<p>Hi...as you know, I'll be applying to transfer to Madison for fall 2009. I figure I should start working on my essays this summer so I can sumbit my application once I register for second-semester classes (at UW-Eau Claire) in November. (I'll send in my first-semester transcript in December.) The thing is, I'm having some trouble deciding what to write for the first prompt--the "how will your presence enrich the university community" one. I have nothing that significantly sets me apart from hundreds of other applicants, except for the circumstances surrounding my high school grades, but that's for the second prompt! Honestly, I'm more interested in how the university will enrich ME! I know that HYPSM and other top (mostly private) schools like essays that set the applicant apart from others, essays that are quirky/creative. Is Madison the same way, as a public school? If so, what can I write as the academic (though my HS grades don't show it lol), nerdy, liberal person that I am, that will help separate me from the other transfer applicants?</p>
<p>btw, last year (for my freshman essay), I made the mistake of combining both prompts into a single 650-word statement that was overly formal/stuffy/inauthentic and read more like an affidavit than a college admissions essay.</p>