<p>Is it acceptable to use certain jargon within your intended major that the admissions officer may not understand?</p>
<p>In particular I wanted to write about certain subfields of theoretical CS in my supplement which I want to really submerse myself in. The university in question does a lot of research in these fields, but i'm afraid that the admissions officer may not be familiar with certain jargon that I want to use. Does that mean that if I use these words, I should explain what they mean?</p>
<p>(I apologize if this is a stupid question, couldn't find the answer anywhere)</p>
<p>Don’t explain what stuff means…just say that’s the kind of thing you want to do research in. They’ll understand that the words are from theoretical computer science, and it’s not necessary for them to know what they mean specifically to understand the essay.</p>
<p>Thank you! Also, would it seem like I’m trying to sound smarter than I actually am if I use these words? I’m worried that I may come off as pompous. For example, in one sentence I mention “simulated annealing” and “quantum time complexity” Would they think I’m just trying to impress them with big words? Basically I was talking about how my IB Extended essay got me interested in combinatorial optimization & quantum computation, and those are 2 specific things my essay dealt with.</p>
<p>I guess what i’m asking is if I should limit the use of these terms or is it okay to use however much I feel is needed to convey my point?</p>
<p>If using the words make the essay harder for the admin staff to understand, don’t use them. A good essay takes its audience into account. A few words which are unknown but don’t detract from the understanding could be ok. But what’s the point of it?</p>
<p>Okay, I see your point. Well I was just describing what parts of theoretical CS I’m into, and in this description I mention being “fascinated by the idea of entanglement & superpositioning of qubits, and its applications in quantum computation” or something along those lines. Obviously someone who hasn’t studied quantum physics would be lost here and I wouldn’t expect them to understand what I’m saying. All I’m trying to convey though is that I like this one thing. And the university does a lot of undergrad research in it, which is one of the reasons i’m applying.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if I just say “I like quantum mechanics”, it sounds a lot less convincing to me. So i’m not sure if I should keep it in or not. But i’ll definitely try to cut down.</p>
<p>What is the message you want to get to the admin committee?</p>
<p>Is it that you are fascinated with qubits?</p>
<p>Or is it that in doing your extended essay on quantum mechanics, that you did more reading about qubits and were fascinated about them and that led you to want to continue your studies in this area. Perhaps you can add that you noted that the University is doing work in that area and you would like to get involved.</p>
<p>In other words, you show that you are intellectually curious and will follow those topics up.</p>