Can a good essay compensate for bad grades?
It’s possible Your own perception of your growth is important. If your performance steadily improved, a college essay might be able to explain why. If theres a reason why you didnt do well in school, the college essay can communicate that. Ive had students write about overcoming a learning disability in their college essay. Perhaps the most dramatic case I have to illustrate the power of a college essay is a bright, funny student who earned Cs and Ds in his courses, and was advised by his counselor to go to a community college. He told me that his dad, who had become a quadriplegic several years ago after a boating accident, was a brilliant information technology specialist. He had taught his son to be his hands, and since sixth grade, he had been building computers and doing consulting. He found school boring. His essay got him into New Jersey Institute of Technology with no problem.
