<p>I'm just doing topic of my choice.
Is it okay if I describe something from when I was five? I want to show how I have always wanted to be a surgeon... I've been looking at essays on this site and online for examples and most focus on how a specific event has changed them and the morals learned...
so would it be an okay idea if I wrote about my aspiration?</p>
<p>First, whatever happened when you were five should not be the focus. I’d limit it to an introduction, unless it is really significant. You want to have as much space as you can to write about your current/recent self. As to whether it is okay to write about aspirations, it depends. You say you want to be a doctor/surgeon. What are your reasons for that? Is it just becaused you watched House or liked playing doctor as a kid? And what have you done in the medical field to show that you have some experience? Have you done nothing, done a month of hospital volunteering, or have you shadowed under a surgeon for a year? </p>
<p>The problem with doing aspiration essays for such a specific thing (surgeon, in your case, or even doctor) is that colleges know that many students change their mind regarding majors, and many declared pre-meds drop once they hit organic chem (from what I’ve heard). So, not only do you have to have some valid reasons for wanting to become a doctor, but you have to have some experience to back that up, as well as being dead set that you want to become a doctor. One hint of uncertainty, one little drop about how much you loved your english class, and you’re done. The colleges won’t mind that you are not zeroed in on a career, but you will have essentially wasted valuable essay space. So, as you can hopefully see, a succesful aspiration essays leaves you pretty limited in how you can actually express yourself.</p>
<p>Just my two cents.</p>
<p>I used an advanced math class from fifth grade to describe how I’d discovered my love of math. It was the focus of the essay, but I also had a ton of math competitions, peer tutoring in math, and teaching math in a summer school in Ghana to back it up. It was also a question about why I’d chosen my intended major. This could be a great essay and I’d save it. Chances are at least one of your schools will have a “Why Major X?” question. But I agree with GammaGrozza, I’d stear clear for the common app essay.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I have taken the science classes and loved all of it (taken some org chem and it doesn’t intimidate me). I have also volunteered at hospitals for years, shadowed a coupld surgeons. However, I see that it doesn’t really work for a common app essay. I don’t really think I can show my personality the way I want to if I follow through with this essay. I think I might switch my essay topic because of the limitations.</p>
<p>^I should add: since you have all those classes and hospital experience, colleges will probably realize that you have a strong interest in the medical field. If you want to further reinforce this, a good time to discuss this (and possibly a hint at some future aspiration) would be your common app short answer about an EC (assuming your hospital work is what you are most passionate about). Good luck!</p>