Paste a personal statement or supplemental answer. You get a score on six criteria, quotes from your essay, and one concrete fix for each point.
Described in our own words. Admissions readers have no single public rubric, so this one is ours, and we say so on how we grade.
Start with the criterion that scored lowest, not the first paragraph. One strong fix there moves the total more than polishing a sentence that already works.
Each note points at one sentence you wrote. If the "why" does not match how it reads to you, trust your ear and ask a teacher or counselor.
The rewrite example covers one sentence and shows a direction, not a replacement. Write your own version, then grade the new draft to see which criteria moved.
Sample essay written by us, scored by the grader. It shows what a note looks like for a weaker criterion.
I used to think all this repetition was a kind of punishment. Then one Saturday a regular named Mrs. Okafor asked who had made the soup5, and my mother pointed at me. Mrs. Okafor said it tasted like her own mother's kitchen. I went red and hid behind the dish pit6, but I thought about that sentence for weeks.
“Then one Saturday a regular named Mrs. Okafor asked who had made the soup”
“I went red and hid behind the dish pit”
Estimates: 5 of 6 for Structure & flow and 5 of 6 for Voice & language.
Both openings were written by us for this page. The scores show how the Hook & opening criterion separates a general start from a specific one.
“Ever since I was young, I have been passionate about helping people, and this passion has shaped who I am today.”
Hook & opening: 2 of 6 (estimate)
It makes a claim about the writer instead of showing a moment. Many applicants could have written it, so it gives the reader nothing to remember.
“The first thing I learned at my family's restaurant was how to fold a napkin.”
Hook & opening: 5 of 6 (estimate)
A person, a place and a small task in one line. It does not yet hint at why the napkin matters, which is why it is a 5 and not a 6.
The Common App personal essay is 250 to 650 words, with 650 as the maximum. That range is quoted on UNC's admissions page about the prompts (read 2026-11-03), and the Common App announced its 2026–27 prompts on its own site. Supplemental answers, such as "Why us" or short questions, have limits set by each school, so enter yours in the word-limit box and the tool will flag overruns.
Always confirm the current limit in your application portal before you submit.
This is an estimate from a rubric we wrote, not an admissions score, and no tool can tell you whether a school will admit you. We never write or rewrite your essay; examples are one sentence long.
No. It grades what you wrote and shows how to improve it. Rewrite examples cover a single sentence.
No. Admissions offices do not publish a single scoring rubric, so ours is a plain-language set of six criteria we explain on how we grade.
Yes. Paste the prompt, set the word limit, and grade as usual.
The Common App personal essay runs 250 to 650 words. A draft near the top of that range is common, but length is not scored here: the tool grades how well the essay uses the words it has.
You can paste one, add the prompt and set its word limit. The six criteria still apply, but the grader does not know the school, so it cannot judge how well you match it.
No. It is a feedback tool for your own writing, not an AI-text detector.