<p>i'm thinking about doing my common app essay on an embarassing experience and its influence on me. it is going to have some funny parts in it. is it a good idea to do so? also, what essay topic would that be because the experience isnt really a "major" experience.</p>
<p>topic 6 most likely. The idea really depends on the expierence and how it affected you. If you feel willing to share what is the expierence?</p>
<p>haha i’d rather not say. but you think its a good idea though? if i talk about something really embarassing and i add some humor to it? but basically the experience made me more self-confident and courageous.</p>
<p>it would need to be an expierence that really changed and affected you as a person. For instance you would need to go into great depth about how it made you more self confident and courageous. </p>
<p>If your friends just laughed at you for a week or so, than i wouldn’t suggest wrtiting about it. </p>
<p>It all depends, on the expierence, how it affected you, and what you learned from it.</p>
<p>well, after this event occured i was more self confident and braver. it isnt like a life changing thing. like now when something embarrasing occurs, i think about that one time and i dont feel that embarrased anymore. do you think that is enough? or not deep enough?</p>
<p>^It depends on what schools you are looking at. For the very cream of the crop schools, you’d be best off with some profound subtleties (since a lighthearted essay can’t really be too deep). For lesser but still fantastic schools, such profound thought is not as necessary, to the point of not being necessary. Try to think about this: if you can convey somewhere in your app that you are a serious thinker (hint: teacher recs, supplement, whatever) than a lighthearted main essay (without said profoundness) might be very beneficial to round out your character. But if your teachers and GC all say you’re a goofball, or if your other essays are not serious whatsoever, you may want to reconsider your subject or how you approach it. Although, that last scenario I alluded to I would imagine would be quite rare. </p>
<p>But no, just an event that changed your thought process solely upon future embarrasements would probably not be deep enough for the very top schools alone (the last word is important, though).</p>
<p>hmm. well, im thinking about getting my supplemental rec from my tennis coach and i goof off a lot in practice. but he knows i am smart and serious about my work. he likes me alot so im pretty sure he’ll give me a good rec. and for my two teacher recs… i dont fool around alot in school, usually im pretty serious. hmmm what do you think? i plan on making my other essays serious. and my counselor would say im serious. im applying to a bunch of ivies and duke, rice, emory</p>
<p>I give you my green light, although it really comes down to what you want to do. Be warned, though: if you try to sound funny but fail, your essay will be really bad. It’s a risk. And even if all your friends and even teachers say it’s funny, you never know how it will fly with the adcom. What if this embarassing event you describe in jest led to his brother commiting suicide dozens of years ago? An extreme example, of course, but hopefully you get the point. Although funny pulled off (with the adcom, your ultimate reader) is generally a plus, especially if it is witty, possible to the point of all-out satire. For example, early Simpsons episodes had a great degree of intellectual thought underlying the humourous plots.</p>
<p>the essay’s not really all funny. it will just have a few funny/embarassing parts in it. like when you read it you would hate to have whatever happened in the essay happen to you. well, im still in the process of writing it so… hmm.
this event is embarassing, but no so embarassing that anyone will commit suicide over it im pretty sure.</p>
<p>^So is it lighthearted when it’s not funny? Or plain serious? The former is generally fine. The latter might be an awkward mix to pull off. But, it is very possible to pull off talking about some deep, introspective stuff while still being lighthearted. If you want an example of that last idea (hopefully it’s a good one), I can send you one of my lighthearted essays.</p>
<p>yeah, its light-hearted when its not funny. but its not a thoughtless essay. can you pm me one of your light-hearted essays? are you applying to colleges too?
and thanks for your advice!</p>