<p>Stanford students are widely known to possess a sense of intellectual vitality. Tell us about an idea or an experience you have had that you find intellectually engaging.</p>
<p>What are ya'll talking about? cars? computers? human brain? It's a really vague topic...</p>
<p>And: Virtually all of Stanford's undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate--and us--know you better.</p>
<p>Are you guys doing like "Dear Future Room Mate" format?</p>
<p>Intellectual vitality is just what it is described as in the prompt. "Tell us about an idea or an experience you have had that you find intellectually engaging." Literally, it can be anything ...flying cars, computers, etc. My essay last year was about scientific research that I had been heavily involved in.</p>
<p>For the roommate essay, I've seen it go both ways. While you can start it off as "Dear Future Roommate" - it certainly doesn't have to - mine didn't.</p>
<p>For the first question, I wrote about water purification in third-world countries. It's exactly what the question asks--literally anything that you've ever been interested in. It doesn't even necessarily have to be something you know a lot about.</p>
<p>My roommate letter was in e-mail format, and instead of focusing on "me" generally, I focused on one characteristic that I have and that has helped me the most in getting to where I am today (or wherever I was when I wrote that essay).</p>