frequently asked questionsessays
How do I save and submit an essay?
You can access the essays portion of ApplyTexas in one of two ways:
- If you are on the Essay Requirements/Essay Information page of any admissions application that requires essays, you will see a list of your required essays. Each essay type is a link that will open a new window that will contain the appropriate section of the essay submission page. You may save essays via this window in the application itself as well as by the My Essays tab. Beginning with applications for Summer and Fall 2009, you can only SAVE essays prior to submitting your admissions application. At the time you submit your application, you will have the choice to SUBMIT all saved essays with your application, or to submit each essay individually later via the My Essays tab.
- If you are on the My Account page, you can click on the My Essays tab to access a list of the institutions that require essays and which essays you've saved, submitted or still need to submit to each. You can also readily access the essay submission system from this tab.
When I review the text I want to submit, I notice I've lost my formatting.
Any text you input will be converted to a mono-space font and any formatting you may have done (bullets, tabs, etc.) will be lost. In addition, if you cut and paste your essay from Word, some characters may not translate properly.
Before submitting an essay online, we strongly recommend that you compose and save your essay in a program that uses a mono-spaced font (like NotePad), then copy and paste it into the ApplyTexas essays submission text box.
Before you submit, you will be asked to review your essay. The text you see will be what is sent to the university. Be sure to check through your essay, check the last line to ensure nothing has been cut off and make any necessary revisions before you submit.
Using one of the essay submission access points listed above, select a topic and simply copy and paste your saved essay into the appropriate on-line essay topic. Repeat for each topic for which you wish to submit an essay.
You will be able to view and edit your essays once they've been submitted. You can submit each essay up to two times. You will also be able to view a list of how many and which types of essays (e.g., Essay A; 2 custom essays) you have submitted. You may wish to keep a record of the essays you have submitted.
Be sure to review each essay before submitting it. A maximum of 120 lines per essay will be sent. If your essay looks incomplete on the "Review Essay" page, edit it before submitting.
How can I find out the essay requirements for a particular school?
Not every school requires essays. Essay requirements also vary by application type and university. You can look up essay requirements using the University Information page, via the Essay page of your individual university admissions application or you can look them up in your saved application using the "Submit an essay" option. Any essay requirements (required and optional) will appear.
You can submit an essay on-line at any time as long as you have a saved or submitted application on file.