<p>hey guys
i'm a new to the site and i desperately desperately need your help.</p>
<p>i'm thinking about applying to stanford early. my stats are nothing spectacular (2320 SAT, 5's AP chem, history, micro/macro) but i know that everyone that applies to stanford has equal or better numbers. so here's my problem: i can't write essays! my writing stinks absoluetely rots. </p>
<p>when i looked at the essays they seem to be asking for exactly the same things: what interests you. i was part of an economics competition and did ok so i guess that i can write about that for one. but besides that i've done nothing great. i'm totally blank. I do a lot of ec's at my school but i'm not too passionate about them to be able to write about any except the economics one. BIG DANGER as i hear. </p>
<p>how do you write the 4 essays each about different interests without sounding too scattered and only shallowly interested in your activites? how do you tie them together?
and another question. I'm interested in physics but didn't do anything extracurricularly in that area. i read a lot about it. would it be ok to still write about it?</p>
<p>To all those who've already been accepted or are working on the essays: what did you write your essays on? </p>
<p>Hmmm...can you write several of your essays grouped around a specific interest? Three of the four essays are based on my interest in science: the activity one is about a kids' science club I ran, the intellectual experience one is about how I find the nervous system interesting, and the main one is about a research program I did. I bet you can think of something!</p>
<p>Write it as if you were speaking directly to a person</p>
<p>Pour your thoughts onto the paper, write from your heart</p>
<p>Also, don't think too hard. Some of my best essays were written spontanteously in 30 minutes instead of staring blankly at the computer screen for 3 hours</p>
<p>Physics would be great to write about for an essay about an intellectual interest. Is there anything that interests you? What is important to you? You don't have to try to impress the adcoms with your accomplishments in your essays, you could just focus on showing that you're an interesting person and show what you have to offer the Stanford community. I didn't tie them together. Each is an opportunity to show a slightly different side of yourself. The way you show you're not too scattered is by having consistency throughout your application... the stuff mentioned in your essays comes through in recs, activity lists, awards lists, choice of classes, summer programs, etc. </p>
<p>I wrote one essay about not being athletic, one about my interest in cognitive science, one about how debate has helped me prepare for the world of math/science, and one about my friends joking about math/science stuff.</p>
<p>I think you need to avoid overanalyzing this. They don't all have to link together; actually, I think it's almost better to capture a different aspect of yourself in each essay to add more dimension to this picture you are painting of yourself on paper. </p>
<p>I wrote about my love of speech and debate and made fun of the fact that we are probably the only team at my highschool chatting like crazy at 5 AM every Saturday morning and also mentioned what it has helped me to learn when it comes to expressing myself. I wrote about how physiology and anatomy class helped to instill my love of all things medical--I specifically talked about holding a heart in the palm of my hands....etc...I had fun with the roommate one as i described my constant comparison to Xena the warrior princess with every new person I meet, and talked about 2 dimensions to my cultural upbringing. My long essay was very emotional and discussed overcoming adversity and trying to develop a bridge of understanding in my life. I used a story relayed to me by my grandfather describing an incident in war-torn Lebanon. I used a picture of my sister and me from when we were little standing in front of a natural bridge in Aruba and carried the metaphor of the "natural bridge" into my essay. Understanding was a "natural bridge" that I and many others seek to develop, whether it be when we go off to college or for the rest of our lives, everything stems from an open mind and an open heart.</p>
<p>Anyway, just be real, don't try to find the perfect formula. Your test scores are more than fine. Just be true to who you are.</p>
<p>Yeah, you don't really have to write all of them on interests. Only my first short essay was on one of those interests they make you list for your activities; the intellectual idea one was on this fleeting idea I had once, and the last two were just anecdotes from my life, nothing academic or activity related.</p>
<p>I just wrote a really long post on College Admissions "Essay Writing Advice" that's pretty detailed and hopefully very helpful. Check it out if you need further advice.</p>