What have y’all been reading?
I’ve been getting into Abbey recently.
I can only think 11:59. They say that the online form closes on November 8th and the application is due on the 7th.
On the application form it says:
“Please submit the entire application by November 7, 2021. This online form will close after November 8.”
I’m guessing that it will, therefore, close on November 9th 12:00 am just to give a bit of a buffer for those who misinterpret the deadline or those with extenuating circumstances such as internet cutoff or electricity shortages. But ideally, “by November 7” should mean before November 8th 12:00 am. So as long as you submit on or before 11:59 pm November 7th, then you’re all good @_bospad
Btw, Deep Springs is in California / Arizona time. This means you’ve got 39 hours and 32 minutes left on the clock.
It’s nice to have you on this thread!
Which Abbey are you talking about? Nels (Think Like a White Man), Edward (The Monkey Wrench Gang) or someone else entirely?
These are the books I’ve read over the past year:
*Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing ~ Søren Kierkegaard
*Fear and Trembling ~ Søren Kierkegaard
*Mencius: Contexts and Interpretations ~ Alan Kam-leung Chan
*Notes on Mencius ~ Zhu Xi
*The Compilation and Literature Features of Concourse of Commentaries on the Four Books ~ Zhu Xi
*Analects of Justice ~ He Yan and Xing Min
*Leviathan: Or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill ~ Thomas Hobbes
*Republic ~ Plato
*The Dialogues of Plato ~ Plato
*The Analects ~ Confucius
*Classic of Filial Piety ~ Confucius
*Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals ~ Immanuel Kant
*On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
*Nicomachean Ethics ~ Aristotle
*The Little Prince ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
*On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Other Essays ~ John Stuart Mill
*Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking ~ Malcolm Gladwell
*The Dice Man ~ George Cockcroft
*Agamemnon ~ Aeschylus
*Classical Philosophy ~ Terence Irwin
*The Essence of Truth ~ Martin Heidegger
*Early Theological Writings ~ Hegel
Lady Windermere’s Fan ~ Oscar Wilde
The Adventurer’s Guild ~ Zack Loran Clark & Nick Eliopulos
The Adventurer’s Guild: Twilight of the Elves ~ Zack Loran Clark & Nick Eliopulos
The Adventurer’s Guild: Night of Dangers ~ Zack Loran Clark & Nick Eliopulos
The Trial ~ Franz Kafka
Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid ~ Douglas Hofstadter
The Commonsense Kitchen: 500 Recipes + Lessons for a Hand-Crafted Life ~ Tom Hudgens
Nausea ~ Jean-Paul Sartre
The Interrogation book ~ J.M.G. Le Clézio
Uglies ~ Scott Westerfield
Pretties ~ Scott Westerfield
Specials ~ Scott Westerfield
Extras ~ Scott Westerfield
The Communist Manifesto ~ Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx
From the New World ~ Yusuke Kishi
No Longer Human ~ Osamu Dazai
Run, Melos! ~ Osamu Dazai
The Spider’s Thread ~ Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Hell Screen ~ Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Under the Blossoming Cherry Tree ~ Ango Sakaguchi
Kokoro ~ Natsume Sōseki
The Norton Introduction to Philosophy ~ Gideon Rosen et al.
The Prince ~ Niccolò Machiavelli
I’m the King of the Castle ~ Susan Hill
Into the Wild ~ Jon Krakauer
The Wave ~ Tod Strasser
Shatter Me ~ Tahereh Mafi
Unravel Me ~ Tahereh Mafi
Ignite Me ~ Tahereh Mafi
Untie Me ~ Tahereh Mafi
Hack The College Essay ~ John Dewis
Kindred ~ Octavia E. Butler
A Theory of Justice ~ John Rawls
(Audio) Demian ~ Hermann Hesse
(Audio) The Monkey’s Paw ~ W.W. Jacobs
(Audio) Dune ~ Frank Herbert
(Audio) Crime and Punishment ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Audio) Notes from Underground ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Audio) Don Quixote ~ Miguel de Cervantes
(Audio) Lolita ~ Vladimir Nabokov
(Audio) The Stranger ~ Albert Camus
(Audio) Cat’s Cradle ~ Kurt Vonnegut
Recently though, I’ve been reading (not finished yet, so not mentioned above) 《Carry On》 by Rainbow Rowell, and 《A Theory of Justice》 by John Rawls.
