<p>For those of you who applied EA, any advice on essays? I'm applying RD. Which prompt did you choose, and if you made up a prompt, what type of prompt did you make up? I promise I won't plagiarize, I have a prompt in mind for Option 5, but I don't know if it's acceptable.</p>
<p>I did number 3</p>
<p>why does 1+1=2?</p>
<p>bump...</p>
<p>Also, I just got off the phone with the admissions office. They said they prefer we do prompts 1 through 4. Anyone out there who did option 5? And did you get in? :(</p>
<p>I did 3 as well...it's more open than the others.</p>
<p>how much does one typo matter? "to be apart of"</p>
<p>ooooh, that's an automatic rejection. no, no, j/k. they like it to be as close to perfect as humanly possible, but if your essay is good, they won't mind. that goes for any college. it's never going to be a deciding factor. i mean, if your essay is fraught with typos, then yeah, you are kinda screwed. but if it's one typo that slipped through, you're cool.</p>
<p>thanks, now i can stop freaking out</p>
<p>Here is something essay writers may want to read: <a href="http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/11/02/online%5B/url%5D">http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/11/02/online</a></p>
<p>It expresses what Ted O'Neill thinks about college essays.</p>
<p>From the article:</p>
<p>Long gone are the days when whiteout was a key tool for applying to college. Most of todays college applicants probably dont even know what it is. So when admissions officers and high school guidance counselors gathered at the College Boards annual meeting in New York City this week, it was a given to most that their operations are increasingly online.</p>
<p>But a funny thing happened at a session on the electronic admissions process: real live debate. A well respected admissions dean told his colleagues that technology was damaging the process, encouraging a cookie-cutter approach by both applicants and institutions.</p>
<p>A good college admissions process is not like computer dating its like love letters, said Theodore A. ONeill, dean of admissions at the University of Chicago. He said that current trends in online applications take away students individuality and result in generic and utterly boring essays.</p>
<p>...Columbias Marinaccio said that these were not real problems. Admissions officers know that there is no ability to italicize so no applicant is punished for having a book title in normal font, she said. As for the enforced length limit, conciseness of communication is not a bad thing, she said.</p>
<p>Chicagos ONeill would have none of that argument. Who decides that you value concision instead of magnitude? Who are we to say that it should only be that much? he said. And, his voice rising, he said, You cant underline a bloody title? Thats not trivial to people who care about words.</p>
<p>That right there is why I love Chicago. Plus anyone who uses bloody is tops in my book. Thanks for your advice on the prompt, btw, idad, I will approach it cautiously.</p>
<p>OOOOOOOOOHHHH. She got TREATED!</p>
<p>I did number 3 also.
It left room for my own interpretation which was cool.
I was thinking about doing number 2, but I couldn't exactly figure out what it meant. lol.</p>
<p>I did 5 and got in ...</p>
<p>I also wrote one for the zen one I think it was Mind that does not stick (number three maybe) but I didn't like it, so I went with 5</p>
<p>hmm...I didnt read the original post very well apparently. I didnt apply EA...so we shall see what happens...</p>
<p>It's all good. Input in general is appreciated.</p>
<p>i did one. essay about motivation. pm me if you would like to read it :)</p>
<p>Torawarenai kokoro (mind, 3?)</p>
<p>Rant Rant Rant. I've been working on my UChi essay for over 15 hrs now. I have quoted Diogenes, Plato, Kant, Frans de Waal, and Joshua Greene. And I'm still not done. If I don't get in, I'm burning my philosophy collection.</p>
<p>Oh, question. The AdComs keep talking about the example of the boy who linked last year's jar of mustard prompt to America's obsession with being safe. That doesn't sound like a personal essay. What's up with that?</p>
<p>The prompted essay reveals how one deals with ideas and how one approaches challenges. The "why Chicago" suggests one's motivation for applying, and the "favorite things" essay gives one the opportunity to tell them about one's frivolous as well as serious side. Together, they reveal who one is, and if one is a good match to the University. These are of course generalities, much of it is subjective, and depends on the effect of the entire application as well.</p>