<p>"Are we alone? [Tufts University]" "How do you feel about Wednesday? [University of Chicago]" "Can a toad hear? Prove it. [Bennington College]" See the other 17.</p>
<p>20</a> Strange College Application Essay Questions | Ace Online Schools</p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>Now that’s a career to which a kid could aspire: College Essay Question Developer.</p>
<p>Here’s another, from Brandeis: “If you could be raised by aliens, robots, or dinosaurs, which would you choose and why?”</p>
<p>I’m just glad I’m not applying to UChicago. I mean, “Your work must include at least four of the following elements: a paper airplane, a transformation, a shoe, the invisible hand, two doors, pointillism, a fanciful explanation of the Pythagorean Theorem, a ventriloquist or ventriloquism, the Periodic Table of the Elements, the concept of jeong, number two pencils.”</p>
<p>I mean, I think it’s great that students are given platforms to express their creativity, but what…the…FAWK?!</p>
<p>Redemption:</p>
<p>What? You’ve got to be kidding. These topics make me want to apply there, just for fun.</p>
<p>It would be torture to read some of those essays, and I’m not sure the college really gets a great sense of the student in those answers.</p>
<p>I remember the NYU ones from last year and they were fine. But some of these are just borderline ********. The UChicago application has turned into a joke. Something tells me that the UChicago adcoms actually belong to the Second City comedy troupe.</p>
<p>In addition to rymd’s point about Second City, I also believe that this is really just elaborate performance art.</p>
<p>The toad one is weird. I mean, can a college essay consist of the single sentence, “We know toads can hear because when a male toad calls, a female lets him hump her.” Perhaps we have to do the field research first to prove that when male toads are bound with duct tape they can’t call and have no reproductive success? Either way I don’t want to know about it. Hence my time well spent here on CC musing. I will say that these schools must be looking for a very particular type of student. Or is it just that quirky/odd/funky/playful/whimsical is in style these days?</p>
<p>Man, I wish one of my essays had been like that. It’s a tad bit harder to show what a unique thinker you are with questions like “why do you want to attend _<strong><em>?” or “how can you contribute to diversity here at _</em></strong>?”</p>
<p>The 217 one for Penn is gone</p>
<p>These out-there essay topics are awesome – I wish more schools offered them. Sure, writing college essays will probably never be “fun,” but these prompts basically demand a little more honesty and creativity and risk. And honest, creative, risky work is almost always best.</p>
<p>hey, the bennington one isn’t as weird as you make it sound!</p>
<p>"Option 2 Design an experiment that attempts to determine whether toads can hear. Provide the rationale for your designexplain your reasons for setting up the experiment as you did. Strive for simplicity and clarity. "</p>
<p>it shows that a student is capable of analytical thinking. it actually sounds like a very logical essay, imo.</p>
<p>Even more unnerving, the link to “The Weird World of YouTube College Applications”.</p>
<p>The problem with the Bennington essay is it would be presented better as a design diagram, and I could probably fit my response into 150-200 words, which I’m guessing would look rather sparse.</p>
<p>Anyway, I love the UChicago one. A break from the “Why is this college the best place ever? EGO BOOST US” and “Tell us why you’re SOOOOO special” essays.</p>
<p>I can’t believe UNC’s “breakfast of champions” question didn’t make the cut.</p>
<p>Chicago’s “Find X” one should provide really interesting answers. I was thinking of answering along the lines of “well one year I went to Coachella/Ultra/Lollapalooza/Bonnaroo and found a lot”</p>
<p>Wow, I kinda wish I was applying to UChicago now, that’d be fun. I wrote a haiku for my senior quote, it went something like this:</p>
<p>You are a snowflake,
There is only one of you.
Thank god for that, huh?</p>
<p>Think I’d make it in?</p>
<p>Chicago: Find X</p>
<p>I kind of wish I was applying to some of these places just so I could tackle those essay prompts, haha.</p>