<p>My D was looking at the Common App essay options and was drawn to this; "Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?"</p>
<p>And i wanted to fill in a few details for you all to see if all think this is right direction:</p>
<ol>
<li>The story starts sophomore year when she was nominated for State's top academic honor...300 kids (out of 300,000) are selected annually for the summer-long program.</li>
<li>She made it to the final of 3 rounds (unusual for a sophomore)</li>
<li>She really really worked to get there...in particular, on the 3-page questionnaire which included a series of essay questions.</li>
<li>When she got into the room for the 3-man interview, she was asked "why didn't you fill out the essays?" And long story short, the guidance counselor from her school had xeroxed the top page of the form 3 times and left off all of the sections except for the name/address/etc. I'll note that my kid attends a large urban public high school and this CG is <em>overwhelmed</em> with work. That said, it was still really a killer. The committee was nice about it but they were eager to find reasons to reject (all of the finalists were very cool kids) so they talked with her for a few minutes and that was that.</li>
<li> My kid was really bummed out. (I was too :) But really long story short, she started looking around for summer activities, found an international program at Georgetown that changed the direction of her high school career and plans for the future, that new direction led to an internship with u.s. embassy in africa this past summer...and that internship led to another political/agriculture part-time job here in our state. It's been an amazing 18 months. </li>
</ol>
<p>So now the questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>its sort of a back-handed "failure" isn't it? Yet maybe she could work in such a way that doesn't sound insufferable? (I'm reminded of the job applicant when asked to name his weakness,"I'm sometimes accused of working too hard.")</p></li>
<li><p>i also don't want to call out the CG for more embarassment (it was already noted by the commitee and she was reprimanded for it) but she can't see the essay portion of the common app, right? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>If this experience was a turning point in her academic pathway (found a new passion etc) then I think it would be a nice way to use this prompt. My initial impression is that you really wouldn’t want to go into great detail about why she didn’t get selected for the special program. I wouldn’t go into any explanation or “excuses” for why she wasn’t selected. I mean, you are presuming anyhow, right? I would begin from the point that she wanted this program, made it to the final round but didn’t get selected. Then make the bulk of the essay start from the place where she was disappointed, had to make alternate plans and how she flourished in the alternate direction. Focus on the positives of what she ended up doing. </p>
<p>VSG, that’s a very good point and I agree she should emphasize that…even if all 3 pages had been there, she most likely would not have been selected. So the essay becomes not about the excuse but about how doors open and close at low moments…ya know? </p>
<p>I feel like she should be talking about a failure of her own, rather than the counsellor’s failure. I could have read the post wrong, but it sounded like it was that way. The response to the failure essay should be the writer’s own failure, not someone else’s.</p>
<p>Also, it seems strange to me that you’re talking about failure after she made it so far - I would gladly trade places with her to have been honoured at such a high level (not saying that the lack of scans doesn’t suck, but…). I think if she wants to write about the failure prompt, it should be something that can really only be seen as a failure.</p>
<p>Just my opinions, though. You’ll want to see what other people say.</p>
<p>I wrote this essay last year when I wanted to be an engineer, and I talked about how I’m a germaphobe and tried (and completely and utterly failed) to fix a vacuum cleaner… If she really likes this prompt, the topic doesn’t have to be something of major importance.</p>
<p>@nagintapls thats not entirely true. Last year, I wrote my common app essay on why I got a C+ in physics junior year (was a teacher issue, but I had my own flaws too) and what I learned from it (importance of self advocating). I got a personal note on one of my acceptance letters about how they loved reading about me learning to advocate for myself, which was directly about my essay.</p>
<p>@guineagirl96 I guess I should have specified. I mean don’t talk about academic failure if its going to be the same old cliched story talking about how you learned not to give up and such. If there is a creative or unique twist on it, then it would be ok.</p>
<p>I agree with @LAMuniv. It doesn’t sound much like her failure. Essays are supposed to be personal, and this doesn’t seem personal. It may make it look like she’s blaming her GC for not getting into the program. Plus, if she doesn’t write it just right, she may sound like “that kid” (the kid who complains about getting a 2320 on the SAT instead of a 2400) since she advanced to the final out of 300,000, and colleges don’t find that attractive.</p>
<p>There really is no way to answer the end of the prompt which is “what did you learn?” What is your D supposed to say- I learned not to trust my counselors because nobody is worth trusting? Plus, she made it that far…not really a failure. Kinda seems like an attempt to show off academic achievement</p>