<p>I finally sat down and thought about writing admissions essays. I'm probably going to put it off for the last minute anyway but I thought it would help me stay focused if I discussed my idea. </p>
<p>I think I'll write about a trip I took to India, and my experiences with meeting all of my family there. I actually wrote a short essay about it, among other things I observed, while I was there (my mom made me). I wanted to write a humorous essay about how every encounter with family was similar (they always asked me the same things, offered food, etc). I want to express how this became almost monotonous and I kind of took family for granted. Then, i'll talk about my visit to one of mother theresa's orphanages in India. I helped feed the children for a day, and my family payed for the meals for a few days. I want the essay to express how this experience affected the rest of my visits with family while I was in India and how I came to realize the importance of family. </p>
<p>So, what do you think? It's the best thing I could think of. I want to know if it's the kind of thing one should write about b/c I have no experience with the admissions process.</p>
<p>Sounds like a great topic, as long as you don't make it cheesy and you can coherently connect the orphanage experience with your family. You HAVE to have a central topic that carries you through the entire essay, and you can't draw conclusions without leading up to them.</p>
<p>Point of advice - DON'T wait until the last minute. The essay is arguably the most important part of your application and the one over which you have the most control and should spend the most time on. If you complete it early and work hard on it, you'll know that you did your best to get into the schools to which you apply. Otherwise, you'll always wonder whether you could have gotten in if you'd tweaked your essay a bit more, or written several and chosen the best.</p>
<p>Standard "how my trip to ____ changed my life"</p>
<p>Be sure to jazz it up!</p>
<p>I have a question. If there are so many "standard" essays each year, why do so many people KEEP repeating themselves? Is it lack of creativity (I'm not being harsh here, this comment isn't directed at you either, thegreatjaadoo. Just a hypothetical question, lol) or what? Or scared to take the chance of writing a more risque essay?</p>
<p>Most people don't read essay books b/c they are arrogant and think thier writing should be on par with the bible. Many find these topics easy and think, college want to know this. The first essay I wrote, when I re-read it turned out to be a recomondation and not an essay at all.</p>
<p>I think it's a good idea because it has some more meat and relevance to your life than many "how trip to ___ changed my life" essays. For instance, I knew a very rich girl who went to China and wrote about how she "discovered what poverty was". Let's just say she didn't get into Harvard.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don't think how those poor adcoms can even read the, - Ah, this thing changed my whole life and I started to be more careful/smart/wash my hands before I eat/brush my teeth two times a day.
In this way, I love University of Chicago's essay topics because they're not arrogant but have a bit of humor and sarcasm in them. And yes, I'm horrible cynic.</p>
<p>thanks for the input, I started writing it and if I don't like my first drafts or if the topic feels generic, I guess I have lots of time to redo it.</p>
<p>Just make sure you aren't like a friend of my friend, who started some elaborate organization to help battered Nepalese women. She wrote in her essay about why she did it: "so I wouldn't end up like them" and got waitlisted by Columbia, even though her stats and everything else were amazing! XD</p>
<p>haha thats funny yanners :)</p>
<p>thegreatjaadoo- i went to india last summer as well although i didnt get the enlightening experience of visiting mother teresa's orphanage. i think that would be a great essay topic. good luck!</p>
<p>Make sure you title it "A Passage to India" by the great jaadoo</p>