<p>Do you think it's alright if I didn't pick the most serious topics for them? Like for the outrage one, I wrote about the BCS in college football. For the define 'cool,' I wrote 'cool' is when something is slightly colder than its normal or desired temperatue. Then for the one, ...is not worth knowing, I wrote the experience of receiving a rejection letter from Wake Forest. Are these things bad to write about; should I have wrote more seriously?</p>
<p>YES, you should write seriously. Colleges use these short-answer prompts to see who if fact does take them seriously. Most kids spend a gazillion hours polishing their main essay but skim on the short responses. </p>
<p>From the Director of Admissions:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wake Forest's admissions application emphasizes writing and composition with ten short-answer questions and one essay. Take your time and think about each question. Your responses should be serious, thoughtful and indicative of you. Proofread.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>How indicative of YOU are your responses?</p>
<p>deleted duplicate post...sry.</p>
<p>I disagree with bluebayou. As long as you write about something in an intelligent and coherent fashion, it should be okay. They are trying to determine how well you can form an argument and express it, not for your political opinions. When they say treat it seriously, they mean don't write in stream of consciousness and treat it like a short essay. What you are writing about can be anything imaginable.</p>
<p>ummm well for mine, i took about half of them seriously and then was just clever with about half of them... not sure if "slightly cold" is clever or generic, but i think the bcs one is good</p>
<p>
[quote]
They are trying to determine how well you can form an argument and express it....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That is only part of it, but that is better accomplished in the long essay(s). Adcoms at highly selective colleges, particularly smaller colleges, are trying to build a class of Frosh. All of the stuff they ask for help them understand you from a PERSONAL level, (and not whether you are prospect for the debate team). </p>
<p>The Admission Director's is quite clear in what they seek. Clever can work, if you are clever. Flip can work if you are genuinely flip -- but that also calls into question whether that is an appealing attribute for the Frosh class. IMO, the OP's response to "cool" is neither, and quite frankly, probably been done before.</p>
<p>Just my takes-</p>
<p>The BCS: probably not a "bad" choice, as long as it says something about you as a person (and not only that you are a football fanatic). If you send this one in, make sure it attests to your analytical skills or character (among others). Essays shouldn't be about your hobby, but rather use the hobby as a means of authenticating you as a person.</p>
<p>The other two: Just my opinion, but I think these are a little too "cutesy" for college applications. Having not read your answers, I can't know how exactly they fit into your application as a whole, but I suspect them to be a bit insincere. Remember that most adcoms have seen all the tricks in the book, and are, at the end of the day, looking for authentic portraits of the self. Most (hopefully) applicants, for example, wouldn't want to be rejected from a university- that should be obvious without spending a paragraph to say so. I think it would be a good idea to devote at least one to Pro Humanitate, and how your service/life experiences fit the school motto. </p>
<p>best of luck with your application to Wake!</p>
<p>I decided to have fun with it. =]</p>
<p>I said that stunna shades outraged me and continued to argue why.</p>
<p>I said "someone elses answer to this question is not worth knowing." I almost wrote "your mom's" but I thought that was pushing it.</p>
<p>The argue for the opposite of your opinion was that MY opinion was techno is a great music genre, so I argued that it wasn't [like many others think].</p>
<p>And I really thought about my "cool" answer in an interesting way. Here's what I wrote:</p>
<p>"Cool: Green fingernail polish. Altruism. The Cure. Quoting lines from my favorite movie, The Royal Tenenbaums. High-waisted blue jeans. Bill Nye the Science Guy. Tolerance. The Discovery Channel. Classical music. Independent movies. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Mismatching socks. Acceptance. Otto von Bismarck. Tom Waits. A non-Starbucks coffeehouse. New wave. Science puns. Honesty. Big headphones. Disney movies. Prince. Going barefoot. Steve Buscemi. Disjointed sentences."</p>
