<p>oh…and I’m going to uchicago</p>
<p>holy crap dillo, congrats</p>
<p>and narcissa, wouldn’t it be ironic to be going to college (school) and write an essay about how much you hate it?</p>
<p>I wrote about the Mona Lisa.</p>
<p>i think the essay is the place where you can bring balance to your application. if your grades/ec’s/recs/scores say one thing, write about something that shows a new side of you. i wrote my first essay about being a reluctant debutante, a suplamentry and more serious essay about recovering from PTSD, and then Georgetown required an essay on a global issue for SFS (the delince of the nationalistic state through globalization). i also think if they give you the oprotunity to write two or three essays take entirly different tones with each. The deb essay was funny, the PTSD essay was heavy, and the SFS was acedemic. Good luck! I only applied to georgetown and bc I was blessed to get into both.</p>
<p>I’m a rising senior, and am starting to brainstorm during the summer (I’m going to be wayyy too busy next fall to concern myself with college essays). </p>
<p>I think my favorite topic so far is this time when I bought this pair of jeans that was very fashion forward and European—definitely not a standard look in Georgia-- and how I wore them to school feeling confident, only to be absolutely crushed by my peers’ response. The humiliation was unbearable and I returned them almost instantly. I’m going to tie in how it brought out all of my insecurities that I’ve struggled with in the past, including my homosexuality. </p>
<p>another one is how I’m uncomfortable peeing in urinals. haha.</p>
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<p>Do it. Forget the noob who said you’re haughty. The same people said the same thing about my H supplement (which has similar ideals) and I did fine.</p>
<p>^I agree- it’s how you write it, not what you write about. But that poster has to make sure it’s enough about him/her without being too much about others in society.</p>
<p>I wrote about wandering around the streets of Barcelona. Also, for another essay I wrote about growing up in NYC.</p>
<p>Accepted at Stanford, Pomona, Georgetown, Cornell, Tufts, CMC, Wesleyan, WL at Brown. Rejected from Swarthmore.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure I wrote about literally: I like mathematics.
Hence, while shower curtains and Ti83s can get you into good schools, so can totally inane and hackneyed subjects get you into the college of your dreams.
Btw, I got into Harvard, MIT, UPenn, etc.</p>
<p>I’m glad someone brought up length. Here’s my favorite quote on the topic:</p>
<p>“I am sorry for the length of my letter, but I had not the time to write a short one.” (Blaise Pascal) (sometimes credited to others, but I think this correct.) </p>
<p>D kept strictly to length guidelines, wrote about an experience during a summer volunteer job (local, not exotic) and a second essay around a somewhat unique hobby. Both essays revealed things about her character, how she interacts with people, her approach to problems, and her interests. In at Yale EA.</p>
<p>what about writing essays not necessarily showcasing your best aspects or how you overcame something. Is it O.K. to expose yourself and show weakness?</p>
<p>I am planning to right an essay about playing scrabble with my mom which I will tie into the fact that my parents are mentally and physically disabled and who both earned doctorates-- and then were struck down with mental illness and physical problems. Without sounding quite so dramatic… 0_o Is that a good idea? I kind of got it from “A is for admissions”… and yes, it is a true story.</p>
<p>I think it needs to be said that essays are but one part of the college application process, and while extremely important, are not the only factor that determines admission. Posters who list their essay topic and say something to the effect of “this essay got me into <insert selective=”" school(s)=“” here=“”>" are ignoring the reality that the essay was most likely not (although possibly) the deciding factor in their acceptance. Rising seniors shouldn’t think that the perfect “stellar”/unique/insightful essay will be the ticket into the schools that people have listed. Essays can say a lot about you to the adcoms that other parts of your application can’t express, but I think that the “great essay yielded the acceptance” thinking is flawed.</insert></p>
<p>An essay needs to confirm your GPA and scores, and should also give insight into you beyond what can be found in the rest of your application. If you’re a star athlete, it would probably be silly to write about sports, except in a way that illuminates other aspects of your character, for example. Make a list of everything someone will know about you, based solely on reading your application. Read between the lines. For example, maybe your EC’s don’t include anything about your main hobby, or the fact that everyone knows you are incredibly reliable; a person who always can be counted on. These are the things that must find their way into your essay. A good essay won’t overcome your other stats, but a truly bad essay can torpedo you.</p>
<p>Ducktape what did you write about shower curtains?</p>
<p>Riverrunner, what was D’s summer volunteer job and hobby?</p>
<p>I think a good essay should be able to display your personality and maturity; so being honest is a must. For my essay, I wrote about the the struggles I’ve been through, how they impacted my life, and how I overcame these struggles. It’s definitely helpful to the admissions officers if you wrote about something that is not already written somewhere in your application because it will give the college admissions more to consider.</p>
<p>inifinit, I pm’d you.</p>
<p>I wrote about getting into NY Conference All-State, how it was a big deal for someone from my non-musical school to get in (first time in a decade, basically), and how it helped me grow as a musician. That essay got me into NYU. </p>
<p>There was another one that wasn’t a college admissions paper, exactly, but it was meant for admissions to the selective honors program at my college. I wrote an 1100 word paper on the book “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher and its portrayal of teen suicide and depression. (Good book btw…i highly recommend it!!) I found that college administrators love when you write about heavy topics like that.</p>
<p>For my main essay, I talked about my relationship with my sister and how her deployment to Iraq has affected me. For my short answers I talked about Catholic school and I also talked about my random thought process (creating a giant cardboard Nintendo hahahhaha) I got accepted to Tufts btw. ;)</p>