<p>Or do they just give you 2500 characters for fun? Do they want a list? Explanations? Or a full-bodied, flowery, persuasive essay?</p>
<p>bump of impatience</p>
<p>If you're applying to Princeton, I'd think you'd know the answer. Let's see if you can pick the right choice.</p>
<p>a. They just want a sentence or two -- for example, "For the first six weeks I worked as a lifeguard. For the second six weeks, I took an SAT prep class."</p>
<p>b. They want a list of all your summer activities -- for example, Slept, Hung out with friends, Played soccer, Went to baseball games, Worked at Baskin Robbins.</p>
<p>c. They want an essay telling why you chose the activities you did, what they meant to you, and what you learned from them.</p>
<p>Again, if you want to go to Princeton, I hope you can figure it out.</p>
<p>thanks for the subtlety</p>
<p>Wait, really? I only gave completely factual accounts of what I did, and did not speak about any "insight gained" or "personal enrichment." The wording, </p>
<p>"Please tell us how you have spent the last two summers (or vacations between school years), including any jobs you have held:"</p>
<p>seemed to indicate that they did not want the full-fledged essays that you write for the Common App, or the actual supplemental essay, but I guess most people think it's otherwise??</p>
<p>That's what I was thinking, kind of. Also, they don't give you the option of uploading a document, like they do for the "real" essay at the end of the supplement.</p>
<p>I'm approaching it from the essay approach although I'm going to make it fairly short.</p>
<p>I wonder what they're actually expecting! Seems like everyone's gonna send something different in.</p>
<p>Wait, maybe I'm wrong -- Commodore, I misread your "2500 characters" as 2500 words. So maybe I'm wrong.</p>
<p>How many words, more or less, is 2500 characters??</p>
<p>Wow, let's eat those sarcastic words now, "VeryHappy".</p>
<p>2500 characters is less than 500 words. So you have a page maximum to write. There are no instructions, so anything within reason goes. But full sentences are almost always better than lists.</p>
<p>Good thing I haven't submitted yet -- though the priority deadline is fast approaching, and I don't want to have to suddenly turn out another essay. It's weird though, most other colleges I've applied to have slots for you to fill out summer activities under, which was why I was hesitant to write out as much as I did (about 1200 char).</p>
<p>^Mine is only 800. Really, I think it's only to discuss what you did and show you didnt just act like a couch potato in your extended vacations. the other essay + your common app essay is where the personality comes in.</p>
<p>I agree with piccolo-mine was quite factual. I didn't interpret the question to be an "essay" but just asking for information</p>
<p>I'm being very quiet and eating my words.</p>
<p>Enjoy your words...yum yum :)
But thanks, folks....unfortunately, that means I'll have to try to remember what I did that WASN'T couch-potato-ey...could be tough.</p>
<p>They want a sentence or two describing what you did. This is not the place for an essay. Refer to the printed form of their application for the amount of space that you should fill. It's less than 1/4 of a page.</p>
<p>In fact, they give you about 1/3 as much room for what did you do in ur last two summers as they give the 150 word activity short answer.</p>
<p>haha....when I started reading this thread VeryHappy had me worried...I basically rather blandly stated whatever I did the entire summer as well...hopefully it's what they want.</p>
<p>Ooh, good point, 1MX</p>
<p>I was accepted, my response was a short paragraph, about 7 sentences for both summers. I just stated the facts.</p>