Offbeat and Otherwise Risky Essays

Applying to College
1

<p>I always hear that taking a risk is a good thing. The problem with this euphemism is that when it comes to college admissions, there is a high price that could come from taking such a risk. Your creative essay could go over poorly, and you could possibly get rejected for it. On the other hand, as a strong writer you could come up with a nice but unexciting essay that might not help or hurt you and you could end up with a nice letter that says you are admitted.</p>

<p>Where is the line? Is there a point at which essays become "too risky," or where being creative compromises the effect of a safe yet sincere essay?</p>

<p>Essentially, is it worth the risk to try something zany when you could write a solid essay otherwise?</p>

2

<p>Creative > solid.</p>

<p>If you're a good enough writer, you can pull of anything. Having a "risky" essay might not seem risky at all. In fact, it would just be original and interesting, without being clich</p>

3

<p>I made a Fresh Prince of Bel Air refererence in my "Why Penn?" essay</p>

4

<p>I wrote my essay for all my schools about going clubbing and meeting girls. Accepted so far at UNC OOS and UMich OOS</p>

5

<p>Is cursing alright for Ivy League essays if you've got a point and you do it not just for the hell of it but for effect, etc.?</p>

6

<p>How is a Will Smith show and clubbing "risky"?</p>

7

<p>One of my son's Chicago essays centered on Tucker Max, who is hated by the whole Chicago administration (and most other adults in the world). However, it was a brilliant, clever essay. My son was admitted EA. His main Chicago essay had to do with eating White Castle hamburgers.</p>

8

<p>Will Smith isnt exactly risky, but he's a bit offbeat. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air is not the most scholarly way to start and close an essay...</p>

9

<p>i think the trick is not only to write your "offbeat/weird" essay well, but to not sound juvenile. this can be difficult--but if you pull it off hopefully you'll have an edge over the people who write about something conventional.</p>

<p>i say "hopefully" because my georgetown essays were not so conventional. in one, i opened by saying how much i hated describing myself. in the other, i talked about how i have no idea what i want to do with my life right now. of course, i worded it much more tactfully and with more purpose.</p>

<p>so i'll hope (for all of us who wrote weird things) that our essays will be seen as creatve and not just plain weird. :o</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
How is a Will Smith show and clubbing "risky"?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You want people to defend themselves? How is an essay about clubbing and meetin girls at a club not risky?</p>

11

<p>Theantitheis--- NO! Swearing is NOT alright in your essays. Do NOT do it. Almost any adcom will tell you this. The context doesnt matter.</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
Theantitheis--- NO! Swearing is NOT alright in your essays. Do NOT do it. Almost any adcom will tell you this. The context doesnt matter.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Haha, that's too bad. My best friend used the "S" word (sorry about the third grade term, but it would be censored by CC) three times in his scholarship essay to one school.</p>

13

<p>I don't think there's any situation in which only a swear word could pull off what you're trying to say. Then again, if there's a real need for it, I suppose you might as well. With creative essays? That's the only part of the application any part of you can shine through. It'd be a huge mistake not to write creatively.</p>

<p>There's nothing wrong with writing about clubbing, for instance. It shows you have a SOCIAL LIFE.</p>

14

<p>I wrote about condoms. Beat that. </p>

<p>I'm serious too. Its my main commonapp essay, and main essay for every single uni i'm applying to.</p>

15

<p>I wrote about black people's hair. I figure that since I get a lot of questions in real life about my hair, why not write about it in an essay.The person reading it might be interested.</p>

16

<p>I wrote about the time I met with a pornstar.. Just kidding :)</p>

17

<p>I wrote about southern conservatism, Ani DiFranco, collard greens, 'good luck' black-eyed peas, and sharecropping parents in my essay</p>

18

<p>IVYpoison- have you gotten in anywhere/deferred from anywhere yet?
I'm really curious about your essay.</p>

19

<p>I wrote about Google, flying, reading, Michelle Branch, House - M.D., Gatsby, piano, the Philippines, art studio class, my summer trip to Europe, Hurricane Katrina, pacing, arranging books, my iPod, eating candy with my college counselor, leaves, electric potential, and Joyce's Dubliners in a single essay.</p>

20

<p>I'm not sure I agree with your apparent conception of "risky".</p>

<p>A risky essay is not simply "something zany", something "creative". That gives IMO too much attention to the topic of the essay. IMO, it is not the topic, it is what you do with the topic. Any topic can yield a good essay, and any topic can yield a poor essay. </p>

<p>The link from UVa says that a "risky" essay is one that starts with a strong hook to create a type of controversy. See:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>A good essay IMO, risky or not, is personal, specific, interesting, enlightening, a genuine revelation of the voice and personality of the writer. I've seen such essays on all sorts of topics, from supposedly conventional topics to supposedly risky topics. </p>

<p>First of all, there is a difference between "risky" and "stupid". For example, don't believe that the use of vulgar language is "risky". IMO, that is simply poor judgment. Any successful essay requires at least a bare minimum of common sense and good judgment.</p>

<p>Having read a lot of essays, my current opinion is that essays that try to be philosophical are risky. "Risky" meaning "unlikely to yield a persuasive, satisfying essay". From what I've seen, it is very very hard to write philosophically at a young age and in a short space. I've seen some good essays in this genre, but I've not yet seen great essays (IMHO).</p>

<p>The next group of risky essays IMO take a strong political or religious viewpoint. From my reading, it seems very hard at a young age and in a short space to say something that doesn't sound like it came from an Op-Ed page. </p>

<p>Off beat topics are not necessarily "risky" at all--if they arise from your own experience or personality. Kids are often idiosyncratic, indeed almost expected to be so. For example, IMHO, it is not risky at all to write about condoms, periods, first kiss, the failings of the administration of the college to which you are applying, etc., so long as one exercises a modicum of commmon sense. It is quite possible IMO to write persuasive, satisfying, personal, specific, enlightening essays on these topics. </p>

<p>The biggest risk of all, IMO, is the risk you take when you try to figure out what "they want" or what you "should write", or whether or not what you are writing is "risky". IMO, forget about all of that. Show something personal, specific, believeable--and, in my preference, ultimately quite simple. Then you will have a great essay, regardless of whether or not some might view it as "risky".</p>

<p>I infer from your post that you tend to favor writing about a perhaps more conventional topic. Since that appears to be an expression of your true voice, you should IMO by all means write such an essay. Anything that feels "zany" will perhaps be out of character for you and therefore will come across as forced, uncomfortable, insincere, and, ultimately, not credible.</p>