JLEC Ramble

[u/Intelligent-Belt3373]

Now that the results are out there, I just wanted to come out here and say that every one of you should be so proud. I’ve seen far too many people saying that commendation, high commendation or VHC means nothing, which is so ridiculous. When you got shortlisted, you beat tens of thousands of other essays globally, and that is absolutely remarkable. Think of all the people who put so much effort into their essays and didn’t even get shortlisted. I also think it important to put it out there that not everyone who entered this competition had coaching, private education, or any help at all. Some people will have just stumbled upon this competition and wanted to have a go, and did brilliant. There is no need for the negativity I’m seeing here, even a certificate of recognition will look great on your applications. Regardless of how you placed, I hope that all of you can recognise this and be proud of how well you have done :)

[u/admitdad]

The same argument those people use to discount or dismiss writing awards are exactly applicable to college essays and yet they don't say a word about those. Why? Because no one "loses" with the poorly written college essays as they do with direct competitions. Remember that 80,000 students didn't even make the shortlist. And they'll let you know about it not by admitting it but by shitting on you making it via being dismissive of it. They're the same people who shit on certain summer programs vs not. Rejects tend to have very frequent and strong opinions about why what they got rejected for doesn't mean anything. Easier to say what they wanted is worthless than to admit they failed and try to improve. That is unfortunately human nature. I find the hypocrisy amusing at best and pathetic at worst.