<p>If you were able to write MIT's essay prompts, what you you make them?</p>
<p>Would you rather live in a large house in a rural area or in a small to moderate-sized apartment in a large city? Why?</p>
<p>That may seem like a dumb question to ask 17 to 18-year-olds. But if someone really thought about it and took the time to answer it, the reply could be quite revealing about the person. Certainly, there is neither a right or wrong answer. However, I think narrower questions sometimes bring out better responses than huge, broad questions.</p>
<p>I remember some time ago, an English teacher telling me about a kid who could think of nothing to write about at all. So, the teacher narrowed it down. Didn’t work. So, the teacher asked the student to write about his hometown. Couldn’t do it. This kept up for some time until the teacher said, “One brick.” Write about one brick of one building of your city. That’s it.</p>
<p>This is predictable. The mind was freed up from too broad of a subject, and when the student began writing about that one brick, all kinds of amazing stories came out.</p>
<p>Many of us are the same way. “Tell me about yourself” usually brings despairs of predictable responses that are bland. However, specific and unusual questions often challenge the mind in a way that such generalized questions cannot.</p>
<p>Totally agree with jazzpark! In general, though, I like writing essays that have a specific focus, but can be written about almost anything. I think University of Chicago’s essays are generally great at that (you can read the list of previous essay prompts online). Especially “Find x.” I can’t think of a boring answer to that question! Also, I think it would be nice to have an essay about your interest in STEM and how science/math has affected your life. I also liked something that was on Yale’s app: “What would you do with a free afternoon?” (It had a ridiculously small word limit, too, which forces people to think about what’s most important to them.)</p>