<p>Did any1 actually include reserach they've done? lol am i the only one that's like..........ya i havent done reserach? And for the essay, how "unique" does what we write about have to be? Like what did u guys talk about?</p>
<p>Which essay? If you're talking about the why NU essay, I talked about my interest in both political science and environmental science. I then talked about how I discovered courses they offer that would appeal to me and so forth. It doesn't sound impressive here, but it's really good. Your essay doesn't need to be astonishing in the sense of "Wow, he did a lot of research on NU!" It should end up giving the adcoms feeling of "Wow, he really wants to go here!"</p>
<p>I brought my essay to my counselor who loved it and didn't change anything in it, even grammatically. (She revises a LOT. We probably reviewed my main common app essay 7 times!) Before she started reading it she joked my essay started with, "I want to go to Northwestern because my dad is moving to Illinois and so I want to go too." Basically, that's what she was afraid I wrote about. That's the kind of essay that gives admissions the feeling you are only coming on a certain condition and not because you love the school.</p>
<p>Also, I did include research...........from sophomore year. But they won't know. It was an award winning project anyway. I don't think not including research will hurt your application, but including it can help a lot.</p>
<p>I'm adding it...I figure it can help me.</p>
<p>I talked about my interest in finance (for economics) as a result of seeing my local real estate market fall to pieces and "interaction" (for computing and information systems) with data and objects, and how inefficient I think the world is and how it's a shame older generations feel alienated by technology. A general paragraph long open, two paragraphs about both subjects, a paragraph close.</p>
<p>For the optional essay I talked about an experience I had with my school elections and the problems I faced before I won the elections, and how it really helped my confidence a lot. For the why NU essay, I talked about what really attracted me to Mc. Cormick School of Engineering in the first place, and about why I liked their approach to engineering. I wanted to major in Civil and Environmental Engineering and talked a little about that too. I did include a research abstract, but it wasnt path breaking or anything. Just a small documentation in genetics that I worked on.</p>
<p>I talked about the campus, the academics, my friend who spoke highly of the Poli Sci department, and the location outside Chicago, including half my family being there and the Improv scene (which was probably really helpful since my main essay was about Improv too).</p>