[quote=bearishgurl]yamashi, the CSU hasn’t required or even wanted an essay from an applicant in at least ten years. I don’t believe the UC requires essays for admission, either. (Any Pigg please correct me if I’m wrong about this.) [/quote] Good to know, I’ll tell my kids in another 8 years after we know what they want to do. From my personal experience I don’t remember applying to a school without an essay portion on the application. Also, I had a couple who I had to interview with. There were some that needed references who the school would call. I made sure that I got some high ranking state officials on that one.