The essay if for the Common Application and I was thinking if I should do a story of my suspensions in middle school. Since then I’ve been clean but I still don’t know if I should do a story on that or not.
Is that the best way to “give them a reason to say yes” to your application?
Ugh. No. (I am not as tactful as @bjkmom).
Well it is about how and what you’ve learned.
- It's too long ago. Nothing else from middle school counts in your app, so why should this?
- You don't want their first impression of you to be as a delinquent.
It would work for me if it was insightful (and hilariously entertaining).
Otherwise, no.
I abandoned that topic but I’ve never have heard of something being too far in the past to write in the essay. The prompt is pretty vague in that it just says “experience from the past” and not strictly in high school.
My point is about being too far in the past is, like…your premise is a slightly more extreme version of “I was a jerk as a kid but I grew up.” Who cares?? Everyone’s a jerk as a kid. It’s expected that you should have matured since then.
More important things should have happened in your life in the past four years.
It’s hardly a concrete rule for all essays ever, though. It’s just my opinion.
This is an essay to get you into college.
It is not Confession. It is not an application for a reality TV show. Each of those would require a different kind of truth.
This essay is about giving them a reason to admit you. So you want to show something positive about YOU. Not middle school you, but Senior in high school you.
I don’t know to right about now.
Here are all the prompts and some explanations and ideas:
- Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
I don’t really have a really unique identity or interest. I have a really traumatic upbringing and family life but I don’t think that’s something they want to know. I also don’t know what talent they are looking for. Fast sprinting? Photographic memory?
- The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
I downloaded Google Chrome in school and I got kicked out of Computer Engineering, banned from using all computers in the school, and placed in Drama where I would humiliate myself in front of the school. Probably my most interesting topic but this happened in middle school too.
I got a 27 on my first ACT a couple months ago and my mom flipped out and started screaming and put me on a rigorous practice schedule. Reason being she started making me prepare for the ACT when I was in 7th grade and though she thought I was practicing, I was just faking it.
Also I got kicked out of NHS, but a story about being unresponsible doesn’t exactly go well in a college essay… Does it?
- Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
I’ve never really been a rebel. The only time I challenged an idea was when I doubted the existence of God, but this is pretty unimportant.
- Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
Um. How to become immortal? This is probably the most unworkable prompt for me.
- Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
This was my first idea. In middle school from 6th - 7th grade I got suspended like 10 times each year and then in 8th grade I finally broke that streak. Ruled out.
All in all, not much from high school. Parent’s are Nazi’s that would let me attend anything I wanted, like sports or go outside and hang out with friends on weekends. It’s all about grades and the ACT and SAT.
EVERY Single example you brought up paints yourself in a negative light, or complains about your family. (“Nazis???” Really??? Was that before or after all the trouble you got into in 6th and 7th grade?? As a parent, I’m offended by your word choice.)
The thing is: you do not want to sound like a trouble maker, or like a whiny child. You want to give them a reason to say yes.
Back to the drawing board.