“Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences.” So I read this once in the summer and planned out an entire essay on what one of my ECs meant to me and how it shaped me as a person, and it’s a pretty good essay IMO. But I just reread the question and I realized they probably just want to know details and to write about what it meant to me would be wrong. What do you think?
@Goldz09 : As long as it is whatever they define as “brief” an elaboration is exactly what you want it to be. And wow, that is a weak supplement! Usually that type of thing would already be worked into a personal statement on the commonapp (specifically, it would be written in the new level of detail you are considering writing your essay). If they are gonna have a prompt like that, they should perhaps just consider dropping the supplement altogether. It would result in even more applications which is basically almost the only thing elite schools care for anyway (that and the resulting stats that come from those better app. numbers. They get to report the new admit rate which dropped by X% or even .X%, alum and current students take that in, and then everyone celebrates the non-sense) during admissions season. Don’t know why come up with these extra supplements, especially when they are very superficial like that, and essentially wasting the time of the applicant and maybe even the readers (who are busy enough sifting through 20-30k+ applications). If you personally are going to spend the time to answer it, it may help to write something meaningful even if the prompt itself doesn’t explicitly ask for it.
@Goldz09 My daughter wrote her supplemental like your planned out in the summer that was how her extracurricular shaped her (from her early childhood, to frustration, to overcome, and life lesson in it). Her Common App essay (the main essay) had the similar scene with an academic subject. She wasn’t a high state kid (just average in Vandy’s range of ACT and GPA). She got in last year. I suggest that you stick to your original plan. The essays are to let the admission people know you personally (as a person, and not just as a stack of paper with numbers), so I think you are in a good path.
@bernie12 it’s actually quite similar to my common app essay - it’s an elaboration of the same theme.That’s why I liked it - it added to what I said in my essay.
You did the right thing. It’s all about building your app into a strong narrative that distinctly shows who you are/what you are interested in, so the essay should definitely do more than just list some extra details.
@Goldz09 - I will stick to with your original thought. They are not just asking for details. My S also wrote what he gained from the EC i.e. personal growth… He got admission and CV.
@Goldz09 : Yes, the way YOU did it made it a viable extension to the commonapp. That other more plain idea you had (which I am willing to bet some applicants end up doing), would be a waste. However, given how the prompt is presented I see how people could get the idea that they want that sort of simplicity.
@srk2017 : Doesn’t CV have an extra essay? I am sure a lot of the success could have been attributed to that as well if it existed.