Approaching the graded paper

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

Hi all,
I’m polishing up my application and am just about to submit the graded paper portion. Does anyone have perspective about the kind of piece Admissions Reps are looking for? I’ve got a longer History paper that demonstrates in-depth writing and argumentation, but I got some fair critiques by my teacher about the scope of my topic when it was graded. I also have an English essay that I’m considering submitting; I got 100% and am proud of it, but I’m slightly worried that the admissions rep would think I wasn’t graded harshly enough. Any perspective about the right way to approach this piece of the application would be appreciated. I also am intending to major in Political Science and my history paper is about a piece of legislation if that makes any difference.

Good luck to everyone applying for the class of '23!!

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I’m in a similar boat as you. My two cents: go for the essay that is the most unique, and that demonstrates how you as a person think in a particular way. I chose to submit a satire I wrote from last year (about Juuling) that definitely wasn’t perfect with a 96 overall grade. However, everyone that I showed my drafts to found it hilarious, so my thinking is that if I can put a smile on an admissions officer’s face, that’ll hold more weight than an arbitrary grade!