Wow. Good to know about the time zone.
Anyway… although I’ve already mentioned above that there’s only little over a day left before submission (or at least that’s how I interpret it), I might as well continue the countdown for tradition’s sake. I mean, I do love a good bit of tradition, although I wouldn’t define myself as conservative 
As of today, there’s now 2.4k views on this thread 
that’s a bump of two hundred extra reads since yesterday. And we’ve got someone else participating on the thread now too @descartes_fore_horse 
The more the merrier I say!
As for my progress report… I just submitted! 
Honestly, It feels kind of weird now - sort of like that feeling after rehearsing for months for a big production and then performing it for the final time. It’s been a long two months but I’ve finally finalized everything. Now all that’s left to do is wait.
For all of you who have submitted well done! You should be proud!
For all of those who have yet to submit - keep on going! Final push. We’re cheering for you!!!
Just over a day left now ~ (although you might want to email Apcom to make sure) so don’t hesitate! Try submitting a bit earlier if possible too. You never know when a power outage may occur, Not to jinx it or anything though - I’m sure everything will go smoothly.
Good luck! 
Quite impressive! Leviathan is quite the leviathan.
I’ve been getting interested in environmental philosophy, thus my newfound interest in Edward Abbey. I’m pursing through Desert Solitaire right now, which I now realize is quite fitting to DS 
Yeah, you can say that again. Leviathan was a pretty difficult read but Hobbes’ social contract theory is pretty interesting. Actually, it’s also related to Rawls’ Theory of Justice which I’m reading now. I’m personally really interested in ethics and political philosophy - I want to become an ambassador when I grow up or at least have something to do with the public sector.
Desert Solitaire seems interesting too! I’ll be sure to put it on my reading list, although it might take a while before I get to it 
I have a lot of books that I want to read but it seems that I never have enough time to read them.
I should probably have started on these essays a little sooner…
Hey @descartes_fore_horse I know how you’re feeling. When I first learned about DS all those years ago, I too only started my application halfway through the season so I understand how the deadline can make you feel. But trust me, DS isn’t looking for wonderfully crafted essays - they’re looking to see you as an applicant. Write what you feel - allow the words to flow freely. Be authentic and don’t try to make your essay “fit” what you think Apcom wants to see. What they want to see is your honest self. Just write without any inhibitions, because at the end of the day, who knows you better than yourself?
The only advice I can give you right now is to write as if you’re introducing yourself to a new friend. Just relax and the words will come. They might sound childish or unpolished but that’s because our education system has made us believe that only “academic” essays are acceptable. True, DS does want people who are academically inclined, but these essays aren’t meant to reflect your skills but reflect you as a person.
Good luck!
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And that’s 15 hours and 30 minutes left… 
For those of you who haven’t submitted yet - it’s time to start thinking about getting everything together. Perhaps you don’t feel confident yet - but that just shows you care! Trust me, even after submitting I’m going back over my essays and thinking about how much better I could have made them. But they aren’t meant to be perfect - they’re meant to be you. As long as you can see yourself in them, then that’s honestly good enough. Remember those on Apcom went through the exact same thing you’re going through now, so they totally understand what you’re feeling. What’s important now is not to miss the deadline in an effort to make everything perfect.
You’ve come this far-
Some of you have been here since the beginning
Some of you have started more recently
Some of you have already submitted
But we’re all here together in this gruelling application process
And you should well and truly be proud of yourself for getting this far.
No matter what happens, I know that you have tried your best and I know that regardless of the outcome, you’ve all become better people, learned how to self-reflect and learned how to pursue something meaningful to you. And if you take anything away from the application process, I hope you can use what you’ve learned to lead a more fulfilling life 
Good news! 
