As the date approaches, I’m becoming more and more concerned over every detail in my supplements. I’ve put in a few jokes. Are they okay?:
I called myself “math-intolerant,” but then concluded the essay by saying I don’t mind taking math classes if it means I can major in something I love.
In a separate one, I started by talking about being overwhelmed with the amount of majors there are in the college I’m applying to, but then saying that it’s partially why I want to apply.
I talked about wanting to eventually go into medicine, but then said “but I know that 90% of pre-meds drop it (a statistic I read on Yahoo!Answers)”
The purpose of essays is to make the admissions committees want to have you as a student, and none of those jokes will help you make your case. They show that you (1) don’t like an academic subject, (2) show you’re overwhelmed and (3) question the depth of your own commitment. If you were my child I would tell you to remove all 3.
iffy. usually colleges like the “intellectually curious” applicants, i.e. math challenges you, and that makes you love it more (gag)
that’s good
iffy again. you want to seem open, but not aimless.
Humor > Jokes. Make them laugh with funny things, not by potentially putting yourself down. While you want to include humor to make your essay interesting (which is fantastic), include sentimental stuff too. It takes more guts to be vulnerable than it does to be funny.
Agree with Gnocci and CB. Don’t assume adcomswill find humorous what you, as a kid, do. Don’t leave them scratching their heads, wondering what sort of judgment allowed you to state those things in your college app. These folks are strangers, not your hs teachers who know you and might indulge this. Think hard about your decisions.
Not to burden any one of you, but would one of you three read my essays? I appreciate and respect your advice, but I think it’d be better understood in context. If you do not wish to read them, then that’s fine.
BTW, the essays put together are about 700 words, so not too long.
I didn’t read them as jokes. I read them as serious comments that overshared negative information that colleges don’t need to know. You don’t “mind” math, you’re “overwhemed” in high school, and you get your information ftom Yahoo’s Answer page. None of that paints you in a positive light. I’d delete them all and ruthlessly cut anything similar from your essays.
I didn’t do it to seem like I all I read is Yahoo Answers, but I understand how it comes off. I’m just a naturally joke-y person, so I wanted to show that side of me.
In general jokes are fine, but they have to be funny and add something to the picture. You don’t want to sent a negative message that you don’t like or good at math if you are applying STEM.
Ok, thanks. Do you think it’s more appropriate to say “math-challenged” but then talk about wanting that challenge and being willing to put in the extra work to do well?
