<p>Hi...
What, if any, are the topics of essays for college applications?
Yes this sound stupid, but I am very VERY confused! I recall reading "the 217th page of your autobiography" and other kind of topics. But after researching on Harvard's website, I couldn't find anything on the essays.
So if you could please clarify, are there topics of essays for Ive Leagues? If so, what are they?
Thank you!</p>
<p>As far as I know, almost all of them are very open, open as in... write about anything that will show them your personality or passion</p>
<p>Yale - Open
Harvard - Open
Dartmouth - Open
Brown - Open + Academic Interests/Why Brown + 3 more for engineering
Columbia - Open + Why Columbia + 1 for engineering</p>
<p>Penn, Cornell, and Princeton, i dont know.</p>
<p>Thanks Jimmy.
Does anyone know for certain about all the Ivy Leagues? How about Stanford?
Also, how many should one write? Is writing four good essays better than only two good ones?
Also, any suggestions on topics of writing/point of view/genre/style?</p>
<p>THANKS EVERYONE!!!</p>
<p>
[quote]
I recall reading "the 217th page of your autobiography"
[/quote]
I remember that from the UPenn application. Don't know if that applies to any other Ivies.</p>
<p>Harvard: CommonApp + optional open essay
Yale: CommonApp + optional open essay
Princeton: CommonApp + 2x250 word essays (5 choices)
Dartmouth: CommonApp
Penn: 217 autobio OR 1st exp + "Why Penn" (going to CommonApp this yr tho)
Brown: Open + Why Brown + who interested you in Brown
Columbia: ???
Cornell: CommonApp + Why Cornell (is that it...i didn't apply there)</p>
<p>Oh God I must be stupid.. But where can I find CommonApp? Or if you are kind enough, please give me a link or copy the essay topics here.
Again, how many essays should one write for schools such as Harvard and Yale (optional open essay). Could you write more? Is it prohibited? Is it to your advantage?</p>
<p>commonapp.org</p>
<p>Edited. Site posted already.</p>
<p>Writing more can be an advantage, but it doesn't guarantee anything.</p>
<p>Hey wangtian, here's the common app essay choices. You pick one, but its open enough that you can basically write about anything:</p>
<ol>
<li>Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.</li>
</ol>
<p>2 Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.</p>
<p>3 Indicate a person who has had a significant infl uence on you, and describe that influence.</p>
<p>4 Describe a character in fiction, an historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence
on you, and explain that infl uence.</p>
<p>5 A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your
personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community,
or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.</p>
<p>6 Topic of your choice.</p>
<p>You can find more information at <a href="http://www.commonapp.org%5B/url%5D">http://www.commonapp.org</a>. A lot of top schools are accepting the common app along with their respective supplements, which usually require 1 or 2 more essays. </p>
<p>Tradition says that Yale's "optional" essay isn't really optional- writing a second essay shows stronger interest in them, so it can help. At Harvard, I've heard that their second essay truly is optional, meaning that H only evaluates you based on the information provided and won't disadvantage you for lack of extra essays, supplemental papers, etc.</p>
<p>Most colleges don't mind 1 or 2 extra things like essays or extraordinary portfolios, but be careful when sending them in. Admission officers are overloaded with 1000s of applications, and they don't want to go through a pile of unnecessary papers that have nothing extra to add about an applicant. Unless a school specifically states that they frown upon or refuse to accept extra info, it wouldn't hurt to send an extra essay <em>if</em> its reallly good and says something about you that didn't come across in the rest of the apps.</p>
<p>Thanks Bob!
I am pretty finicky with the application process so please bear with me a bit longer!
How many essays of the Common Application do people applying to Ivies write? Is there a limit? How many would you recommend if they are all excellent (I am not bragging here, but after perusing some essays written by Columbia and NYU accepted applicants, I am feeling quite confident)?
I understand that the CommonApp questions pretty much cover everything. So my biggest concern is still the "maximum yield", or "vertex of a quadratic" or "zero derivative of a function" number of essays for schools like HYP. Again, I and some of my genius proofreaders can guarantee good quality. So are 5 essays recommended? </p>
<p>Anyone got pointers on the topic/style/genre of essays?</p>
<p>I'm currently writing a novel. Should I send it to the schools if it gets published?</p>
<p>Thanksss</p>
<p>It might just be me, but I think you are overthinking the essays. The main thing to keep in mind is that you want these essays to do two things: to convey personality/passion and to stand out among thousands of other applications.</p>
<p>Also, in regards to how many you should write. I had about 3 long ones, a commonapp, and two supplementals. The number you write will depend on what schools you are applying to and in this case, it looks like you are shooting for the ivies. If they give you an opportunity to submit an optional or suppplemental, take it, so I would say a minimum of two long essays.</p>
<p>The Common App specifies that you pick 1 essay. You don't need extra essays to get into HYP caliber. Some people write extra ones, and get accepted. Other people write extra ones and get rejected. Lots of people only send in the minimum requirements and get accepted based on the strength of their overall application. No one can really say what strategy works unless they actually see the quality of your essays. </p>
<p>Also remember that the essay is one component of your app; even if its really good, the rest of your app- extracurriculars, grades, test scores, etc- have to be great, too. I know Yale specifically says that the transcript is the single most important component of the app, and I'm betting that other top schools would concur.</p>
<p>As far as style of writing, just make sure you write genuinely. Don't use big words to impress readers; they see your grades, they know you're smart, you don't need to wow them with your brains- the essay is about getting a real sense of who you are. Don't be pretentious. Don't use the essay to describe a laundry list of ec's. Be careful about using humor- you never know who's reading it on the other side. Also try to steer clear of cliched topics, like How I Overcame Diversity or Why I Love My Family or a plethora of others. Forget about writing the way school traditionally teaches you to write- scholarly tone, big words, passive structure....that won't work. Just write from the heart about something you really care about, and the passion you have will translate on paper. I would suggest a narrative form. Use nice imagery. Steer clear of racist or stereotypical remarks. Make sure you get lots of feedback and edit, edit, edit until the essay is perfect.</p>
<p>If you get a novel published, that's great- definitely an advantage in the admissions process. It'd be great to provide copies to schools, imo.</p>
<p>What about for stanford? from what i know, there's not an OPEN section (?)</p>
<p>Jimmy: What do you mean by long essays? Isn't the maximum 500 words?
The reason I am fussing over essays is because that unlike SATs and AP tests, I have control over them. I can make 70 revisions if I want, but I cannot improve 10 points on the SATs even if I cried for a year afterwards.</p>
<p>Bob: Thanks for the essay style advices. I have read lots of "be yourself" ones. But yours is more specific and helpful.
I won't hold you responsible or anything---but if you were my guidance counselor, and assuming that my essays are 9s on the AP English exams (I have amazing proofreader friends), how many would you recommend for me to write? I'm preoccupied primarily with the Ivies.</p>
<p>Anyone, help?</p>