<p>okay, im pretty depressed right now b/c i jus submitted all my other apps 5 mins late, and i didn't get much help from the other board, but i'm looking forward to getting some opinions from Columbia acceptees here for my final app due tmrw (thank God)
basically, i spent about 3 months on an essay about growing up in a fatherless household and how it's made me independent, but its 596 words--is that way too much?
i also have another essay on my relatively complicated ethnical background and identity in america.
i'm tending to favor the first essay, since i feel that writing about ethnical identity is kinda played out.
but on the other hand, some ppl get the impression of a sob story from the life of autonomy.</p>
<p>gah. i wish columbia had more than one essay. i mean come on. there aren't even short essays.</p>
<p>so what do you guys think? i'll PM anyone willing to just read 'em.
Thanks!</p>
<p>It really depends on which you think is the better essay. Care to pm them to me? In general, I'd go with the dad story because personally, I've heard a LOT of complicated ethnic background stories.</p>
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i'm tending to favor the first essay, since i feel that writing about ethnical identity is kinda played out.
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<p>i agree....ethnic identity is pretty lame, esp if you have a better story to tell that really does tell the adcom about who you are. and if its a sob story, so what? as long as your not going out of your way to make it a tear-jerker you should be fine.</p>
<p>Everything is overdone (Vietnamese boat refugee stories, gay coming out stories, sports triumph stories, sick/dying parent/relative stories, etc.). Only the very rare person has something so unique that the adcoms haven't seen before. The key is to write your trite essay so well that isn't going to cause the adcoms to say "oh god, here's another dying parent essay."</p>
<p>but there are some things that are more overdone than others.... most people can come up with a story about their ethnic background, their family coming to america, or growing up and maturing.....i cant imagine more than a handful of qualified applicants write about living in a single parent home.</p>
<p>mine was 550ish, but really - if it fits on one page, they probably aren't going to roll their eyes much. Trim a few adjectives, combine a few sentences gracefully, and whatever it comes out as, don't worry about it.</p>
<p>And yeah I agree with Shraf - go with the single-parent household one, especially if it's written better.</p>
<p>sorry, just got back and feeling even more emo after being 3hrs late on my first day of my second job and getting a parking ticket already in the new year...
thanks for all the feedback; reading your comments, i'm leaning towards my independence essay. after all, i even prefer this one to my other one.</p>
<p>but ill see how it goes, with about 3 hrs left til the deadline.
you guys are the only ones who make me feel a lil better now, really appreciate it.</p>
<p>btw, i've sent mine to ultimateslacker, thanks.</p>
<p>oh and btw, i'm not writing about my father's death, but how i just grew up without him. he's alive, my parents are just divorced.</p>
<p>also, does it matter if my ethnicity essay kinda relates to my teacher recs, which praise my language skills, as opposed to my other essay with a topic that none of my teachers refer to.
i heard from someone that the people who get in are the ones that write an essay that kinda corresponds to what the teacher's also elaborate on.
iono, just curious.</p>
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i heard from someone that the people who get in are the ones that write an essay that kinda corresponds to what the teacher's also elaborate on.
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<p>probably not true....if anything they want to get as broad a picture of you as possible</p>