<p>what did you guys write for this one? what was your subject? I dont understnad what they are looking for</p>
<p>they're not looking for anything.</p>
<p>but I am having trouble doing this essay too.</p>
<p>yea... intellect is really broad.... i don't get it...</p>
<p>come on guys.. i know some of you have written this...
I am the idea of stem cell research is reall exciting to me, but I have never done anything with it and I dont know too much about it, is it better to do something you have experience with?</p>
<p>I wrote about quantum mechanics. I said I really don't know why I like it (and trying to say why would be kind of contrived), but it's just something that truly excites me.</p>
<p>You don't have to have experience with it; just try to convey genuine passion. But make sure it is genuine.</p>
<p>experience would be good, tho.</p>
<p>Anything you spend time thinking and pondering about will work.</p>
<p>Uncle! I wrote about quantum mechanics as well...</p>
<p>any other examples of ideas?</p>
<p>my friend wrote her essay on nanotechnology.</p>
<p>hmm.. would something in the line of broadening your horizons work.. cuz i hav a bunch of friends and we pretty much sit around, play cards and talk about the BIG things in life (religion, philosophy) and ive found it to be pretty "intellectually stimulating". Should i write about that?
wat do u guys think...</p>
<p>makeHimproud, I think that'd be the perfect thing to mention on at least some part of your application. It shows that you're genuinely intellectual. I'd approach it like a story, and talk about the general group dynamics, to make it as real as possible - possibly a topic for your main essay.</p>
<p>i wrote about interacting with immigrants and non-native Americans as a learning/humbling experience. i included snippit-anecdotes about how i first didnt know how to speak english starting off in kindergarten and complimented it with how i played simon says with hispanic children in spanish at a holiday project -- something that was geniuinely fulfilling to me</p>
<p>so my point is, it doesn't necessarily have to be something scientific or something that has to do with academics, i.e. quantam mechanics or nanotechnology. it can really be anything, anything that you truly like and have a passion for. i think it always sounds best with a personal experience -- it's personalized, neat, and conveys you in more of a human light. but what would i know, i haven't been accepted anywhere, you know?</p>
<p>good luck</p>
<p>No, I agree with you sunkist, about the personal experience--I think they're extremely important. They show "this is what I am," rather than "this is what I say I am." I threw in a personal experience in my short essay, too.</p>
<p>When you say you write about quantum mechanics, do you write about how you feel about it, such as you love how all the differences you see in the world around you disappear when you get to the smallest levels or how everything is really so crazy, or do you write about more technical stuff?</p>
<p>I want to write about one of my research projects, but I can't decide what angle to take.</p>
<p>well ask yourself this:
if you write about the more technical stuff and delve into, i don't know, the dual nature of light -- ask yourself: would stanford accept me if i talked about how light displays both the properties of a wave and of particles? .... an admissions officer came to our school and said that when you're doing this essay, just assume that the stanford admissions officers know about everything in the world. </p>
<p>to answer your question, i would find it more reasonable to write about how you find everything so crazy. face it -- adcom's wont admit you just because you know your quantam mechanics inside and out, anyone can do that, it's just like writing some kind of science research report. these essays are all about you -- so let's keep it that way, and i'm sure your essays will sound better for the adcoms.</p>
<p>good luck</p>
<p>Im really interested in political subjects, for instance, i get really fired up about affirmative action, do you think that would be good to write about? I also am reallly interested in cognitive science, especially through one PBS documentary called The Secret Life of the Brain that is 5 parts long, could i just talk about that?</p>
<p>You dont have to write about anything complicated or high-tech. I wrote something as simple as my first dissection, how throughout the process, I came to view it more than just cutting apart cadavers, but also as a way to learn the mysteries of science, etc, etc.</p>
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Im really interested in political subjects, for instance, i get really fired up about affirmative action, do you think that would be good to write about?
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<p>Yes, but be careful as to not offend the reader. Religion and politics are very touchy subjects, just keep that in mind.</p>
<p>But goldfish, arent we supposed to try and push those boundaries? Are adcoms really that touchy that they would be offended by our stance on a particular issue?</p>