<p>Hello all!</p>
<p>So, when I applied to Emory, on my Common App essay, I used a little humor here and there to keep with the lighthearted tone of the entire work. I was talking about cooking and how it varies for me, so I included this remark:</p>
<p>"I never know what I may come up with. It may be something extremely delicious or something that tastes extremely horrid. It may be something life changing or something that gives a person diarrhea."</p>
<p>Do you think the ad com who is reading my essay will understand that it's an exaggeration? That it was used for comic purposes? By "it" I mean the last sentence - I am worried it might be a little inappropriate?</p>
<p>I don't know why I am worrying about it right now since I already turned in my app...but any help is much appreciated!</p>
<p>Oh, by “it” I mean the last sentence. </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Tough to say without reading the entire thing.</p>
<p>You’re really gambling on the personality of the adcom, whether or not they’re having a good day, etc…</p>
<p>Only you can decide if it’s worth it.</p>
<p>I can show you the whole essay in a PM, if you want. But do you think the use of the word diarrhea is inappropriate?</p>
<p>Yes, if you’d like.</p>
<p>Overall, I wouldn’t worry about this. I wouldn’t have used it personally, but I don’t think it’s inappropriate. It’s borderline, though.</p>
<p>I have two thoughts about this.
- It must get awfully boring reading essays that are all the same. I think you want the overall essay to convey something meaningful about you, but if you could use humor to do that I would think it would be appreciated. The fact that you can use exaggeration as a form of humor says something about you and it’s not necessarily bad. I do think you wouldn’t want an essay to devolve into slapstick. Your quote doesn’t. And who cares about the word diarrhea??</p>
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<li>You’ve already turned in the essay. Let it go. Nobody has any idea how the person on the other end will read it-- whether they’re having a good day, have a sense of humor at all, can relate to whatever topic you choose and so on. You gave it your best shot as did all the other applicants. Breathe a sigh of relief that this part of the process is over and let the chips fall where they may. The fact that you are fretting about it on this site suggests that you are an engaged, motivated student and surely Emory or some other school will be thrilled to get you!</li>
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<p>The essay is quite good. It’s not going to be a problem.</p>