This article is an excerpt from the book College Essays That Made a Difference

As Jim Miller, dean of admissions at Bowdoin College told us, "A great essay could heal the sick but couldn't raise the dead." We know of no college whose admissions office places more weight on the essay than they do on your high school GPA. Almost without exception (the exception being those colleges who don't require test scores, like Bates College), the two most important factors in your application are your GPA and standardized test scores. If you are reading this very early in high school, make getting good grades your top priority. When it comes time to take the SAT or ACT, prepare well for it, take it once, and kick its ass. If you're reading this in the fall of your senior year and your GPA is in the toilet, the essay is unlikely to save you-it's not going to negate your track record and get you into a highly competitive school.

Which doesn't mean that you should give up before you begin. The consensus among most admissions officers is that the essay can both help and hurt you, but it can help you more. That is reason enough to put your best effort into writing it. It is, after all, the one part of your college application over which you have total control.

It's also important to note that no matter how impressive your grades and test scores and extracurriculars are, admissions decisions by these top-flight schools involve subjective elements that you can't control. But don't try to be someone else in your essay, someone whom you think they want to see. That's the job of a con artist, and it almost never works in the admissions office. Besides, conning people leaves you feeling all icky inside. Why bother?

From the Admissions Officers: Weighing the Essay
Alyssa Sinclair, assistant director of admissions at Middlebury College: The most compelling essay must be accompanied by the rest of the "package."

John Latting, director of admissions at Johns Hopkins University: There are essays that are compelling, that make the difference. So students should know that essays should be taken seriously. If a student puts effort into essays, they should help his or her chances. The remarkable thing about essays is that there's no ceiling on quality, unlike SAT scores or GPAs. A great essay can carry a student. A poorly done essay might do the opposite. It can certainly determine the initial path an application takes through the process. We start at the beginning. The first sentence is read carefully, then the first paragraph is closely read, and then it's open-ended from there . . . if it's high quality, we'll examine everything. The very first sentence should accomplish a lot . . . the essays I remember do that-similar to a short story. Some students don't dive right in; they try to set up their case, crafting what turns out to be dry prose. They don't have time to do that.

Can an essay move an application from the "maybe" pile to the "accept" pile? From the "maybe" pile to the "reject" pile?
Jennifer Wong, director of admissions at Claremont McKenna College: An essay can swing a vote either way, but other factors in an application come into play as well.

Middlebury: In our process, a compelling essay can keep an applicant in contention, but if the rest of the application falls short, then a great essay will not be enough.

Matthew Swanson, assistant director of admissions at Williams College: An essay alone will not get a student into Williams, no matter how exquisitely it is written. The essay is an important part of the gestalt that is each application. The academic foundation is essential for an application to be viable. Such extras as a strong essay, strong prose support from teachers and peers, and a powerful extracurricular profile are compelling reasons to take one applicant over another equally qualified applicant.

If you have an applicant with lower numbers but a great essay, what do you do?
Virginia Harrison, associate dean of admissions at Bates College: If a student hasn't done too well in school but writes a great essay, that student should give us other writing that backs up the essay. We expect a lot from the essay, but one of the reasons that we welcome other writing is all the hype surrounding the essay. Sometimes the essay is not the applicant's best writing because they might write what they believe we want.

Jim Miller, dean of admissions at Bowdoin College: Confirm that [the] essay is not an anomaly. Go to their school and ask about their writing.

Claremont McKenna: It might give the student a slight bump up. Depends on the essay.

Lorne T. Robinson, dean of admissions and financial aid at Macalester College: We read the rest of the application and make a decision based on everything, not on individual parts.

Middlebury: If a student has scores below our averages but rank-in-class and GPA that suggest real academic talent, then a strong essay can be a help to the applicant. If all the academic indicators suggest that a student is not a strong candidate for Middlebury, then even a very strong essay will not result in an admit.

Joel Bauman, dean of admissions at New College of Florida: If the student's application is borderline and the writing is excellent, we might well give them the benefit of the doubt and ask the student to interview or submit an extra quarter or semester of grades or other materials. If it is early in the cycle, we will set aside the application and counsel the student to do whatever it takes to present information that will allay our concerns regarding academic success at the college.

Carol Lunkenheimer, dean of admissions at Northwestern University: We'd have to look at everything. Grades are most important. It's rare that a good essay would overcome bad grades.

USCGA: Numbers are only a small part-and essays are only small part.

Matthew Swanson, assistant director of admissions at Williams College: A weak academic record will prohibit an applicant from being admitted, no matter how strong their essay might be.