<p>All right so for the CMC app, would I be putting myself at a disadvantage/****ing off the college admissions officer reading my app if I wrote about some random fictional character? </p>
<p>I'm not talking about a person from one of the classics or even really good, adult, well-known fiction; I'm talking about a character from a teen fantasy/romance series that I want to write about. It's not a trashy beach read, but it's just, well, not very sophisticated. However, the protagonist is the perfect leader to give advice to. </p>
<p>Do you think I'd be OK with this? If so, should I give the reader some context of the storyline, so they better understand the advice I'm giving? </p>
<p>Please help!</p>
<p>I don’t think it really matters who the character is, as long as the essay conveys your leadership style. Will the admissions committee view you as someone who has the leadership qualities to take advantage of the distinct leadership programs the school is known for. Although you are offering advice to some person or character, the essay should reflect your particular leadership skills.</p>
<p>i think you would be okay. there point isnt to see who you look up to, but rather how you make an impact on their lives.</p>
<p>All right thanks you guys! If anyone knows the book, it’s the Great and Terrible Beauty series by Libba Bray; I want to give advice to the main character, Gemma. If anyone out there thinks I should NOT write about such a teen-y book, please post so I can get some more input! Thank you all so much :)</p>
<p>^I was worried you were going to pull out Twilight on us. </p>
<p>Still, if I were writing my essay on literature, I’d do it on something a bit more sophisticated.</p>
<p>^eh I’m sure colleges will see right through someone trying to sound sophisticated.</p>
<p>Go with what you know.</p>
<p>the issue isn’t about ‘sounding’ ingenuously sophisticated, but that talking about a teen romance novel as a piece of literature that is particularly meaningful to you just doesn’t really come across well. it may make your reader less likely to take you seriously</p>
<p>Well, if the prompt mentioned something about choosing a leader important to me, than I wouldn’t choose the book; however, all it says is to pick someone whom I consider to be a leader, so I can’t see why they would look down on it… especially because it’s not like I’m going to reference the book title/author/immature components of the plot in the essay.</p>
<p>I would like to do it on something more sophisticated-- for example, Jane Eyre is my favorite book of all time-- but to be honest, that’s the only real “classic” I like, and most of the books I’ve read in school and such don’t really have protaginists who are leaders. So you see, I’m at a loss for what else I could write on, considering my lack of knowledge of political leaders, which I’m betting many CMC applicants write about.</p>
<p>I must admit I am not familiar with the book but did a little research, and the story seems to be more like the Harry Potter series than a teen romance novel. I don’t see a problem writing about the Gemma character, particularly if it inspires you to write about this topic. Go for it!</p>
<p>Write about whatever is natural to you. Be it serious or funny, fictional or real, just write what you’re best at. I am a freshman at CMC, and I wrote mine about the Once-ler in “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss, in a poem that emulates his style. Some people wrote about movie characters, friends, themself, politicians, authors, characters in novels, whatever. They range from serious, winding essays, to funny poems like my own.</p>
<p>In the end on your application they look for a person, not a bunch of gaudy statistics and references and comm serve projects. My admissions rep told me upon arrival here that one way they look at an app is to do a “room- mate test.” They look at an application as if they were choosing a room-mate. Do they have any personality or are they just a list of characteristics? That said, not everyone here is outgoing, hilarious, and creative. Be your authentic self and more likely than not, you’ll be rewarded for it.</p>
<p>Best of luck. If anyone here needs any help with anything regarding CMC or the 5-C’s, feel free to email me at <a href=“mailto:ghoffman15@cmc.edu”>ghoffman15@cmc.edu</a></p>
<p>Thank you so much miamigregory! You’ve really reassured me not to stress about that essay so much… I was pretty worried because it seemed that everyone wrote about Obama/presidents of the past/extremely influential political leaders in general… which I couldn’t write about without sounding like an idiot. So thank you.</p>
<p>Not to be one of those annoying people, but, CMC is my first choice school right now. Can you tell me what your stats were? I’m trying to decide if I actually have a shot at getting in…</p>
<p>I am telling you, stats DO NOT MATTER. obviously you have to be MILDLY qualified.</p>
<p>31 act. 3.2 UW GPA,4.9W all the toughest courses, and a few courses at a local college.</p>
<p>I got in cause of how my personality and drive came across on the app. DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED BY YOUR STATS, WHATEVER THEY ARE. If that were the case for me, I wouldnt have applied to UMich, Texas, and Emory as well, among other schools. But I did, and got into them all.</p>
<p>Good luck email me if ya need help.</p>
<p>Whoa, how did you get from 3.2 unweighted to 4.9 weighted!?</p>
<p>@miami gregory
An admissions officer came to my school and said that was the best essay he read.</p>