I get questions all the time. Here’s a popular one I receive from applicants…
Q: I just got rejected by my Early Decision school. Should I rewrite my essay?
A: Don’t make any rush decisions. Take a deep breath. Look, you don’t know if your essay hurt your chances, no one knows except the admissions office of that school. Here’s something else you shouldn’t do: Do not send your essay to 100s of people looking for their opinion. This will only confuse you more. Identify two or three people you trust. If they don’t have admissions experience, they should at least have kids who got into school, or are writers, or at least sensible people who will read your essay. Take their advice and see what the commonality is. Are you hearing the same opinion again and again? If yes, act on that advice. But again, be careful not to make wholesale changes to your application or your essay.