<p>Will sending in a moderately depressing poem (written as a part of a Students Against Drunk Driving thing) be a good idea? I mean, I want to stand out among thousands of "I BUILD ROBOTS IN MY SLEEP EVERY NIGHT IT'S SUCH AN ANNOYANCE LOL" and "Yeah I pretty much wrote an OS kernel in 5th grade" essays without wasting the adcoms' time.</p>
<p>It's not an outstanding poem, but it's better than leaving the optional field blank, right? I think it adds another dimension to my character. I guess I could write an essay about completing my most complex comp sci assignment or something, but that would be pretty trite, right?</p>
<p>So the point of this essay is not necessarily to show off the thing you created (although you're certainly welcome to do so), the point is to talk to them about the process you went through to create it.</p>
<p>I would choose whichever topic would give you something more interesting to say in terms of how that thing came to be- if the creation of the CS project is more interesting than the inspiration and writing of the poem, then you should write about the CS project, and vice versa.</p>
<p>Yeah, it might seem boring to write about a CS project, but I wrote about making the control system for a robot, and guess what- I got in. Don't put so much emphasis on "standing out," just be truthful.</p>
<p>There's no point to trying to write your essay to display super technical merit since this is MIT, and people here will have a very good idea of how hard things actually are. So if you did a CS project that you think is interesting, write about why you found it interesting.</p>
<p>By all means you can write about your poem, but as LauraN said, the point is to talk about the process. So talk about the process for creating your poem. Or something else. But it does not have to be something technical.</p>
<p>I doubt almost anyone has ever written a truly functional OS kernel in 5th grade. (You always have to leave room for those one or two geniuses). </p>
<p>The thing about OS kernel development is that it's not a pure theoretical project. You need a good grounding in the theory of operating systems design, but you also need to know a huge amount of specific detail about the platform you are working on, etc. You also have to study the standards of the industry if you want any other program to be compatible with your system (such as GCC; I imagine you want to write some *nix imitation). Operating Systems design is offered as an upper level CS class at most universities in the CS dept, and I know that at MIT, it is done over the course of an entire semester, with upwards of 10 hrs per week. </p>
<p>So I very highly doubt anyone has written a functional OS kernel in 5th grade.</p>
<p>What do you think if I switch a little bit the topic, I mean, talk about how I helped somebody to change, or "create a better person"? Will they mind because I suppose this is not exactly what they had in mind when they asked us about a creation?</p>
<p>angel:
be careful because that could easily turn into a "im the best cuz i made a beter person of so and so" essay. I mean, u can do it, just try not to sound too proud... and definetly steer clear of insulting who the person was in the past... its really hard... frankly, i wouldnt have the guts or talent to do it, but if u can make it work, the more power to ya :D</p>
<p>Writing about "creating a better person" might be a good way to convince them you've got a God complex. As to whether or not Admissions likes that, I cannot speak.</p>
<p>I wrote about a contraption I built to fulfill both my need for a challenge and an English assignment. Still wondering how far that'll take me!</p>
<p>Does the poem say anything about you? Does it have relavence to your capabilities as an engineer? Is there something else you have created that will be memorable and took your best effort?</p>
<p>Whatever makes the statement would be acceptable. Of course, engineering is not about making a statement. It is about doing something productive; creative, but productive... whatever that may be.</p>