First two essays question

<p>I already wrote my third essay, i choose topic 4 and personally i feel that my essay pwns. I'm so good with weird and creative writing and that's probably why chicago is a good match for me. But as for the first 2...</p>

<p>I've read that chicago hates essays that sound like they're from a how-to collee book. I was planning on writing the first essay in the style where i imagine myself at the school and picture myself going through a day, but i realize that many how-to books suggest this approach. Will chicago shun this approach? Is it better to just be generic and say "chicago is a good match for me because...."</p>

<p>As for the second, exactly what is chicago looking for here? Diverse tastes, intellectual tastes, quirky tastes? I was planning on just mentioning a bunch of my favorite books. I mean i have favorite music too but i don't think it reveals anything about my personality. Do they want you to give more than just books? Also, if i say a book by a "bad" author such as Karl Marx, Julius Evola, or Adolph Hitler, will they look down on me? Thanks.</p>

<p>p.s. cornell ****ing rejected me, i'm going to whipe my @$$ with the rejection letter and mail it back to them</p>

<p>might i advise some perfume on the envelope:)</p>

<p>As for the first essay: I talked about the "life of the mind" and how I use it every day and how important it is. I ended it with me "in chicago" stealing cups of coffee into Reg and "holding a pipet" in one of the research labs.</p>

<p>The second one: I asked questions....tons of them, wierd ones, on books I read. Ending was about how books enriched my life..."quarky" i know.</p>

<p>Thanks for your reply, nobel. You didn't really answer my question though, i should have made it more obvious. What is the purpose of these essays? Are they looking for a more generic college response, or do you they want you to be creative and show thought like they do in the larger essay?</p>

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<p>I also thought of another question and would appreciate if anyone gave their opiinion. I already wrote my response to question number 4 and i think it's pretty good. The questions at chicago were much more fun to write and a welcome change from the usual "describe your most meaningful experience" line of junk. The point of a college essay seems to be to reveal aspects of your personality, so most college books say your essay should somehow reveal this information. As in, if they ask you about a meaningful experience, you have to draw a connection as to how this makes you an improved person etc. It seems to me that Chicago's strategy in these weird essays is to give you a chance to demonstrate what a unique, quirky, or intelligent thinker you are by answering these questions in a unique, quirky, or intelligent manner. But do you think they also want you to make more direct connections about your personality? My personality is certainly present in the essay i wrote, but i don't say anything like "Thus i have grown and matured to become a more intelligent person" or any crap like that. What do you guys think?</p>

<p>I had two categories, because that's all I wanted to fit. I didn't put all the smart books I read to show how wide a thinker I was. I just mentioned a few books, why I liked them, and then I mentioned an artist and why I liked them. In both parts I mentioned what they meant to me. I think that they are just looking to see what you got out of something, and how maybe it affected your way of thinking.</p>

<p>You can be smart, but they want to see evidence that you have room for expansion, enlightenment, and that you actively seek this enlightenment at their college. That is the point of the first two essays.</p>

<p>adding to what fortune said:</p>

<p>"exactly what is chicago looking for here?"</p>

<p>Let me wait a few more days, and see how it works out for me. Then, I can be sure my ideas are somewhere in the realm of "Chicago Style".</p>