Yeah, actually Obama was personally controversial too. The Tea Party was analogous to the current “resistance” movement.
And it’s not just Trump. W was loathed too. I think that CC posters would have recommended not writing favorably about W in an essay, either. Maybe there are CC threads out there on that.
Writing an essay on “making America great again” wouldn’t go over well, either.
Define controversy, please.
What political topics related to Republican beliefs would not be off limits in an essay? The OP is being advised to present himself in an authentic way, and being a Republican is important to him. So, what could he possibly address in his essays that wouldn’t be controversial? Any suggestions?
There are words to avoid and topics to avoid in college essays. If the essay doesn’t make the writer likable, interesting and a potential asset to the college community, it missed its point and its opportunity. Risky essays are just that.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Not only that, these posts are coming after I specifically requested that they stop. 12 posts deleted. Next off topic post will result in the thread being closed.
If a writer chooses to write about a risky topic, the essay should be interesting and engaging, that shows the writer’s critical thinking skills. I recently asked several adcomms/readers what they look for in essays. They responded:
" Introspective
mature, larger view of the world
capable of deeper thought
gives insight into their character
maturity outside the classroom
deep
really moving
other skills you have that you bring to the essay (talents that aren’t clear in your application)
opportunity to explain further talents/extracurriculars they described on the activity list
not shallow
express themselves through the story"
I did not ask them their political beliefs/leanings. It should not matter.
^^I have to agree. I think that telling the adcoms about what you did and how it makes you the person you are is perfectly acceptable. One can discuss being an intern and working with campaigns without making it a political statement. If you do that and do it well then I don’t think you will have an issue. If I were to flip it around one could discuss their part in social justice campaigns and even your passion for the subject without campaigning to the adcoms for social justice. The first would be pertinent and interesting to adcoms, the second might seem at best irrelevant and at worst turn them off.
" Introspective
mature, larger view of the world
capable of deeper thought
gives insight into their character
maturity outside the classroom
deep
really moving
other skills you have that you bring to the essay (talents that aren’t clear in your application)
opportunity to explain further talents/extracurriculars they described on the activity list
not shallow
express themselves through the story"
I would take the above with a grain of salt, it sounds good but as we saw from the discussion on essays that got kids in to ivies/stanford, they want something that they can appreciate at 11PM at night when they’re on their 100th essay of the day, something a little quirky.
Rule number one in writing anything is know your audience, unfortunately with the common app essay, you have to know a few, which is tough. Given how colleges and adcoms support affirmative action, want to help first gen’s, look at themselves as giving access to education, you have to assume they lean left. These are not bad things, just things you need to know when you write.
Yes, adcomms read hundreds and hundreds of essays, and many admit they skim essays. So the essay needs to sing, It needs, in 2-3 minutes, to be compelling, to stand out. It needs to make the reader want to keep reading. It needs to make them like the writer. And it needs the things they mentioned, so they don’t roll their eyes and move on to the next essay. This conversation, with the factors they looked for, was at a private meeting,. It wasn’t them giving canned or trite lipservice at a college visit. Feel free to listen to the readers… or not.
In addition to what jym shared, they want to see an open mind, energy, ability to move forward and grow. Plus perspective. That’s why the old “challenge prompt” worked so well.
That’s simply not an adamant, “This is what I believe and no one will change my mind, blah, blah.” Be wise.
Try to identify what here is conjecture or some axe to grind.
It’s ironic that an open mind, willingness to try new things, etc, is so valued by top tier schools…and some here insist on the closed view, that it’s all biased. Decide which view gives you the better chance of showing the attributes. Expository writing on specific beliefs won’t cut it.
thank you for your replies, but there is really no need to comment any further. I have thought deeply about my essay topic and I likely won’t right about politics.
Glad you found a topic that you want to write about. But the thread can be helpful for other people as well.