HELP! College essay assignment

<p>I have a "college essay" for my English class due tomorrow..and of course I only start on it today even though she gave us a week. BUT ANYWAY! hahaha</p>

<p>I'm planning on writing about how I don't eat fruit. Like, I hate it. Despise it, really, and I get really squeamish around it. Kind of weird, no?</p>

<p>What I'm having trouble with is how to have my dislike for fruit have a sort of "broader" meaning, like "what does it say about me?" What kind of qualities does this say about me? I was thinking (maybe) something along the lines of I don't go along with the norm but I don't think that disliking a certain food is necessarily a choice..so..help???? </p>

<p>Any input is greatly appreciated. :)</p>

<p>Apparently, you have a physcological fear of C12H22O11.
Therefore, the conclusion is that you generally hate the disaccharide Sucrose, which is present in many fruit. Perhaps you can extend this to vegetables as well for your broader range? :D
(I don't know) Sorry, that was totally irrelevant.</p>

<p>I would say, more specifically, you fear fructose, an isomer of glucose, C6H12O6, which is an essential component of sucrose.</p>

<p>^Way too many commas in that sentence.</p>

<p>Yes, yes, you can extend that basic fear of the isomer glucose, which is chemically the same as fructose and thus would be equally feared, into a polysaccharide. Perhaps your body works differently and doesn't use Glycogen for energy? I guess that would set you apart?:D</p>

<p>Hahaha!!! Very amusing yet confusing responses. Bio was never my strong suit.</p>

<p>Lol, honestly I don't know man. Perhaps you should go with our approach. :D</p>

<p>I wouldn't write it about the fruit subject, try to be more serious yet still creative. I really don't think colleges want the crazy unconventional essays, they must get a ton of those, of which 99% are so obviously purposefully quirky that it annoys them. I, for one, know I hate editing my classmate's English free writes when they're on topics that are extremely "creative." There's so much better things to write about that you could do so much with.</p>

<p>Alright, thanks :)</p>

<p>No problem. I didn't want to make it sound like I was criticizing you, but if I were in your position I don't think I could even write one paragraph about that topic. It might not go very far. </p>

<p>Just so I'm not telling you what not to do and not contributing any ideas, how about some of these to help you find an essay topic:
your strengths?
outstanding experiences?
a time when you were really happy or really sad
a time when you learned something important
your values?</p>

<p>None of them are good essay topics, but if you reflect on all of the questions hopefully you'll get an idea. that's what I've been doing for college essays, I just let my mind wander cosntantly, and if I'm lucky enough to find inspiration I write it down. Though, I'll be honest, the ideas sometimes don't go very far.</p>

<p>Good luck with your essay! I had a similar assignment for health, although I'm not using the essay I wrote for it for colleges. I didn't put all of my effort into it, and I don't think it's a very good personal statement.</p>

<p>I'm in the same boat, mine's due tomorrow too.</p>

<p>I was thinking about my trip to vietnam as an 11 yr old and a now 17 yr old.
What could tie in the fact that i see things differently now. </p>

<p>It this too common, i heard the visiting a different country and whole opening your eyes thing is common...</p>

<p>I decided I'm writing about how math has always been my strong subject but I love English. I wish I could spend more time, though, but it's due tomorrow and I'm tired. And yes, I do realize that it's only 7:20..</p>

<p>bond35: I think the topic is common, but I suppose if you write it from a new light or have some amazing insight then it would be fine. Take this advice with a grain of salt, though, I'm hardly the expert on college essays.</p>

<p>And also this might not be the best advice, but since this essay is only for class (not actual applications or anything) I would just write about that topic. You can put more time into it later should you decide to use this topic for your applications.</p>

<p>This essay counts as both. A grade and a college application. first draft of course...</p>

<p>First of all, they shouldn't be able to make you do that. It's your college application, they can't give you a deadline to write a college essay! You might have misunderstood the assignment, but if not complain to your teacher, you should get more than one day to write a college essay.</p>

<p>About the topic, I know at least two kids in my grade who are doing that topic as well. So it probably is common, but you know what they say (and like kelkyann said) it's about what you do with the topic, not the topic itself. Make it your own.</p>

<p>you have a fruit-phobia. I'm going to go look up its official name and formally diagnose you.</p>

<p>Just write about a specific instant that exemplifies your fear of fruit. It should be much easier to bring an instant into a greater context, than a general fear context (even if this is a rare fear- a fear in its own right is a broad topic). It would be interesting to write about a time you were in your cafeteria and you got startled by seeing fresh strawberries being placed on the lunch counter (as an example), or whatever you can think of. &lt;/p>

<p>And Chris, he got a week to do it, which a LOT of time to do a college essay. "they can't give you a deadline to write a college essay" November 1. January 1. Deadline much? Also, in my school, the first senior writing assignment is to do a college essay, which can help us out because we get out of the way, and we receive feedback from it.</p>

<p>Also sidenote: One of my essays is about my first time making rice and beans. It's good stuff.</p>

<p>Stupak, there's a difference between November 1 and next week, especially one between next week and January 1. If these are college essays, then they have to use them for their application and so there are several weeks wasted that may have been spent thinking about better topics, and by revising the essay. If they're not the same as essays being sent to colleges then there's a difference.</p>

<p>But I don't like this assignment no matter what. Why can a teacher grade your coollege essay? They may like an essay that colleges hate, and hate one that college admissions committees would like. So there's really no point in teachers telling you how to write if they're not on an admissions committee themself.</p>

<p>Still, to write the essay doesn't take more than a couple of hours (some people do it in chunks, but still those chunks should add up to more than x hours). You make it sound like people revise the essay every day/week, which is nonsense. I would bet that most people revise their essays a single-digit amount of times, which all could happen in the scope of one week. </p>

<p>Also, I agree that a teacher shouldn't GRADE a college esay, but they should provide feedback, and usually teachers give extensive feedback on "graded" essays. The teacher isn't writing the essay for the student, and if he/she is a good english teacher, they will just provide thoughtful feedback more than extensive deletions/additions.</p>

<p>How about just looking at the assignment this way: the teacher is assigning homework that entails writing an essay that CAN be used as a college essay, giving the students practice on writing a quality essay and subsequent feedback. The student CAN then use this essay OR NOT if he/she wishes when applying to college. </p>

<p>For those of you who say a teacher can't do this, sure they can! They aren't telling you that you HAVE to use this essay in your application, they are assigning a writing exercise that has an applicable purpose. Personally, I think the teacher in question is providing a valuable service to his/her students.</p>

<p>Creative1 I agree, but on page 1 of this thread the point was that a kid said that their school was making them use that essay. That's what that was in response to.</p>

<p>And stupak, still, more time gives you more chances to think of better topics. I wouldn't just want to spend an hour on a college essay, which is ranked as one of the most important parts of harder applications. I want to write mine, read it, re-read it, and change all the details exactly the way I want them. If you look at the college essay like a school assignment you're putting your application in danger (that's for more rigorous colleges, of course).</p>

<p>"And also this might not be the best advice, but since this essay is only for class (not actual applications or anything) I would just write about that topic."</p>

<p>the school isn't making him/her use the essay- i say it's a nice activity, and helps stimulate seniors and get them going into the college admissions process.</p>

<p>Chris07, a school assignment should be read, re-read, and edited, at least an english paper. But still, you do have a point that time is a great thing to have. However, I still am for the college essay assignment.</p>