<p>Hi Everyone,</p>
<p>It seems that I encounter writer's block. I'm stuck in my Intellectual Vitality Essay and have the following questions. I hope Stanford students/admits can kindly shed some light :)</p>
<p>What do you think should the Intellectual Vitality Essay convey?
- Your passion for SOMETHING
- The meaning of THAT THING to you (what you learn from it)
- What is THAT THING
- How you start doing THAT THING
- Why you love THAT THING</p>
<p>My question, well, sounds a bit stupid. But you understand such anxiety when you couldn’t write anything.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re already thinking outside of the box, which is good! Past essays that I’ve read and heard about for this prompt have focused on academics. Most people think of it as an essay where you show off your intellectual prowess, but you could really apply intellectual vitality to anything at all. A good way to think about it is to think about something you love doing that requires some kind of thought; not necessarily academically centered thought, but just critical thinking of some sort. Write about how your passion for that thing involves thought, and how it has enriched your life in some shape or form. </p>
<p>Does that help any?</p>
<p>@just20706,</p>
<p>Thank you so much. I realize what matters is MYSELF. I should spend some time reflecting on myself.</p>
<p>I guess they prefer to see non-academic topics if they’re well written, many students can talk about how science summer programs stiumlate them, which is nice and all but repetitive for adcoms.</p>
<h1>2 and #5 on your list hit the mark, i’d say, regardless of your topic. i had a super “academic” topic, a new theory used in signal processing and applied math, and i know another admit who went a different direction and talked about music. i know this is a clich</h1>
<p>@GlobalDolphin,
Thanks so much! You mind if I ask are you an admit?</p>
<p>@thecube,
Thanks so much too! Congratulations on your acceptance! Your experience really impresses me.</p>
<p>I talked about my research. Honestly, talk about something that you will prolly interest you in college or something that you have had extensive experience with. I know one person talked about Queer Theory and was admitted, and another about biotech… the point of this essay is to make sure that you are not only smart, but can think outside the box/a pioneer within whatever you have chosen to write about.
It should convey all five. 4 is not that important.</p>
<p>Completely agree with just20706, et al: I think academics is probably a bit overdone, and you shouldn’t be afraid to stray away from it. Try and come up with a unique experience that taught you something valuable - no matter what that experience was. For me, it was drawing superheroes after school in pre-K with a buddy haha. Think of something that no one else would write, not “Oh, AP Chem gave me better study-skills!” or something to that effect. Unless studying is something you can say you’re truly excited by… lol</p>
<p>To be intellectual means to be able to understand and reason complex ideas. If you can convey that you can do that – no matter what the situation – you’ll be alright! And yes, showing how you learned/gained from the situation is key.</p>
<p>No, I haven’t applied yet. This is just my guess based on what I’ve read online and inferred.</p>
<p>IMO the key is to demonstrate that you actually understand what intellectual vitality is, and that it can be applied to most any undertaking. I would say intellectual vitality requires deep curiosity and a willingness to maintain an open mind so that you can incorporate new data and continually refine your understanding, in addition to reasoning ability and mental stamina. If you can demonstrate those qualities, your essay can be about virtually any topic.</p>
<p>My S took a different approach. He stayed away fr academics on this essay. He wrote about his passion for a hobby (which I wont mention here anymore). He discussed how it may only be a hobby but it requires a lot of analysis and critical thinking that challenges him a lot - and that few people engage in that hobby bec of that. It was so simple but unique essay. I think the people who read his essay liked it so much bec they even mentioned it in a handwritten note attached on his acceptance packet.</p>
<p>If I may add, on all his essays, he never mentioned anything about academics at all. He believes that the numbers (GPA, SAT/ACT, etc) already speaks for itself, that’s why he went that route.</p>
<p>@hillary, I agree with you that the essay is not a place to brag about your work ethic/grades. Tell them something they don’t already know.</p>