One of the hardest parts of applying to college is figuring out what in the hell they want you to submit. Many of my videos point the finger at top 50 universities, but less selective institutions also add madness to the system. Debates about the SAT and going test-optional are the hot topic right now, but less discussed are other recommend or optional items like essays and recommendation letters. In this video, I discuss the ambiguity around optional admissions, honors, and scholarship essays.

First, let’s consider less-selective Texas Tech University. They start offering scholarships to Texas residents ranking in the top 10 percent and scoring a 19 or higher on the ACT. For Fall 2021 and 2022 applicants, they presented five “optional” scholarship essays exceeding 1,500 words.

It’s ridiculous for a university that makes admissions decisions—and most scholarship offers—based solely on academics to have essays at all. Texas Tech doesn’t explain how these essays are used or why they’re offered. The essays simply appear on Apply Texas without further comment. I learned about them only when students started asking if they were really optional or not. I didn’t have an answer. Blog posts that say “if it’s optional, you need to submit it” add further confusion to what you should or shouldn’t bother submitting.

The University of California application allows an optional 550-word special circumstances essay. Yet, they suggest “this shouldn’t be an essay, but rather a place to explain unusual personal or family circumstances…” A befuddled nonnative English–speaking client rightly wondered, “How to understand the sentence ‘This shouldn’t be an essay?’ If it’s not an essay, what form of writing will it be?” I have no idea.

Students inevitably feel pressure to submit “optional” items because ambiguity around admissions vocabulary requires families to read between the lines. Or they visit the misinformation machine College Confidential to divine what universities really want.

“Optional” essays, beyond requesting if applicants have any special or exceptional circumstances, only add to their overburdened workload. Students constantly worry about whether they’re doing the right thing. My colleague Janine Robinson is headed in the right direction with her “Escape Essay Hell” branding. Students, maybe for your next AP Literature assignment, you can discuss how college essays deserve a special place somewhere among Dante’s nine circles.

The pandemic exposes the uncertainty around whether “test-optional” schools genuinely are indifferent to whether you submit the standardized exams or might low-key penalize you for opting out. Universities leave open to interpretation whether extracurriculars and leadership matter even more, and if so, how they’re weighted in place of the SAT.

How is an applicant supposed to make sense of this waffling test-optional language on Texas Tech’s scholarship page? “While students may select test-optional for admission purposes, students may submit test scores for scholarship consideration.” Do applicants need or not need test scores for scholarship consideration? I have no idea, and I’m a college whisperer for a living.

Additionally, Fall 2021 University of Houston Honors Program applicants received a surprise email. UH Honors isn’t especially selective. Half of their admitted students score between 1300 and 1400 on the SAT and 31 percent rank outside of the top 10 percent of their class, which is below average for non-honors admission to UT-Austin and Texas A&M. Consideration for UH honors requires an atypical essay without further explanation, a deadline, or submission instructions.

It’s unlike any requirement for honors programs or regular admissions requirements at any Texas university. They ask for “a full-length academic writing sample: 3–5 page literary analysis paper with a central thesis and strong supporting arguments.” Never mind that most research papers that students submit for AP English Language or Literature are often longer than five pages or are much shorter, sloppy “timed writings” to prepare for AP exams. What, precisely, does Houston Honors mean by “full length?”

A client of mine who submitted a literary analysis of a Shakespearean play between three and five pages received an email from UH Honors staff that it was too short and needed to be longer, adding additional stress to the applicant. Her font size was 14 instead of 11 or 12 despite those parameters not having been specified in the application. She added another page and a half of fluff. UH Honors’ other problems are that STEM students may be less strong in literary analysis, and international applicants may not have a ready-made sample.

A test-optional UH Honors applicant will submit upward of 5,000 words worth of essays. I’m confident UH Honors can admit a strong class of students without sneaky hoops for applicants to jump through, especially during an already-disruptive pandemic. Without an onerous “literary analysis” requirement, they would undoubtedly receive more applications and perhaps have a larger pool of talent to select from. Honors staff could save a substantial amount of time by not having to skim so many research papers.

What’s the point in having an application common to all Texas universities if member institutions and specific programs are free to add or subtract requirements from year to year, and even within admissions cycles, as their whims see fit? Institutions are not incentivized to surrender some of their control and standardize requirements among one another. UH Honors making up bullshit busy work as the semester progresses reflects a broader failure of universities nationwide to adequately open or educate their students. Students and families suffer due to bureaucratic incompetence.

Unclear requirements or how optional essays are reviewed suggests that universities do not care about you.