The application form is still up and running even though it’s already Nov. 8 at Deep Springs. I’m guessing “This online form will close after November 8” does mean it will close on Nov. 9 at 12:00am which means all of you who (might have) thought that you didn’t have enough time - well, now you’ve almost got an additional 24 hours
2.8K views on this thread now - that must mean there are at least 200 people actively watching. Hopefully, most of you have already submitted. But if not, relax a little knowing that you’ve still go time. Still, try not to submit at the last minute, and as always good luck
What has me nervous is that, if so many people are looking at this forum, a hell of a lot of people must have applied this year, lol.
Also, I’m pretty certain the form is manually closed and opened by ApCom. The form didn’t open at exactly Sep 1, and it has now closed.
gl everyone!!!
i quite literally did nothing but write and revise those essays over the weekend other than working lmao
also, my book list is miniscule in compaison to yall’s so big respect fr
but the grind is over so im gonna kick my feet up for a couple weeks before i have more regular deadlines, i hope everyone gets to take a well-deserved rest!!
and i hope to see you all next july
also, out of sheer curiosity, what would your guys’ top choice besides deep springs be? i rea’d to stanford and i got an interview so im very hyped for that, but between deep springs and stanford i’d go deep springs every time
Hey @Clockless_hours welcome to the thread!
I get what you mean by being nervous - but the one’s who really have it bad is Apcom since they have to go through all those extra applications. I guess they must have thought about that though before agreeing to advertise through CBS. But think about it this way - the more people apply, the more likely more qualified applicants will apply. If you’re a good fit for Deep Springs then it doesn’t matter if 300 people apply or 3000, you will still be a good fit. Of course, with that many applications, Apcom might spend less time with each applicant, thereby accidentally overlooking someone who might be a better fit, but I still believe that Apcom will spend enough time on everyone to get a fully comprehensive understanding. So, if you’re meant for DS then you will get in. The number of people applying does not dilute your effectiveness as a suitable applicant.
And yeah, I just checked and the form was closed. I suppose it must be manually closed as you said rather than set to open and close on a set timer. That’s probably why the deadline wasn’t exact and we had leeway to interpret what “on” and “by” meant.
I like Bowdoin college and will apply there, although it’s much too expensive for me without aid. So realistically, my state’s public university.
Hey @_bospad good luck to you too!
Don’t worry about your reading list - I just read a lot because it’s more of a habit now than anything. I mean, I legit can’t sleep unless I read for at least half an hour before bed. Sometimes if it’s a really good book that half an hour might turn into a full two hours I try to keep it in control though, after all, as much as I love reading, I hate having to wake up on too little sleep. I guess you could say I’m a little addicted to reading. Actually, now that I think about it, I definitely should read less - it’s starting to become a problem and I should definitely have more control over my life 
Anyway, I’ve been applying to DS for a couple of years now… and I’ve never made it into the second round all that time. But let’s not dwell on the past now Back when I applied to DS for the first time I think I also considered UChicago, Harvard, Quest University, and Tsinghua University where I now major in philosophy. I remember getting into all of them except for UChicago since I withdrew my application early after getting a full ride to my current institute. Back then money was a big issue so effectively getting paid to study meant a lot to me. Sometimes I wonder if I made the wrong decision, after all, I could have always taken out a loan but money has always been a touchy subject for me. I suppose that makes me weak - not taking a chance because I’m unable to overcome bad memories associated with financial difficulty. I like to say that “childhood trauma” (although I don’t think it ever reached that level) is a reasonable excuse, but it’s still just an excuse. My current institute - Tsinghua - is also the “best” university in Asia depending on which report you read, but is unanimously agreed to be the top university in China. But I can’t continue to live in the shadow of my past and I can’t just live my life according to what other people think. That’s also one of the reasons I want to go to DS. I’m hoping that I can start living deliberately and have moral courage to live my own life.
I think you made the right choice. College in the US is incredibly expensive, especially if you’re an international student. You would be paying back your loans for years, and it wouldn’t really be worth it if you’re hoping to transfer into Deep Springs.
Out of curiosity: when and how did you guys find out about DS?