<p>Hey, if anyone would like to read my common app/short takes/something-we-don't-know-about-you essay and offer some constructive criticism and help proofread them, I would be very grateful.</p>
<p>You don't have to be a Yale alum or anything, just please be trustworthy. :)</p>
<p>First off, as a new member to CC, you cannot private message anyone with your essays, or another message, until you have at least 15 posts.</p>
<p>Secondly, asking members to read your essays is frowned upon at CC because it can lead to plagiarism, or at best, collaboration, which is considered cheating. See:[Faust</a> Addresses Cheating Scandal | News | Government 1310 Cheating Scandal | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/10/4/faust-talks-cheating/]Faust”>Faust Addresses Cheating Scandal | News | The Harvard Crimson)</p>
<p>In addition, your essay is way too important to be soliciting opinions from members of CC, some of who are 13 years old and will gladly give you an opinion, but not tell you their age. </p>
<p>Seasoned adults will be reading your essay looking for glimpses of your “character.” That’s an old fashioned word; it means the way you develop your inner qualities: intellectual passion, maturity, social conscience, concern for community, tolerance, inclusiveness and love of learning. </p>
<p>You should share your essay with the teacher’s who are writing your recommendation letters, as Admissions Officers look for your teachers to reinforce and confirm the “character” projected in a student’s essay. Successful applicants submit material than is all in sync.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to show your essays to your teachers, please share them with several adults in your life that you admire and respect (not your parents). Ask them: “Does this sound like me?” “Does this essay convey who I am?” If they answer yes, then you nailed it. </p>
<p>You may, of course, ignore my advice completely and ask random strangers on an internet forum what they think. The danger, however, is that you may get ten, fifteen or twenty differing opinions, and that will leave you very confused.</p>