Help on UChicago essay

<p>Alright so I've got two questions:</p>

<p>1) For the optional, list books, movies, etc. essay, I'm not exactly sure how to approach it. I'm guessing less is more here, in order to try to tell the admissions offices something about myself through the media I choose to consume. So just pick a few things that are really important to me and talk about how they're relevant to myself?</p>

<p>2) For the extended essay, I'm doing the "you are you and your" prompt. Thing is, I already have an essay that I wrote that fits this prompt quite well, but I'm not sure how to "frame" it so to speak. And yes, I know it's generally not a good idea to recycle essays for UChicago because they will think that's lame if they see through it, but in this case I think the essay I've written does fit the prompt well. It's an essay about my background and how I was born in NY but moved to the middle of nowhere in VERY far northern Wisconsin when I was 4, and how my Chinese ethnicity ties into all of that. I'm planning on framing/modifying the essay in one of two ways: A) "I am myself and my volition." Talk about how being in this environment in northern Wisconsin, where there's a lot of poverty and kids don't generally have much academic drive, has not limited my own drive and my own dreams. I like this because it has a "point" to it and a sort of moral type thing, but it also seems kind of cliche and might make a lot of my essay somewhat redundant (too much explaining about my background). My second idea was B) "I am myself and my story" (might use a word other than story). This one fits the original essay better because that IS the essay: my story. However, I'm afraid this one might seem "lame" or "pointless."</p>

<p>What are your thoughts? Which "I am" frames the essay better? Or should I just try to write another essay specifically for this prompt in the limited time I have (applying EA so the deadline is Friday)?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>When I went to a UChicago informational meeting, the man said that the optional essay on favorites can be an essay on one or a few, or can be a list! I think UChicago is giving applications a lot of flexibility on their essays so do whatever fits you best!
Also for your supplement, I like the “I am myself and my volition” better. It’s not as vague as “story” I think. But of course, it depends on your essay and which one fits better!</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply! I already wrote the essay as I am myself and my story. It was very easy to adapt and I made the “thesis” something like I always bring my story with me wherever I go, but I choose how to tell it and how to craft it. I could just make a copy and adapt it for the volition idea; it wouldn’t take too long.</p>

<p>As for the optional essay, I wrote about how I’ve been inspired by Jeremy Lin.</p>

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