<p>For my college apps, i'm writing one personal essay, other than that i have an essay written about the subjects i want to pursue, what interests me and why.
The second essay is in my opinion very well written and has the potential to distinguish me from an entire group of applicants.</p>
<p>The only problem is that i don't think adcoms will really understand my essay.... so unless an actual professor from the philosophy dept. reads my essay its not going to be apprecaited i think.......</p>
<p>Write your essay so that the admissions officers can understand it. No matter what the subject, you should be able to do this if you have a full understanding of the subject.</p>
<p>Remember, too, that whatever the topic of an essay, what you're selling is yourself. The idea is to tell the admissions committee about you, not to explain some theory of philosophy. The committee isn't looking for a term paper or something that could be published in a professional journal. They want a personal essay that highlights you and what you have to offer the campus.</p>
<p>well its obviously not written like a term paper.... but i've expressed certain points of view that would be greatly appreciated by someone who knew the subject but not by a lay person</p>
<p>Its not arrogance man... if i said that i don't agree with the explanation of zeno's paradoxes of motion that involve calculus/infinite limits because i think they are essentially pragmatic and don't really lead to a definitive solution of the problem of reductio ad-absurdum .... (a sentence from my essay.... which goes on to express my interests in the subject) it wouldn't really have much of an effect on someone who's not famiilar with zeno's paradoxes or the concept of reductio-ad-absurdum.
Where's the arrogance in that? i'm just worried that it won't be appreciated for that reason</p>
<p>The arrogance is clear in that sentence: Look at how smart I am. I am smarter than all of the philosophers who studied this subject. The only thing it will tell the admissions counselors about you is that you are an intellectual snob. And it will tell the philosophy professors - whom you so graciously believe can "grasp" your argument - that you would be difficult, if not impossible, to teach - it's not easy teaching someone who already thinks he knows everything.</p>
<p>you don't have to be a philosophy teacher to know what zenon's paradox or infinite limits are...you just have to graduate highschool.
on the other hand, i don't think a philosophy teacher would be impressed by your not agreeing with a well known solution to the paradox.</p>
<p>Chedva you're commenting upon something you don't even understand.... Your comment in fact shows that you're the one who's pretty ignorant.</p>
<p>You've only read one sentence (a fragment) of my essay and you're making judgements regarding my character. How do in any way sound like "i think i know everything" ? or sound difficult ? Did i imply in any way that i thought i knew better than all the philosophers who studied this subject?
No.....i was simply expressing one of my viewpoints on a certain philosophical issue.....on which i expand later on.</p>
<p>I wanted to know if my essay might actually be read by anyone from the department...... if you don't have an answer to my question please don't reply. i didn't ask for your ignorant criticism.</p>
<p>Actually, I wasn't commenting on your character. You may be a totally modest human being. I was commenting on writing, both in the tone of these posts and the quote from your essay, and the message it sends to adults. This is what the admissions people will be judging you on, all other "truths" being unknown to them. But of course if I don't agree with you I must be "ignorant", despite my top-tier college, graduate and professional school degrees, and my experience in the professional and business worlds. So be it; you know better.</p>
<p>As for your question, the answer is probably no. But why would you trust someone as ignorant as I?</p>
<p>I do not think anyone but the admissions officers read the essays. Most of the books/articles I have seen about the process is that they take stacks of the kid's files and go through and read and rank and decide. The only reason they may show an essay to a professor would be if they did not understand the subject matter but that likely would not be the case here.</p>