<p>I've already submitted my early so I guess it won't matter right now but I'd like some opinions for regular admissions..</p>
<p>I wrote two essays for my personal statement (I applied early to Yale....sigh), and asked people around me to choose which I should use for my personal statement - a solid, sensible one about how I came to choose my major (English Lit), or a mildly humorous one about popular culture and how I'm kind of slow on the uptake (but consider it one of my strengths in a way). Two of my mentors told me that the English Lit essay was better but the counselor liked the humorous one more...in the end I chose the English Lit essay, but even after submitting my application I'm still unsure. Should I have used the humorous one?</p>
<p>I have this same question. I already wrote one essay about how I went from a math person to an English person, but I also want to write a humorous one about my "dream wedding" (it's really much less stupid than it sounds) and how it's not something that people would expect from me. But I'll probably end up using the math v. English one just cause I've already written it..:)</p>
<p>If you have already submitted them, there's honestly no point in asking which one is better. Just wait for the decision, and relax in the mean time. Don't overthink. To tell you the truth, it's unlikely that one essay will get you the "admit" over the other.</p>
<p>In general, if you write a serious essay and you "miss" slightly, it's a serious essay that could have been better. Humor, on the other hand, is always dangerous. There is no such thing as "kind of funny." Think of the last movie or television program you watched that was trying to be humorous and just missed the target. It was either a snooze-fest or embarassing, wasn't it? If you are going to use humor you better be darned sure that you are an expert at it, and that 95% of your readers will see the humor. For a college application essay, I'd be cautious about any kind of humor other than gentle self-deprecation.</p>
<p>The "How I chose my possible major in college" has been done many times, and it won't set you apart from the majority of the candidates at a school as hard to get into as Yale.</p>
<p>The sensible topic can be a snooze-fest (because so many others have done it), while the humor essay could bomb if you're bad at humor writing. Of the two topics, I'd be more interested in the humorous one, even if it is slightly "off", rather than a topic that is cliched that is slightly "off".</p>
<p>only use humor if you feel its your voice...pretend the essay is like an interview...how would you talk? would you be serious and dignified? would you be laid back and humorous? show them who you are, don't try to think about what they want</p>
<p>for Yale, I had two as well--a sensible one about how karate gave me self-confidence, and a sentimental-yet-not-sappy one about playing jazz tunes at a nursing home (seriously. it wasn't sappy.) I couldn't decide which one to pick, but thankfully Yale has a mandatory additional essay in its supplement, so i was fine. Did you do that, OP?</p>
<p>I'd already used one for my common app essay (about my dad's political activities in the 1980s and how he went to prison for demonstrating) and I had two left over for the additional...</p>
<p>I guess it's a stretch to call it humor; more like gentle self-deprecation.</p>