The dreaded personal essay used to be the toughest part of the college-admissions process for the applicant. These days it's admissions officers who fret about student writing--and not just because they fall asleep reading endless takes on "overcoming adversity." They've got weightier concerns--plagiarized essays, students who receive excessive help from parents or writing coaches, and questions about whether to consider the controversial new writing samples on standardized tests in admissions decisions. In an effort to evaluate applicants' writing, colleges are adopting new strategies to try to ascertain whether their applicants got too much assistance with their essays. These strategies include: (1) requiring a graded paper from the student's high school; (2) asking essay questions that virtually beg for an authentic student voice; and (3) matching essays that seem too polished against the unvarnished sample on the SAT.