<p>On the Intellectual interest essay, do I have to explain the topic that I'm writing about? I'm writing about meeting Prof. Zimbardo and the Stanford Prison Experiment. Will I have to go into detail into what the experiment was about or is it famous enough that any admissions officer would know about it? There's really not that much room in a 10 line short essay and I wanted to talk more about my own thoughts regarding the topic. Advice anyone? Thanks!</p>
<p>I would say stick with your own thoughts. They are trying to get to know you better right? That experiment is quite famous (one of the few things I remember from psych), so I would assume the admissions person to know it already.</p>
<p>Thank you ilikesheep. That's what I think too. Maybe if the admissions person doesn't know what I'm talking about, they'll give it to someone who does? Urg! It's just frustrating because I barely have enough room as it is to talk about me. I don't want to have to explain the experiment. Anyone else have an opinion? Many thanks!</p>
<p>I'm writing about my research project, and never really explained it. Its not a common topic either. Nevertheless it has more to do about the visceral side of research rather then the technical...so the knowledge isnt really nessasary.</p>
<p>definitely agree with all these posts, and I would add - this is true for ANYTHING you write, even if it's the long essay. They don't want to be educated about the topic - they want to know what YOU think about it, or feel about, because it's an admissions context, and it's YOU they need to make a decision about. </p>
<p>So short or long, any answer in your app should reveal something about you, not be a dissertation on the subject at hand. (And note the word 'reveal' because 'show don't tell' is another key maxim.)</p>
<p>Warning. It's only 1800 characters. DD wrote a long essay and had to cut down to fit in the space allowed. Luckily it forces her to cut out a lot of unnecessary stuff. Same with the roomate essay.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>