Prompt #3: Oscar Wilde said that there are two tragedies in life: not getting what one wants and getting it. Tell us about an experience of not getting what you wanted or getting it and why it was a tragedy.
I actually have a perfect story for this, but it was a series of a bad thing triggering a good thing and that triggering another bad thing and so on. Is it appropriate to talk about the whole story and what I learned from it rather than just picking one of them? I just find the story incomplete when told in one part.
Write it how it feels right to you. It’s all about telling the story of who you are and why you would be a good fit for the college, as long as it fits the word count, it’s all right (:
@SienaRose Do you know what the word count is? It wasn’t on their website so I’m wondering whether this is one of the essays without one.
If you’re using the Common App, it will tell you once it becomes available. Some pomona essays don’t have word counts, in which case, write as much as you feel will help the admissions committee get a sense of who you are!
I have written down from last year that they suggest between 400 and 600 words, but that it allows for longer or shorter responses.
I LOVE how 90 percent of these prompts are complete BS designed to trip students over. They use some fancy quote by some snobby character, and ask students to interpret it. As if that has anything to do with our ability to solve physics problems and design buildings…