<p>Literally every time I've tried to write a creative application essay, the result just sounded like an AP Lit short story... If you don't know what I mean, all the short stories I've read for AP Lit are descriptive, flowery, not too much personal voice, and symbolic. They sometimes require more than 2 minutes to read with understanding (not that adcoms wouldn't understand, I just don't know if they would devote the time/energy to dissecting what I wrote). Is this a bad quality for application essays to have? Should they be written more creative and abstract, or straightforward and frank? If you're curious and want an example of what I mean, I can PM you my Williams supplement essay which is about 200 words and highly short storyish.</p>
<p>Go show your English teacher your essay. He/She should be able to tell you if it is appropriate for your application.</p>
<p>Also, don’t worry about the essay portion too much for non-reach schools. You’re grades and basic ECs are usually good enough.</p>
<p>The essay is so much a personal choice and there is a great deal of leeway for personals style. I wouldn’t want to squash creativity. But I can’t think why a personal essay would be abstract. You shouldn’t be pontificating about abstract thoughts, but talking about what is relevant to the prompt and they are usually asking you about yourself. Virtually all essay advice directly from colleges say they want to hear your personal voice. And flowery is not considered good writing.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure they read the essays very quickly.</p>