<p>Hi guys! I have an issue that has really been gnawing at me over the last few days.</p>
<p>I wrote my Harvard supplement about my grandpa, who served first as a diplomat to Somalia and then as the Chinese ambassador to Rhodesia/Zimbabwe right after the Cultural Revolution. I talked about how his stories had a significant effect on me, someone with a different philosophical outlook, and how he led me to understand and appreciate how our democratic institutions function.</p>
<p>My main concern is that I slightly exaggerated a paragraph of the essay; I said that my grandpa spoke with Ian Smith and Robert Mugabe. My grandpa did INDEED speak with Mugabe (they had their picture taken together) but he only had isolated encounters with Smith. The two frequently exchanged greetings but did not talk at length. </p>
<p>I guess my question is... How thoroughly does Harvard investigate the life histories of applicants? And if for some reason my story doesn't check out, will my chances be negatively affected?</p>
<p>I’m not doubting the accomplishments your grandpa did, but I’m a little skeptical as to the extent of your grandpa’s influence.(did you even meet him? for how long?) </p>
<p>I’m not trying to offend you, simply trying to understand the perspective of your essay.</p>
<p>I’m Chinese too, and I also wrote about my grandpa, who raised me in rural China for 6 years and passed away.</p>
<p>I grew up with my grandfather. He’s been there for me ever since. We’ve known each other for 16 years. Our bond is unshakable. He kinda decided to leave politics after the Rhodesian ambassadorship (about when Deng XiaoPing came to power) and now he lives in an apartment in Yong An Li, Beijing. He recently sold his old house and bought a new one.</p>
<p>My family has been involved in the most grave episodes in China. My commonapp essay focused on how the TianAnMen square massacre happened on my parents’ first anniversary and how my mom was teaching physics at the time. She showed up to the demonstration one day before the 6th because her students urged her to, but then on the night of the 5th, she decided to leave Tiananmen square to spend time with my dad on the 6th for their anniversary. They stayed in an apartment in Yong An Li in Beijing, overlooking Chang An Jie (correct me if I’m mistaken). They were still dangerously close to the demonstration; they could see the tanks pouring in. I remember my grandma saying to my mom: “if you get shot, crawl into the bathroom and wait for help to arrive. You’ll probably survive.”</p>
<p>Another thing, this is all true by the way. I almost died during childbirth when I was a kid due to an issue involving a mistake with an x-ray system and incompetent doctors/medical staff. A friend of my dad’s urged an immediate C-section; turns out I was almost strangled by the umbilical cord. After all the crap was over, I was born on mother’s day (May 9th 1993).</p>
<p>I can’t help but think that God has been looking after my family all along. Life is truly beautiful :)</p>
<p>I still can’t stop laughing, that Weekend Update had Seth Meyer’s second-best pieces of writing ever (only second to the 2008 presidential election).</p>
<p>My mother was a student at Beida at the time, and she actually was the “sign-holder” for her class. I’m so happy that she stayed safe, I think she evacuated the square after the tanks began coming.</p>
<p>But yeah, I’m just happy that my beloved country is changing to incorporate more personal freedoms. I hate that misconception by most Westerners about how all Chinese are evil Communists going to take over the rest of the world, when in reality, China is only about 10%, if that, Communist. We have a free-market policy now, etc., etc.</p>
<p>You know, I’m still wondering how colleges can tell you’re lying in your college essays. It makes me really uneasy, actually, knowing that someone can just come up with a random story that makes him look excellent, or steal one from a movie or previous essay-writer or something, and they just wouldn’t find out. I wrote about the most significant events in my life in my essays, and honestly, they don’t match up to those life-changing/defining experiences so many people seem to have, but they really say who I am.
I was actually wondering about this when I was writing an essay about a significant challenge I’d faced (not for Harvard). I was writing about the 2006 war over here, and as I was writing, I thought hey, admissions officers can easily see that this is true by using Wikipedia (country & year & timeframe set in the essay would tell all they need to know), while if someone made such a story up, they really couldn’t validate it. But still, other essay topics are easy to fake.</p>
<p>Really, the essay speaks for itself. Most people who fake an essay really cannot express the same emotions and make the reader feel as if they were “in the moment.” Look at it this way, would a 2300+ SAT, 3.8+ GPA, well qualified student really resort to a fake essay? It’s only those people who are underqualified and seek an unfair advantage over other people that would really try and attempt a fake essay (and miserably fail).</p>
<p>This is another example of why I think the importance of the essay is very much overstated. If you were an admissions officer, how would you really evaluate them? You can’t tell who really wrote it, or if it’s even true.</p>
<p>Okay, I get the importance of the essay (they do really need to know as much as they can about your personality if they’re to admit you), but Hunt has a point. Someone else can easily write about their life, and then you can just copy/paste it. Simple. Plus, I know one valedictorian who I’ve consistently seen veer off to cheating. I wouldn’t put it past someone who’s dying to get into a certain college, no matter their grades, if their morals allow it.</p>
<p>Ah well, who cares. Most applicants don’t do such a thing anyway.</p>
<p>Could I read that essay OP? Sounds really interesting (have submitted all my stuff already) and I lived in Zimbabwe for 10 years + did a big history project on the C rev and T square so would be interested…</p>
<p>I can tell you that the problem with that essay is less likely to be the details of your grandpa’s career, and more likely to be that they want to learn about you, not your grandpa. Telling a story about someone else – even if it inspired you – is not a good plan.</p>
<p>^^No thanks. I have morals.
Besides, no need to get cocky. We were just trying to conclude how a college would know an essay is fake. It’s something really difficult to prove, so I’m wondering how they can be sure it’s fake so that they can throw out the application. If they’re not sure it wouldn’t be fair to the applicant.</p>
<p>The essay is actually more geared towards Somalia than Zimbabwe, but if you’re still interested, pm me and I’ll send it over. It actually focuses on one specific story that was downright unusual :)</p>
<p>It’s a decent essay, but a very risky one. You’ll see why once you read it.</p>
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<p>They can learn all about me through my commonapp essay about how I almost wasn’t born. My supplement is mainly about why I want to major in PolySci. I developed my interests in PolySci and Economics from my ECs and from my grandpa’s stories.</p>