<p>Hi, I am just about done with my Williams supplemental essay, and I just want to double-check and make sure that it's appropriate. I'm not worried about it being controversial or anything, but I want to make sure that the topic won't make me seem like I'm not taking the application seriously enough.</p>
<p>First off, my main Common App essay is a humourous essay about me (a "germaphobe") trying and failing to fix a vacuum cleaner. I m immensely pleased with how this essay turned out and have heard great things about it from other admissions counselors.</p>
<p>My Williams "window" essay is about my experience cosplaying (dressing up as a fictional character, in my case from a popular anime) at New York Comic Con this past October. It grows to talk about my love for nerd culture and my admiration for the other people at the con.</p>
<p>I want to seem quirky (because I am), but will this make me seem too weird? If you are unsure, I'll totally PM you my essay if you think that would help, but keep in mind that it's not completely polished yet.</p>
<p>On a relatively unrelated note, am I using the correct case of “I” in this sentence? → “My main Common App essay is… about me… trying and failing to fix a vacuum cleaner.”</p>
<p>“Me” should be “my” as a modifier of the gerunds “trying” and “failing.” When you separate the sentence with the second ellipsis you ambiguate the objects of the preposition “about.” In one sense you mean to have “me” as the object, but in another sense you have “trying” and “failing” as objects. You have to pick one or the other to make a grammatical sentence; however, you may prefer to break this into two sentences to convey both of the ideas you present. </p>
<p>My suggestion (perhaps at the destruction of your style) is to eliminate the ellipses and change “me” to “my.” It’s a little redundant to state that the common app essay is about you. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about the weirdness of your topic. If that’s who you are, then you have a responsibility to portray yourself as such. But if its a topic that seems particularly weird to you, i.e. a topic with which you feel uncomfortable identifying, then maybe you should meditate on whether the picture you’re painting for admissions is true.</p>
<p>LAMuniv, I don’t think anyone who doesn’t know you and hasn’t read both essays can really answer this for you. It sounds like your topics are somewhat similar: quirky, humorous, colorful, unexpected and so on. This could be repetitive or it could strengthen and deepen a consistent characterization. If the essays are both well written, engaging and you appear interesting, courageous, likable, self aware etc. they could work well together…or the supplement may need to expand on a more serious aspect of your life, experiences or interests…unless the cosplay essay does dig deeper, revealing more of both your nature and community values… You would probably be better off consulting someone who knows you and knows what a successful college essay sounds like. A teacher, counselor, relative or mentor? </p>
<p>It is generally true that there are no wrong subjects for college essays (excepting the obvious!). They are really a vehicle to help adcoms see you as an individual, to imagine what kind of person you will be in the school community, what your utterly unique and non-quantifiable attributes are :). And in this case, to know how you articulate something significant to you. So, the more genuine the topic and writing style are, the more successful you’re likely to be.</p>
<p>And btw the cover of this year’s acceptance packet shows a bunch of students holding signs that say things like: “High five! You got in :)!”…so clearly Williams is up for some fun and non-conformity!</p>