<p>i just read a post where someone said its not WHAT you write but HOW you write it...so is the style of your writing actually more important than the content? i realize clear expression is key, but is there an element of style involved, because I read somewhere that flashy high vocab prose isn't wanted? And I also read that a lot of time should be spent on essays...is this time spent mostly on polishing up the essays or thinking up something really original to write? I would like to write original essays but I don't want to focus too much on polishing and making it look like the perfect essay, because then it wouldn't be from me, and I'm also a bit short on time. </p>
<p>I'm planning to write about myself and my experiences (I've lived in many places, namely california, NY, bahrain, bangladesh and india over my lifetime). any advice would be appreciated regarding yale and what they want from essays. </p>
<p>btw, is 2009 the most competitive year for admissions in the US?</p>
<p>They don't want the "high flashy vocab prose" if it is awkward or inaccurately used, as I imagine would be the case with my many nervous budding college applicants. You shouldn't go through your essay with a thesaurus, because so many big words will make you sound pretentious and unintelligent. But I'm sure style matters. Vocabulary matters, but that's not the only thing. The way your essay is structured, and the way your sentences all flow contributes to how the essay reads. </p>
<p>Content matters. The main thing to do is to be creative, and not to listen to these dumb admissions books telling you how to write a college essay. If it seems too refined, it won't jump off the page.</p>
<p>Be yourself, and be creative. That's all there is to it. And yes, they really matter. If you come off as boring or pompous, there are enough applicants to throw you out no matter your credentials.</p>
<p>What you write is important. The idea behind "it's not what you write but how you write it" is that you can write about common topics and still get in. Most topics have been written about so basically now you just have to write about it well.</p>
<p>i actually posted that on a chance thread on the Yale ( i think you might have seen that ha).
the OP was asking about writing about her experiences visitng a small village and teaching kids. she asked whether this was cliche. most GCs, AOs and teachers will tell you no. it's a great topic that had an impact on her life. but the way to "un-cliche" it is the HOW part. not by cramming all your SAT words, but by some different perspective, aspect, or moment of the topic that is personal. the prose of the essay - the flow, the sentences, the climax, the time fram (or whatever it may be) can set apart two essays on the same topic.</p>
<p>Yale wants to hear your voice. If your voice is bold and Hemingway-esque, that is what they want to hear. If your voice is genuinely polysyllabic, then that is what they want to hear. The style in your essay should be yours.</p>
<p>...that said, if your style is jerky or sloppy, Yale probably doesn't want you, but that's not the point.</p>
<p>My writing style is really simple and assertive. I rarely ever use conjunctions but that doesn't neccesarily reflect badly on me I don't think (haha, I used one right there. ;))</p>
<p>uhm...what if you were 150 words over on the common app essay? >_></p>
<p>I wasn't aware of the word limit before I sent it in (since it wasn't on the application instructions), and then I found out on the FAQ section that it will reflect poorly on me (this is almost verbatim) by seeming to ignore their request. </p>
<p>Yea, I'm screwed...:D</p>
<p>My only hope is that I sent in what I thought was a pretty decent essay, and I really hope they won't mind the extra 150 words because of the content. Still, I am now eagerly perusing other colleges due to the almost-certain deferral/rejection letter because of the word limit problem.</p>
<p>...limetime are you serious? There was a word limit on the common app essay?</p>
<p>If there is then they really need to put that in a place where people will actually see it. I went totally over 500 words, too! Argh...</p>
<p>EDIT: I just checked on the Common App support center -</p>
<p>
[quote]
There is no maximum word limit on the personal essay, but there is a 250 word minimum. However, there is a size limit. The file cannot exceed 500 KB in size and should be in .doc, .wpd, .rtf, .xls, .pdf, or .txt format.
<p>I was 250 words over 500. The text in that question was wayy ambiguous and I couldn't justify cutting my essay any more in terms of the quality of writing. If Yale is dead-set on rejecting me on the basis that I didn't "follow the instructions" or whatever (which, by the way, don't exist; the only mention of that word limit for the Common App essay is in that FAQ), then so be it. I really don't belong there.</p>
<p>NJBKitty, we're definitely not in the clear. There was a thread way back in which a student discussed how he/she called his/her regional admissions officer, and the officer flat-out told him/her that the common app essay shouldn't be over 500 words. I was extremely mad when I found out, too, because it was so ambiguous in the FAQ section.</p>
<p><em>shrugs</em> then again, if they want to reject me for not following unclear directions, I guess it's their problem.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry too much about being over on the common app essay...I'm sure a lot of people will do what you guys did and send in 600-800 word essays or so, and they'll either know or look and find out that there wasn't an explicit word limit. They're smart people. Mine was 600ish at first and I cut it down to about 520 just in case, but it made my essay better anyways.</p>