Help with essay topic?

<p>One of my essay prompts says, "Please talk about a situation that demanded critical thinking from you, and how your choices or decisions integrated intelligence and character."</p>

<p>I understand that you guys obviously don't know me, and I don't expect you to come up with a topic for me. I'm just wondering what kinds of topics you guys think of when you read this, because I honestly have no idea. Maybe hearing other ideas will help me think of something that I can talk about.</p>

<p>Any help/advice is much appreciated! Thanks! :)</p>

<p>imo, you should never ask someone for a topic for your personal essays</p>

<p>Sorry for the confusion. I wasn’t asking for an idea. I just meant like are they asking for an ethical dilemma, or can it be anything that required critical thinking, etc.</p>

<p>UofChicago probably wouldn’t approve, but the most obvious situation to write about is “choosing the topic for this essay” :). Or you could imagine getting accepted to all the schools you apply for, and then applying critical thinking to choose the school you are writing the essay for… Otherwise, just think of a tough decision you had to make in high school (presuming it is undergrad and not grad you are applying for). Are you going to work or volunteer next summer? Where? Why there? Did you have to choose between taking two classes that you really wanted, but only had room for one in your schedule?</p>

<p>Anon,</p>

<p>this seems like the easiest prompt ever. Are you telling us that you have never made a hard decision? Seriously? When I say “what is the hardest decision you’ve ever made?” I KNOW a situation or two comes to mind. You did drugs or didn’t do drugs. You cheated or helped someone cheat or you didn’t cheat. You obeyed your parents or didn’t obey your parents. You chose a particular strategy for working with a group or failed to chose a strategy. You should have at least half a dozen options of stories you could tell.</p>

<p>You have to have been put in the position to have made one hard decision. This can be something relatively simple or miniscule to another and it could still work. Like choosing to walk or a ride a bike to school. That is a small topic, but with the right writing it could work. Really, you just have to choose a decision you made and say how it changed you. It’s not always about what you write about, but how you write it. If anything else, make up a situation that would demand a decision to be made and then elaborate in your essay how you would’ve responded to it–that is the more creative route. :)</p>

<p>Any problem you’ve faced and how you’ve faced I think would answer that question.</p>