<p>Hopefulhoo: I don’t think the original intention of this thread was to discuss who gets one, and who doesn’t. And it certainly wasn’t to obsess about it. The topic was “What are the best essays you’ve read.” In fact, “likely letter” isn’t even in there anywhere, until the first poster mentioned it. I think it would be cool if people could stop mentioning the LL thing on here, and we could talk about what the thread is actually for.</p>
<p>I wrote mine on the Red Power Ranger and being an identical twin.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if they were good though, and I did not receive a likely letter.
My teacher forgot to send the recommendation, although that probably wasn’t the reason I didn’t get one. Mostly an excuse.</p>
<p>But I had fun with the application. Hopefully I’ll make it in April.</p>
<p>KK-
I think your topics are very interesting and humorous! Sounds clever to me. I’m betting on you come April. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Dean J, the problem with essays for most students is this: when you go to your hs counselor, their feedback on essays is to be safe. don’t write about anything that will be taken the wrong way. for instance, when my sister went through this process, my mom suggested she write about the “problem” with going to a religious hs when you disagree with so of the teachings. my sister was going to point out that you could either go along with it all or take a stance on things you did not agree with. then when i was writing the essays I considered religion in a different way since one parent is christian and one is not. again the counselor was horrified. now my b is doing it and has kept to very safe essays because whether it is religion, politics or just economics, everything could be taken the wrong way according to hs counselors. so it tends to bring on boring safe essays. you can write about loving a book or how great your family is but aren’t those kind of done to death?</p>
<p>carnut - that’s what I am wondering. How many times can college admins read about a death in the family, or not being able to keep up with the jones’?
without being totally bored?</p>
<p>I think there are several traps to watch out for when picking a topic. It’s important to make sure not to go for the cliche stuff…death in family, overcoming a generic obstacle, etc. etc. At the same time many are aware of this, and I’m guessing there are quite a few essays that also become cliche…writing about some random off the wall topic in a crude attempt to stand out. The alternative is writing about something original that is still of academic and intelectual value. In my opinion, if someone is incapable of doing this then maybe they don’t neccessarily belong at UVa.</p>
<p>
I’m interested in reading something that’s well written and personal. Admission officers at most schools aren’t going to dismiss a well written essay if it’s not in line with their beliefs (the exceptions are those at schools with very specific missions). If we only liked essays about our pet topics, our student body would be pretty boring.</p>
<p>If you’ve been to our information sessions or if we’ve been at your schoo’s “College Night” (event for juniors to get them started with the process), you’ve probably heard us address this.</p>
<p>Dean J: I have one for ya: What’s the best essay(s) you’ve ever read? Was it funny, heartwarming, brilliant, etc?</p>
<p>Dean J, what if my school does not rank?</p>
<p>building wings, this thread is for essay topics, not transcript questions :)</p>
<p>I wrote mine about dunking babies in a pool.</p>
<p>Forgive me, I shall stick to the topic.</p>
<p>
Wow. I can’t wait to see how that one turns out lol.</p>