<p>Hmm, for the first essay "tell us more about yourself, describing interests and accomplishments which are not indicated elsewhere on this application " what exactly does that mean? what kind of accomplishments are they looking for?</p>
<p>Okay, i'm writing this one too-
And i know that you're supposed to load this full of academic and ec accomplishes you have met...but i took it on a more personal note.
I honestly don't know; My intent is to be a Creative Writing major(in UIUC's case, and English major) and so i do tend to be a bit on the off-side with my writing...and other, more artsy, schools that i'm applying to LIKE the off essays(i made on of my essays into a poem#_#)
But i'm not too sure about U of I...</p>
<p>...Ach. I don't think i helped you much at all. Sorry.
Just; from what i'm doing, just write about yourself. Anyone with conflicting viewpoints- please, share. And straighten us both out.</p>
<p>I was wondering the exact same thing - if we listed 5-10 other activities what can we write in our essay unless we hava laundry list of other things we couldnt fit??</p>
<p>This older description of the essay (from 2004) might help:</p>
<p>"Write about yourself while thinking about values important to the university -- academic excellence and intellectual adventure, diversity, and service to the community."</p>
<p>So, as Iheartpacman said, write about yourself. Something related to EC's will work, but I would guess just talking about the "real you" might also work. If you're going with EC route, remember that it should be a real essay and not a list in paragraph format. And if you're going with the other route, don't make it completely irrelevant to the four things mentioned above.</p>
<p>Could we write about like one experience that highlighted many key intangible qualities about ourselves?</p>
<p>I plan on majoring in writing, so i talked about that...but then i talked about how friends always go to me as like...the psych counselor/go-to person(i think in the essay icalled myself a 'human security blanket')...but it's really jumpy...like, it only highlights those two parts of myself and i didn't connect them... i need to re-do that. </p>
<p>I know my brother did a thing with nicknames he's gone through and how he was a different person under each one... but it was poorly written, and he didn't get in. But i saw that same idea in an example essay in the Chicago Tribune. So mayhaps ...that? How you've changed, or something?</p>
<p>I think that, sicne it's a personal essay, they aren't expecting like... a certain format from everyone. Since each person's got their own personality. I could be wrong, of course.</p>
<p>I concentrated a lot more on my interests rather the accomplishments for my personal essay because I wanted to add a personal touch to it. My honest opinion is that you can always elaborate on your accomplishments in the professional essay by linking them to your chosen major.</p>
<p>I finished mine if ne1 wants to pm me to see it</p>
<p>Same here. Mine's (roughly) done, if anyone wants to read it.~</p>
<p>I'll read them if you guys send them to me.</p>
<p>Can you guys send urs to me? Thanks!</p>
<p>For the second essay what are you guys talking about? </p>
<p>"tell us more about your professional and intellectual aspirations "</p>
<p>The only way I can think of how to answer that would be very vague as I just want to go where my major leads me (a job in the EE field, hopefully ;) ). I'm not exactly sure what they're asking for, could anyone clarify?</p>
<p>like where do you see yourself in 10 years. what company. do you plan to get a master's? etc. etc.</p>
<p>I talked about how i've always loved writing, and what i've done to act on that love, and where i hoped it would go in the future.
We're reading each other's in English, and of the two U of I's i've read; it was pretty much the same.... My friend going into architecture talked about playing simcity and visiting frank lloyd wright houses on field trips, then moving on to taking a class, and what she hopes of doing with it...
Mine follows almost the exact format.
I think that...talk about what you do in your interest, and how it will benefit the school, and how the school will help you along.</p>
<p>I talked about my reasons for choosing electrical engineering, my plans after completing my Bachelor's, and what I hope to get out of a career in engineering.</p>