<p>That helps greatly. Alleviates some of my concerns. I'm nearly done with my prompted essay. And I wrote my other two essays a few days ago. My gosh, I feel like a proud mother:)</p>
<p>My prompted essay was funny...not the most intellectual thing in the world; it was purposely written in casual language...and it had nothing to do with zen buddhism either :). I was hoping to make it stand out. But then again, my Why Chicago and favorite book etc. essays were rather deep.</p>
<p>So yeah...I guess I did the opposite of what was expected (according to idad's explanation)?
meh.</p>
<p>I wrote on essay 5. My prompt was a generic 'Who is your role model, who do you look up to, who do you model yourself after, etc' kind of thing and I wrote a satirical essay about how my role model is a know-it-all janitor at my school.</p>
<p>It'll either do really well or completely fail, but I didn't like any of the other topics and I'm not too worried if I don't get in. I tried writing about 'mind that does not stick', but my essay ending up sounding realy pretentious so I just started over on my own topic.</p>
<p>Okay I'm feeling like the outcast because I wrote the first prompt and I actually wrote a poem in response to the poem. It worked for me. I thought it was original.</p>
<p>SweetMisery,</p>
<p>This is also what my son did, and he got in EA... :)</p>
<p>I also wrote a poem for prompt 1. But it was actually my common app essay and ended up fitting perfectly (I think) for Prompt 1. </p>
<p>Now onto the other essays. I hate that this is my last app. So hard to focus.</p>
<p>I'm beginning to think that they like poetry. I had a friend who wrote for last year's giant tub of mustard question an acrostic poem and she got in so I figured it might be a safe bet. And I got in so it had to work :-) I still pinch myself every so often to believe it's real.</p>
<p>What I'm curious about is if my other schools (Reed, Lewis and Clark, Yale, Brown, Swarthmore, Puget Sound) will be intrigued. I did it for "other" prompt on common. Essentially mine is talking about unoriginality and how feeling like a statistic is okay, I end very optimistically.</p>
<p>I did #3 with just a random idea that i got one day. My first try sucked, but then i started over and wrote a much better version of the same thing, and apparently it was unique enough to get me in. My advice is...don't try too hard. Just think of something random and see how it turns out, and who knows, it might be excellent.</p>
<p>IDK in my experiences, the other colleges I sent it to loved it and I think I actually got a scholarship from one of the schools because of it. Everyone knows U of C questions are creative (and impossible) I think that they will respect the effort.</p>
<p>Good news, Sweet Misery!</p>
<p>The question of whether to reuse a Chicago essay is an interesting one. I don't think there's a clear right or wrong. </p>
<p>My son wanted to reuse his poem. He didn't want to rewrite or edit it in any way. GC said lots of admissions people at other schools read the Chicago prompts every year as a form of "recreation" (no kidding) so they are aware of what the essays are. Son's poem was similar in style to Langston Hughes so was sure to be recognized. </p>
<p>GC and son agreed that, in his case, the best approach was to add a header to the poem explaining it was developed in response to a Chicago prompt but he wanted to include it since it said things that weren't apparent elsewhere. He used it for the "optional essay", or, in one case, sent it in with poetry supplementals. </p>
<p>Obviously, students reuse essays many times, and the adcoms know and accept this. This is really a judgment call, and the essay writer would have to be the one to know what's best and make the decision. </p>
<p>I do wonder how many schools other than Chicago got a flurry of "mustard" essays last year..... :D That one would really stick out!</p>
<p>I have a similar question about reusing my essay...right now i'm racking my brain trying to write an essay for the Common App, and failing miserably. I really just want to use my Chicago essay, which i think got me in there. I did #3, however, which will mean that it'll be very identifiable as Chicago's prompt. Also, my essay is quite creative and is more like a short story, or rather allegory, than a straightforward essay... I guess my question is: how would other schools like Swarthmore, Yale, and WUSTL take that if i used it for the "topic of your choice" option for the Common App?</p>
<p>Does it answer the common application essay question? If yes, I see no reason why one can't use it since the purpose of the common app is to provide one essay that would go to many schools. If I recall correctly, Reed College had an essay option that said something like, "pick a favorite essay you wrote for another college and send it to us." I liked that honest approach.</p>
<p>Well, no, it does not answer any of the prompts, but there is that handy #5: "topic of your choice" option.</p>
<p>I think it'll work if i just modify the last part a bit, since i never really tied it to "mind that does not stick" until then. I hope so anyways.</p>
<p>Yeah, idad, I just used the "open" common app essay. And I actually didn't write my poem for UChicago, I wrote it for the purpose of being able to honestly send an essay I felt reflected me to every school. It worked out well for Reed, because I just love the essay, so they will get a feel of me. Cami-- I also refuse to change anything. Mine isn't in the style of the Langston Hughes poem, it's actually kind of a cross between Nikki Giovanni and W.H. Auden, which I realized afterward. It's like Auden's poem about the modern man (I'm forgetting the name). </p>
<p>I wonder what adcoms will think mine is in a response to. It starts out with "The truth is I knew I wasn't original"</p>
<p>My essays were wierd lol. I had 2 page essays for the short answers and 1 page one for the big one :)</p>