<p>I always felt that college essay questions are nothing more than prompts to help you to get started. My D, on the other hand, feels that questions need to be answered pretty literally. </p>
<p>For example, let's say there is a prompt "Describe a situation where you encountered diversity? Racial? Social? Economical? How would YOU contribute to diversity on our campus?" Do you just describe something unique about you that you feel will add to diversity on campus and let adcoms connect the dots?</p>
<p>My D. feels that somewhere you should literally say that "due to my [blah-blah] I will contribute to diversity on campus" to, as she put it, answer the prompt.</p>
<p>I always felt that this is unnecessary. You story will speak for itself.</p>
<p>I think you can answer it any way you would like, just as long as it is well written. However, I tend to think that your daughter's version, as you described it, would be put into the "boring" pile.</p>
<p>Have her read one of the books like "Essays that worked"
Stories are good.
Five paragraphy essays with intro, point1, point2, point2, conclusion are...
boring.</p>
<p>Bob--My S had to answer that exact question for Umich. He described a situation that illustrated the diversity of his hometown and HS (w/o me going into details, but he illustrated it very specifically) and at the end said something along the lines of "so what I will bring is a sense of the ordinariness of it--where I live is so diverse that it's something we take for granted" or something to that effect. BAsically, two paragraphs setting up the specific illustration, one lightly tying it back to him.</p>
<p>My sister-in-law described it this way. (She was a TA at U. of Michigan BTW) There is the question and there is the agenda. You have to answer the question, but the agenda is really more important. The agenda is letting the college know who you are, what makes you tick, why they want you.</p>
<p>My son's college essay (which was theoretically about how is family influenced him), also told readers that he had a quirky sense of humor and that he was the sort of person if they were given some free rein and minimal support would pursue an interest to expertise level.</p>
<p>One thing that I think really helps is to think about leads. One of my kids had a teacher who taught them about leads in fourth grade. (And I wish I'd known about the concept sooner!) Examples of more interesting ways to lead an essay can be a piece of dialogue, an interesting fact or statistic, a question, a joke, or in my son's case the results of a computer program.</p>
<p>All of my kid's essay answers were stories he told to explain his take on the prompt. He did not show them to me until after the entire application/acceptance/enrollment process was completed and I'm glad he didn't, I would have been tempted to suggest he answer the questions directly. He was right, got accepted everywhere he applied to.</p>
<p>How can we presume to know what is in the mind of a particular college admissions committee? Within the mind of a specific reader?</p>
<p>IMHO, there is no "right" way to approach an essay prompt. The applicant should be true to her/himself.</p>
<p>I do think that the essays provide a way for the applicant to add to one's personal picture, as other posters have suggested, but this needs to be done carefully in order to avoid sounding banal, or worse, self-congratulatory.</p>
<p>I also think that at most colleges, the essays don't count for much. How could they, given the likelihood that many of essays could have received a lot of outside help to the point that they reflect little of who the applicant is?</p>
<p>When I see some of these inane essay prompts, I always wonder how my favorite essayists would respond. For the prompt cited by the OP, I could see Andy Rooney starting out something like this: " 'Economical' diversity? Well, I've been known to squeeze a penny so tight that I crimp ol' Abe's beard. That should set me apart from my classmates and bring something different to campus."</p>
<p>How about Dave BArry (NOT Dave BErry)? "I like to dress up like a pirate and and say 'Arrrggh, matey' quite a bit. I think I'll bring plenty of weird, diverse dots to campus. Good luck connecting THEM!"</p>
<p>I'll say this again, as I did in another essay thread: Applicants should write what they WANT to say and HOW they want to say it, rather than write what they think the adcoms want to hear and how they want to hear it. I'm always amazed at how stilted some perfectly interesting and fun seniors can become when they become "essay writers." A shame.</p>
<p>^^^I've been equally amazed at how good some of the essays I've been asked to look over have been. There are some kids who really do write natural sounding essays that have made me want to accept them - I don't think these essays have had much adult input.</p>
<p>I agree with Dave. I hate that "Diversity" question. If my son were answering it, he'd probably assume he was supposed to tell colleges that he's an Albanian/Jew named after an African-American hero. But that doesn't really define who he is or explain what sets him apart from others.</p>
<p>In college admissions parlance, "Diversity" has become code for racial and/or ethnic background, and when a school is described as "not very diverse," that's generally a euphemism for "Mostly white people." </p>
<p>When I worked in the admission office at Smith, I was always impressed by the "diversity" among the students I interviewed, but it went far beyond skin color or culture. On any given day, I might meet three blonds from Connecticut named Caitlin, yet they would be different from one another in many ways. Those who use the term "diversity" in the context of college populations--and essays--rarely take these differences in interests, goals, personality, politics, values, etc. into account and recognize that they play a big role in what can truly make an institution diverse.</p>
<p>Fortunately, my son just started 6th grade, and his latest "essay" was about his beloved new cat. With any luck, that "Diversity" question will be out of fashion in six years. But, if not, I will encourage him to look beyond his ethnic background and write about some other atypical traits. ("I am devoted to my cat" ;) )</p>
<p>We should keep in mind that there is quite a divide between state uiversities and how they use essays versus elite private universities and colleges.I</p>
<p>I am willing to bet folks here that the prompts that talk about "diversity" are from State Universities, for reasons that should be obvious if one thinks about the University of Michigan Supreme Court decision of a few years ago...</p>
<p>
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I am willing to bet folks here that the prompts that talk about "diversity" are from State Universities
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</p>
<p>That's a bet I'd happily take. :) I worked with a Skidmore aspirant last year who suffered through the Diversity prompt. Amherst used to have one, too, though it was one of several options on the Common App supplement, not mandatory. Other small elite schools have them as well, just can't think of more examples off the top of my head (but if the stakes of the bet are high enough, I'll work on it!)</p>
<p>Thank you for the comments. It is a short answer for UMich. I read it this morning. My D described her pretty unique background in comparison to other kids in her school and in our geographic area. Instead of just saying that she is unique, D used a lighter approach - a story about how we celebrate holidays in our family.</p>
<p>I thought that the essay is well written, and the story speaks for itself. But I think my D. shared her essay with her HS GC, and that's where this notion of "making sure you answer the question" is coming from.</p>
<p>One sided reply, not to mention rare exceptions AND you being a professional in the trade. Unfair. :). How many state universities include such a prompt? Compare that percentage to the private sector...</p>
<p>newmassdad--I haven't kept track of which colleges have the diversity prompt nor the public vs. private head-count. I was just looking to make some quick cash on an easy bet so, whichever institution my son will one day diversify with his Albanian/Jewish bloodlines, I will be able to pay the freight. :D</p>
<p>But, on a more serious note, and going back to the OP's question: One thing that always struck me back in my application-evaluating days was that the same essay can be viewed very differently by different admission officials. I used to get application folders to read and find, "Great essay!" scrolled on the tally sheet in the front, and I would read the essay and hate it. Or, conversely, an essay I loved would garner lukewarm remarks from a colleague.</p>
<p>Likewise, some admission folks are pleased with good essays that don't address every element in the prompt while others may see that their question isn't addressed quite head on and wonder if the applicant is recycling an essay written for another college.</p>
<p>However, I do always caution my advisees to avoid repeating the essay prompt in the opening paragraph, as in, "There are many ways that I will contribute to the diversity on your campus ..."</p>