<p>What does everyone think about the essay options on common app? Personally I am having a really hard time thinking of a topic to write about...</p>
<p>Do you think that for the question about what concerns you about your world I could isolate my world to the US?</p>
<p>I think that the point of these weird essay prompts is to get original, genuine, and varying responses from applicants. With the recent research of UNC’s Admissions office into the fact that even APs don’t indicate a students’ collegiate success, they need some type of standardized criteria (like essay prompts) to evaluate whether the students they admit will make a real contribution to the Carolina Community.</p>
<p>The question you asked is a bit of a technicality — the real answer is “it doesn’t matter, as long as the admissions officer believes in you after he/she reads it.” The admissions officer isn’t looking at technicalities (“blast it! This student completely misconstrued what I meant by ‘your world’!”) as much as a student they’d really like to admit to UNC — you know, an interesting person, who does interesting stuff. Your world could be planet Earth or the street you live on. Note how carefully this is worded — “your world.” A well-written tale of how you helped mend a squirrel’s leg in your bedroom — thus doing something to improve <em>your</em> world — may come across better than spitting out your general viewpoints about how to improve Afghanistan (the actual world).</p>
<p>That advice is definitely harder to implement than I’m giving credit for, but I hope it helps in some way. Pass it by a few adults. Best of luck on the essays!</p>
<p>I’m doing the essay about improving “your world” as well. But, do they want an essay about your idea on how <em>you</em> are going to improve it specifically or do they only want to hear about you? Like, am I trying to sell them my idea, is that okay? It just seems like I’m putting too much focus on the idea and not myself, but the two are very intertwined.</p>