<p>The directions are kind of ambiguous.</p>
<p>"Please tell us how you have spent the last two summers (or vacations between school years), including any jobs you have held, if not already detailed on the Common Application."</p>
<p>Is this a full-fledged essay, or just a laundry list?</p>
<p>Bump. I really wanna know too!</p>
<p>Just answer it. They want to know what you do with your free time outside of school whether it may be learning karate with your friends at the local dojo or reading a book on how to create a non-profit organization because you’ve always thought it’d be interesting or volunteering at a certain place of importance. Elaborate and give personal insight.</p>
<p>What if someone has finished the high school for over 3 years, does he/she still have to write about the school summers or just the LAST to summers???</p>
<p>^ just the last 2 summers. </p>
<p>Also, i just listed everything. Don’t give some BS insight if there really isn’t any–like you only came up with those notions when you saw the question. Be real, and creative.</p>
<p>They do not ask for an essay, so it is fine to just list the activities.</p>
<p>I had already attached a resume that explained each of my activities in 1-2 sentences, so rather than give the adcoms more of the same, I just formatted that “essay” like so:</p>
<p>[name of activity] [length of program] [year of participation in program] [name of the classes I took]</p>
<p>I did an essay for that, although I started it with a quick paragraph that listed what I did. It’s a very short list because I invest my summers fairly heavily in one activity which I then described in a fairly unconventional way that I came up with last year.</p>
<p>some friends went to a college fair and asked one of the admission officers what kind of answer they expected for that prompt and they said that no essays. they just want to know what you did, sort of a laundry list</p>
<p>It’s an essay, but keep it concise. Like just list it off in paragraph form with maybe some context.</p>
<p>I emailed them asking this very question and they said that they prefer an essay form</p>
<p>^^ This is why you do your own research rather than only listening to people of varying levels of credibility on CC.</p>
<p>CRUD. I listed it in bullet points…</p>
<p>Well, I think it only makes sense:</p>
<p>laundry list = EC list in common app = additional information section - no need for ANOTHER section in supplement</p>
<p>2500 characters = 400 words = approximate size of an essay… (remember that common app essay is 250-500 words)</p>
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<p>What they mean by essay form is they want you to write like complete sentences on what you did. Nothing poetic or dramatic or incredibly insightful. You do not need to be ornate or flowery. Princeton says and has always said that they consider three sections to be full personal statements/essays: 1) Your Common App Personal Statement 2) “Your Voice” Extended Essay 3) Optional Engineering Essay. (It is on their website if you don’t believe me) The “provide more details on an extracurricular” section on the common app is not an essay; it is a short response designed to have the reader understand a different perspective (that can be more personal) into one of your activities. The summers section on the Princeton supplement is not an essay in the sense that the three aforementioned personal statements are; while they might prefer complete sentences, they really just want to KNOW what you are doing in your summers (quoted verbatim from admissions officer in person). It is direct and straightforward.</p>
<p>And, yes, I have word of confirmation from two Princeton admissions officers who spoke to me in person. I asked them this question sometime around August when I went over for a visit, and they said it is designed to be simply informative. </p>
<p>So anyway, stop stressing. There are literally dozens of threads on this exact same topic and I’m tired of seeing them on the Princeton sub-forum. No one cares if you wrote a literary masterpiece or a laundry list of summer programs/jobs/hobbies (as people have already stated on the Princeton sub-forum many times, thousands of students have been accepted with bullet point style lists and thousands have been accepted with detailed, cohesive essays). They literally just want to know what you do in the summer time. If you did that, great. Move on with your lives. Read a book. Listen to music. Go for a spin. If you didn’t manage to convey any of that in your response, perhaps you should reconsider applying to Princeton. Failure to fulfill some of the most basic and simple directions typically precludes one from college admission.</p>
<p>If you agree with what I say and how I feel about these annoying threads popping up all over this sub-forum, feel free to reference this post or quote me for future annoying threads. Knowing the people on this website, questions will continue to be asked… again… again… and again.</p>
<p>^^
Well, listing and describing in bullet points took me nearly 300 words. Also, it’s hard to find a central focus if you have a multitude of various activities.</p>
<p>I think Decillion is right about it probably not being a big deal, but it’s weird that different admissions officers had different answers. Writing an essay might have been the safer bet, but oh well.</p>
<p>decillion, you make my Princeton University subforum experience complete.</p>
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<p>Why thank you.</p>
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<p>I am. It’s not. Relax… it’s Friday! </p>
<p>(Friday, gotta get down on Friday…)</p>