerfield Beach High School senior Haidy Garcia.
All students alike have differing opinions on the topic. Many people find college essays to be essential for a college to get a view of who they are accepting into their school and whether or not they would be a good fit. If a college does not know anything about the people they are accepting, they could end up accepting people with a good record but a terrible work ethic, or someone who is not good at working with other people.
“No, because college essays do not really explain everything about you, like you could just tell somebody something about you, but you do not know if they are telling the truth,” said DBHS senior Oliver Blanc. “That is why you have to be in person, so the people can see what you are really like and what your work ethic is.”
Many people find college essays to be useless or a waste of time since anyone can lie on a document being sent over to an institution. Some people believe that the more sympathetic people are, the more likely someone is to be accepted due to how heartfelt an essay can be. However, this can cause issues for people who get rejected simply because their essay was not strong enough; although it is a rare occurrence, people bring awareness to it since they find academic achievements to be more important than anything else regarding college.
“I feel like they are not because it gives the person that is reading your essay or whoever is going to accept you into the college, an idea of who you are, but I feel like they are not necessary at all because it does not do anything in my opinion,” said DBHS senior Guili Adolabissiere.
It can be challenging to come up with a theme to write an essay on. Someone can simply write what a college would want to hear, and not who they truly are as a person. People should be free to express themselves as who they are as individuals. If the point is to sound ideal, then colleges might be more personality draining than expected.
