<p>Sweet, I wrote about myself too</p>
<p>no way, so did I! I guess we're all shoo-ins, then.</p>
<p>How do you NOT write about yourself in a college essay?</p>
<p>really, that's kind of the point of the essay...to let adcoms see a personal side of you.</p>
<p>bounce, congrats! and I remember in one of those essay books, a guy that came from a traditional Asian family wrote about his struggle to come out - the adcoms really appreciated it.</p>
<p>hey BouNce just to let you know only fifteen people out of the bunch that applied early had gay/lesbain/queer activism listed on their apps. That's what my intervieweR told me. So if you're invovled in activism, I hope you listed it. I hope to see you next year :D</p>
<p>columbia really likes people with interests</p>
<p>therefore, i think if you demonstrated a strong interest and wrote really good essays blah blah.. that was def a likely letter, in any case</p>
<p>=) =) =)!</p>
<p>i think it means you wrote an essay that was kind of risky.. and some ppl might not have liked it.. but the officer who read it loved it.. so heshe wants u to know its okay and it set you apart.. good luck!</p>
<p>Even if you write about yourself, you have to do it tactfully. The person who got the e-mail in this thread will know what I mean perfectly.</p>
<p>Well, heres my recipe for essay writing.
I grew up in a horrible neighborhood, but I didn't write my essay seeking pity. I write in the most optimistic way possible and you can tell reading anything I write. I also didn't use a single vocabulary word (save the word "semantics" but it's completely appropriate in an essay about "race" and genocide). Why use a 50 cent word when a 5 cent word costs a nickel? People, which is what adcoms are, will probably think you are a pretentious douchebag (though they let a lot of them in at columbia).</p>
<p>The main thing I had above everything else is an actual passion. Nobody has passion for math or being a lawyer or whatever. Most people are looking out for themselves and looking to go to columbia so they can get a bigger pay check after graduation. I don't care about any of that and I know for a fact what I'm going to be doing - and its certainly not to impress anyone else. I hope most of you find that money means nothing.</p>
<p>Mostly, writing my essay involved luck. I've lead an interesting life so I had a lot of interesting things to write about. Basically, that's all you need.</p>
<p>well, w/e the case.. like i said. columbia, and most others school for that matter, want to see people with passion/great interest in something
which, i believe, you have</p>
<p>in any case, you deserve to get in. good luck</p>
<p>Afa's right. As always! They don't want sluggish people that won't be motivated to take advantage of the resources around them...they want passionate people, who are driven to do the best for themselves they possibly can!</p>
<p>And of course, the positiveness helps. A negative essay about how much you hate the place you grew up isn't going to inspire confidence at all. Adcoms will just be like "okay, so the kid's incapable of finding a niche for himself and reaching out to people...why, again, are we considering his admission?"</p>
<p>--Nay</p>
<p>
[quote]
Nobody has passion for math or being a lawyer or whatever.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Get your head out of your rear end. A lot of people are passionate about a lot of different things. How would we have a judicial system if there weren't those among our founding fathers passionate about law and the rule of law? How would we have all of our scientific knowledge and the resultant discoveries if there weren't those people that were passionate about math and science?</p>
<p>I'm glad you have a passion, but don't deny that people in other fields can love what they do as much as you do.</p>
<p>Kudos about the email. I'm sure you had a great essay. But, I think its ironic that you're calling other people "pretentious douchebag"s when you yourself sound like one. Just because you're "passionate" about a subject, does not mean that others cannot be, even if it is <em>gasp</em> math or law.</p>
<p>sorry, that was kind of ironic!</p>
<p>My personal feelings are that human rights are the most important thing in the world today (along with environmental science). The way I see it, we don't need more lawyers or mathematicians. I'm actually a sort of socialist and one of the reasons I am going into human rights is because Im needed there. I don't deny the importance of other subjects, but I feel that most other careers people choose only involve self-benficiary greed. I'm greedy too, in that i'll feel better about myself by helping others, but my type of greed is harmless. Don't think that I consider myself more important, because I don't and I know Im only in the position i'm in because of luck.</p>
<p>sorry to sound like a really pretentious jerk. lol</p>
<p>lol, you must hate adam smith.</p>
<p>My D wants to be a lawyer, to help protect and defend kids. Sometimes you need to be in the system to change it and to help people as well. It would help not to make assumptions about people and what they choose to do. It will help in life. My D has been lucky, she hasn't gone through some of the things you sound like you have, so she feels the need and desire to give. And if you go around thinking, let alone saying, others are less because they don't have the same passions you do, will just alienate people and you won't be able to make the changes you are so passionate about.</p>
<p>hahaha, yeah laissez-faire ain't my bag of chips.</p>
<p>and I totally understand where you're coming from city, and I know that what I'm saying would alienate people, but I'm all for a debate.</p>
<p>I can't really speculate on why your daughter wants to be a lawyer, because I have no idea of her circumstances; however, if she was going maximize her ability to help and defend kids, then maybe she would want to join the peace corp. and help deal with child trafficking in Cambodia instead of helping kids in America who are, by virtue of where they are born, already 50 times better off. </p>
<p>I don't think your daughter is "less" than me (I don't believe in hierarchys of any sort, actually). I just think that my past experiences have lead me to the point where I can deliberate what is more necessary. If your daughter were born into my family, she would think like I do maybe - I don't know.</p>
<p>"My personal feelings are that human rights are the most important thing in the world today (along with environmental science). The way I see it, we don't need more lawyers or mathematicians." Bouncetotheizzo</p>
<p>Many many things are important, local and national and international. Human rights don't affect me directly, but maybe a good lawyer or an inspirational math teacher would. Maybe my favorite teacher-mentor means nothing to someone else, but still. Don't ignore the smaller but important things.</p>
<p>I guess they like to let the next Jack Kerouac in from time to time...</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't believe in hierarchys of any sort, actually
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't understand where this is coming from at all. I mean, yes, that's a very loyal socialist thing of you to say, but it doesn't make any sense. One person can be better at math than another. One person can be better at lawyering than another. Don't believe in them? Believe what you will, but the fact that you don't believe in them doesn't make them any less existant.</p>
<p>(By the way, it's 'hierarchies'. That would put me higher in the spelling hierarchy than you.)</p>