<p>Okay guys, So I'm trying to decide whether or not to be...witty on my college application (funny nickname, maybe a funny email, or something else...). Anyways, I'm applying to a bunch of good schools (Georgetown, Duke, Northwestern ect.)</p>
<p>Downsides to my application:
30 on ACT
1 C and a B+ in the middle of otherwise excellent grades.
My GC forgot to take the terrible SATII's off my transcript...I'm taking more in January...but in different subjects, so this certainly doesn't 'help' my application...even though only a few of my schools require SAT2's</p>
<p>Positives:
Great grades
Great Class rank
Great Essays
Great EC's
Great Recs</p>
<p>Okay, so I feel like I have a fighting chance at all of these schools...and I feel like doing something witty would be very risky...it would definitely hurt or help my chances (depending on the school and mood of the reader I think!). Do you think that this would be a good idea to try for my colleges?</p>
<p>Also, I'm applying to Harvard. Could 'being funny' be a risk to take there?</p>
<p>Are you talking about joking around on the app itself (like for sex typing yes please, if that were even an option) or on the essays? </p>
<p>For the former, I would not recommend it. I made a complete joke out of an application once, and I thought I did it pretty well. I wasn’t granted an interview, even though I heard that the club leaders were not averse to joking either. There’s a time and a place for wit. Maybe a Harvard app if you think you don’t have a shot anyways, but for schools where you have a good shot it’s not worth the risk I don’t think. </p>
<p>I think all schools but Georgetown are reasonably reaches, high and midway matches. You’ll go to a top 20 school, I can tell you.</p>
<p>Harvard is an extremely high reach for everyone–I hate to say it because you’re a wonderful candidate, but the 30 on your ACT won’t hurt or help your application, the C won’t help at all. Again, I think you’re a great applicant and will get into a lot of schools, but Harvard is a definite stretch.</p>
<p>Anyway, to break off from that spiel (sometimes I talk too much!)</p>
<p>Why not be funny? You want to make yourself stand out. I’d go for very little humor, make it very clean-cut, more “dry and sarcastic” than “gut-busting.” You have nothing to lose–but have an adult look it over first.</p>
<p>Also, keep your uniqueness in line with the university’s appeal.</p>
<p>I know a person who went to Brown during the eighties. They created their own language for their application and sent it with a decoder (no joke). They were accepted, but remember the types of people Brown goes for?</p>
<p>Try to make yours the kind of humor smart (but very, very sure of their intelligence) people would like.</p>
<p>cendrillion – Thank you so much for your quality imput (It’s often hard to come by! haha). I really liked that example about your friend…do you have any other ideas for creatively presenting an application?</p>
<p>^Yes, it’s a huge risk. Harvard is already a giant stretch for everyone, I doubt the poster would feel bad for getting rejected or wait-listed. (Sorry to seem crude! You wouldn’t, would you?)</p>
<p>My thought process is this:</p>
<p>Harvard is a hard school, #1 in the world. 95% (I forget, some kind of crazy statistic) of the people that go there are valedictorians. Hard, hard school! </p>
<p>So, why not take a tiny risk? For example (another one here), this guy I read an article about wrote his essay on how hard/trite college essays are. He was accepted to Northwestern, I believe. (Then again, I’m sure his grades were high.)</p>
<p>Again, how far are you exactly planning to go with the humor?</p>
<p>Umm…I don’t honestly know how far…nothing outlandish…I guess something that could put me in the realm of “acceptable candidates” if some admissions counselor somewhere was having a good day…</p>
(Then again, I’m sure his grades were high.)</p>