<p>So, I think I am officially $%$#. I just reread my responses...and well, they are lacking compared to my normal writing. Well, the only bad ones are the "Why WF" - mine sounded so cliche - and Define "cool". I said as a "Native Floridan, cool is anything below 80 degree Fahrenheit" and played around with more. The rest of my responses were thoughtful and indicitive of my normal writing. Do you y'all think two weak responses would seriously hurt my application?</p>
<p>Maybe so, maybe not, you have to realize that there are other aspects of your application that the admissions office will look at. However, I believe bluebayou's quote from WFU sufficiently answers the extent to which the short answers matter.</p>
<p>"Wake Forest's admissions application emphasizes writing and composition with ten short-answer questions and one essay. Take your time and think about each question. Your responses should be serious, thoughtful and indicative of you. Proofread. "</p>
<p>And really, there is not a need to speculate whether or not they hurt your application, you have already submitted it (right?) so now you must just feel confident and be patient for a response! :-)</p>
<p>Very true. I thought the questions were very cool but really disliked the strict character-limit on them. I was trying to be a little humorous with it, so hopefully they won't get offended and think I was just not taking their application seriously. I turned in a supplement essay anyway, and hopefully that might balance it out (to a certain extent.)</p>
<p>But you're right....I'll find out their response 11 weeks. Good luck everyone.</p>
<p>Good Luck to you too man!!</p>
<p>I think serious answers to mini questions are boring. For example, if I had to read about inequality, religious strife, poverty, etc. for the "what outrages you?" question, I would fall asleep.</p>
<p>But that's just me.</p>
<p>Yeah. Well, with the limit it would be hard to analyze those issues sufficiently as well. I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate answers like "your mom" for them either, but I think it needs to be reasonable. Hilsa, do you mind if I PM you my responses and tell me what you think? You can be brutally honest.</p>
<p>Sure! Go ahead, especially since you're my CC buddy.</p>
<p>Yeah, "your mom" would have been bad. Seeing as not even all of my friends like your mom jokes.</p>
<p>Hilsa, I see what you're saying, and agree to an extent, but I really think, at the end of the day (of reviewing hundreds of applications) sincerity matters. Admissions counselors have seen it all. And if the less "serious" answers don't align well with the applicant's overall character (as shown through EC's, etc), then he or she is left with ambiguity as to whether or not the answers were written simply for the sake of garnering attention. One of the worst things you can do in college admissions is demonstrate a lack of confidence. And if you send in cheesy answers to important questions, you'll look like you had to go out of your range to make yourself stand out. Of course, if you truly are a quirky person, this can be done quite effectively. I think the best approach for most applicants who are not this way is to perhaps choose what you may think is a "boring" topic and articulate it in a way that only the individual applicant could. </p>
<p>Of course, applications ended tonight, so what's done is done. Best of luck to the class of 2009; you guys will love it here at Wake! it's been an insanely fun experience so far!!!! (lots of learning too, of course :))</p>
<p>Well, I'm really quirky and my teachers wrote that. It's just my personality. So I wasn't really trying to stand out.</p>
<p>The biggest risk you run is the adcom equates quirky or flip answers as immature.
Presented in the right context these types of responses can work , but there is risk involved.</p>
<p>From WF admissions
WFU</a> | Undergraduate Admissions & Financial Aid</p>
<p>"Essay responses:"
"Wake Forest's admissions application emphasizes writing and composition with ten short-answer questions and one essay. Take your time and think about each question. Your responses should be serious, thoughtful and indicative of you. Proofread.</p>
<p>I think I'm fine. I definitely have the ACT/SAT scores, GPA, ECs and big essay on my side anyway.</p>
<p>It says "your responses should be... indicative of you." I'm not afraid to take risks, and my personality comes through.</p>
<p>And honestly, if I get rejected because the admissions people don't like my honest short question answers, then Wake definitely wouldn't be the school for me anyway.</p>
<p>Very true indeed hilsa.</p>
<p>Come one people, there is more to life than stressing / debating about the severity of the short answer responses. At this point there really is not anything you can do. Application is over, wait for a response, good luck to all!!</p>