<p>Ick. If this is indicative of the kind of kid that Chicago is accepting, maybe it really isn’t the place for my son. I found it overly cute and cloying, but not inappropriate. As some one up thread pointed out it really doesn’t say much, either about Chicago or the applicant. It is all surface and no substance. This is the kid who will write twelve pages essays and miss the point every time.</p>
<p>I could see all RD applicants re-writing their essays, way to ruin someone’s holidays.</p>
<p>It’s no more inappropriate than the Swiffer commercials in which a mop is sending flowers to its former owner. It takes a genre and twists it around.</p>
<p>I also think it’s clever. And I think the student (if there really is one) has a future in advertising!</p>
<p>God bless the admission essay readers next year. The number of “love” letters will be annoying.</p>
<p>…but…very funny and sassy essay.</p>
<p>I was very amused! Thanks for posting. </p>
<p>I don’t think it was inappropriate at all. Very witty.</p>
<p>I disagree, lololu. I think it says a lot about the kid, including that he’s an engaging writer, thinks out of the box, and has a sense of humor about the application process. And he does articulate why Chicago very specifically. Cross out Chicago and put in, say, its friendly rival 45 min to the north – it doesn’t work as well. I love the reference to “putting up with your puns.”. This kid has a real sense of the college’s character and self image. Can you imagine how many deadly dull essays they receive? Good for this kid. I agree with JHS - this is a vivid illustration of how essays overcome stats.</p>
<p>I loved the essay, and I see why the dean sent it around. The essay shows how important it is to think outside the box when it comes to the essay. I also think that by sending it around, the dean would narrow the applicant pool in a good way. Students who hate the essay wouldn’t bother to apply, and that means that Chicago admissions officers wouldn’t have to bother with reading the applications of students who wouldn’t be a good fit.</p>
<p>As for the students who misread the letter and think it indicates that they should make their Chicago essays some variation of a romance theme novel – they will be making it easy for admissions officers to reject them.</p>
<p>I agree with Pizzagirl that this essay works as a Chicago essay, because the kid gets Chicago’s sense of humor. My son (also with imperfect stats) took a similar approach. It got him deferred at Georgetown, but Chicago liked him. His reasoning was that only his witty writing and whatever his teachers chose to say about him was going to get him in to some of the colleges he was reaching for.</p>
<p>OK, now you’ve gone and done it!</p>
<p>Now that you’ve posted that essay on CC, every neurotic, 4.6 GPA, 2250 SAT, varsity athlete, Eagle Scout, tuba playing, hospital volunteer will stress out over how to be so witty in their Ivy League application essay.</p>
<p>You’ve just managed to up the competitive pressure. And just when you thought it was safe to tell your kid to hit the submit button…</p>
<p>I’ll give the kid points for creativity, without going over the top as so many applicants do with their essay.</p>
<p>Thank you, Greenery for starting this interesting and useful thread, which I’ve now featured and have cross posted on the College Essay forum.</p>
<p>I liked the essay, but I have this feeling that I’ve seen something like it before on some kind of website. Anyone have the same feeling?</p>
<p>It has the same type of humor and creativity as the Superman essay allegedly written by a Harvard accepted student. This is the one that describes how a student has done all sorts of remarkable things and ends with “but I still haven’t been admitted to Harvard.”</p>
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<p>This letter is addressed to RD applicants (end-of-the-year stress…). You don’t know if a EA admit would enroll in the school. EA is not ED (even that doesn’t necessarily mean automatic enrollment due to potential FA issue).</p>
<p>It makes sense that the dean loved the letter and the student, and called the student to congratulate the student on being admitted, and the student revealed that Chicago was the student’s first choice and the student plans to attend there.</p>
<p>I would bet my mortgage that the letter is real and the student plans to go to Chicago. Obviously, the student put an exceptional amount of thought into that essay. Sounds to me like Chicago is the student’s dream school. I highly doubt that the student is one of the many who just apply to Chicago because they think of it as a fallback if they don’t get into an Ivy.</p>
<p>ok, i see your pt. But you may want to ask where limabean got his/her info:
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<p>Limabean was speculating that the letter was written by a marketing committee. I highly doubt that it was because that easily would be found out, and would hurt Chicago’s reputation just like it hurt U Wisconsin’s rep about 10 years ago when they photoshopped a black student into a crowd scene in a viewbook.</p>
<p>Entertaining, well written, but very creepy to be sent out by the Dean right before the deadline. Way to ruin Christmas, because now 90% of the kids are going to be rewriting their essays.</p>
<p>And there is no way this was written by a guy. No way!</p>
<p>This essay is cloying and the writing is not that strong. In fact, it was almost painful to read, IMO. I like the parody idea, but this could have been much better written.</p>
<p>I think the essay was very Chicago specific and happened to reveal a <em>great</em> deal about the applicant, from his sense of humor and creativity , to his willingness to take a risk and do something out of the ordinary, from his passion for learning from great minds to how he would enjoy researching “original text” - even his interest in taking a specific philosophy class. Very clever and well done, IMO.</p>
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<p>I totally agree. In fact, what glaringly stood out was the essay’s generic “love letter to anybody or anything” content, as opposed to a love letter specific to U of C. Had it been specific to U of C, it would have been way more interesting and alluring. In this generic sense, and only this sense, it cheapened the essay.</p>