<p>I know chicago is known for their weird essay prompts, and i was wondering if their is any method of really impressing adcoms through ur writing?</p>
<p>i don't know about impressing, but I know two things:</p>
<p>-The admission officers put alot of weight into your essays, so work hard on them</p>
<p>-Do not bore them, they actually wrote a complaint to the Chicago Tribune about how boring the essays were getting. </p>
<p>So make it sophisticated, intresting, but not over done.</p>
<p>Start with a hook....a quote or scenario or something. I started one with an archeologist at a dig.</p>
<p>DON'T be verbose. Write 1000 words, cut it to 500. KEEP IT SIMPLE.</p>
<p>here is a good article: <a href="http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm</a></p>
<p>Also, edit it! They say not to, but have your family edit it. You can still keep it in your voice, but ideas need criticizing. I threw out an essay I loved after my sister told me to...I realized it was the right decision.</p>
<p>there's nothing you don't already know- be creative, yourself, and all that. the only advice I wish I had followed myself, is give yourself plenty of time. don't do your essays at the last minute.</p>
<p>beowulf, do you know where I could find that article you mentioned?</p>
<p>The essay shouldn't be padded, but if its structure is such that it needs to be long, so be it. My son's main essay was about 1300 words last year - on the teleclone prompt. </p>
<p>Whether it is 500 words or 1500, though, they should be <em>good</em> words.</p>
<p>You could always start by properly employing "there" instead of "their."</p>
<p>Archeologist? If that is yourself, cool, but I have a feeling a lot of people are not going with their natural style in creativity and are trying to fit a mold they believe exists.</p>
<p>I mean this in no offense, as I do not know you and you could very well fit it in well and go quite well with your writing style, but people who go to my school (or have gone in the past) have often tried to by "ultra-creative" in a non-natural way and did not get in, while others who were themselves (which involved creativity, but not necessarily in as dramatic a way--much more subtle) were accepted.</p>
<p>A little humor helps keep a reader interested, but it is perhaps the hardest thing to write. My S did a masterful job of including just the right amount of chuckles, where he learned to do it is a mystery, I had never seen him do it before. It really did a good job of reflecting his personality.</p>
<p>The best advice that I can give is to be yourself. Let your <em>unique</em> personality be showcased through your essay.</p>
<p>Chicago definitely isn't like most schools in their attitude. I think they're one of the places where it's ok to be more adventurous with your writing. The "destroy a question with your answer" prompt really has potential to let people write some incendiary stuff. That's what I tried to do at least, and I hope they like it.</p>
<p>I did the "Mind that does not stick" prompt and basically wrote an allegory-type short story...i'm hoping they'll take that as a good idea and not a horrible one...but i think in general they look for very unique, well-written essays. Why else would they have prompts like the one i did? Lol</p>
<p>if i were to choose question number 5, and make one up, how "unique" would it have to be?</p>
<p>i got a couple choices, but does anyone think that writing a politcal speech would be ok.</p>
<h1>5 would have to be unique enough to let them know that you didn't reuse an essay from another school</h1>
<p>here are a couple of my questions, i dunno if they both work tho</p>
<p>how would you define urself through music?
what is ur favorite word and why?</p>
<p>Suffi, I am thinking of a political essay based on "destroy a question" - what do you think?</p>
<p>how would u destroy a question?</p>
<p>You can ask a two-way question (is it "this" or "that") and they prove logically that's it's neither or both - thus, destroying the question. I think this is just one example.</p>
<p>Destroying the question in a political context could be very interesting.</p>
<p>It should be then*, not "they" - sorry.</p>