<p>right now, i can't decide how to approach pg 217 essay. One is to write about what i dream about my career to be. This essay will show my life goals.</p>
<p>The second one is when i, in my 30s, draw on a childhood experience to overcome a challenge. This shows a quality i have, but i'm not sure it is an autobiography. </p>
<p>Which one is better? I want to do #2 but i'm afraid that the purpose of this essay is to show the adcom what i want to do with my life.</p>
<p>I mailed my adcom about it once</p>
<p>here’s what she said (paraphrased)</p>
<p>the 217 essay is designed to be creative. keep in mind that all essays are used to determine overall fit with the university</p>
<p>personally, i dont think the topic matters as much as you showing something your other essays and teacher recs and other stuff did not show</p>
<p>so which one would you suggest i do? the first or second?</p>
<p>either one.
it doesnt matter as long as you show something about yourself.</p>
<p>um…i think i misinterpreted the prompt. does the 300 page biography include the future? as if i were to write it when i’m older…or now? because page 217 out of 17 years would be like age 13…</p>
<p>are you all writing about what will happen or what has happened in your childhood?</p>
<p>^^both approaches have been taken… its all up to u and they way u want to do it</p>
<p>You sound like you would rather write your 2nd choice. Write whichever you feel you can write a better page on. Don’t think about what the college wants to see so much as what reflects you best as a person. I think both topics would work well. </p>
<p>If I were you, I would probably write a page for both topics, and see which you like better/which flowed more easily/was easier to write. Go with that topic. </p>
<p>Good luck! Feel free to PM me a copy of your 217 when your done (if you want). I’d love to look it over and I applied ED so I’m finished with my pg. 217.</p>
<p>I rather stick with my 2nd choice cuz i don’t want to write a new one lol.</p>
<p>Can “autobiography” be interpreted to be like a diary where i keep my thoughts in ?</p>
<p>Trust yourself</p>
<p>nop autobiography is to be PUBLISHED. which means you need to dig in pretty deeply without ruining your public image or sounding too ‘diaryish’</p>
<p>i have a friend at penn who works at their admissions office (she’s a student), and the 217 essays they get very drastically stylistically. the prompt specifies that it’s an autobiography, but autobiographies are open to broad interpretation as to how they’re developed. I did mine as a sort of “in media res” recount of a race i had participated in, to show qualities of determination, teamwork, and others (i somehow managed to work my religious beliefs as well as my basic “life philosophy”). That being said, you have a lot of liberty when deciding upon the style of your 217 essay. If you can pull off something crazy, go for it (i stress the IF you can pull it off).</p>
<p>mine is a flashback to when i saw a homeless guy sleeping next to the railroads and i brought him croissants and chocolate…i’m manipulating it so i can used it for princeton supp as well :)</p>