Hey y’all! I just had another quick question. So in the prompt, you’re basically supposed to write an interdisciplinary class and why you chose it. When they ask that, do the admission officers want a personal statement, like why you think the issue is important, or a more generalized statement, like why people would benefit from taking the class?
Thanks!
I have no idea. After some research I found someone who got accepted who did a personal statement. I’m doing both for my essay.
Structure’s still super confusing… Do they really want it formal?
@Submarina I went through all their like critical inquiry class descriptions and structured it like that except I explained longer about all the classes. I was pretty formal in my first paragraph but in your personal statement, I’d imagine that it’s probably less formal?
@ravenclaws : So you basically modelled their structure and kind of amalgamated the “why” into that?
Yeah, I find overly formal essays really dry personally. I wouldn’t want the adcom to get bored reading some 1000-word detailed course description (at the end of the day, you’re not actually designing a course).
@Submarina Mine was about 500 words and yeah I basically just added the “why” in.
Did you guys cite specific readings you would have or a specific class structure? The prompt is so vague!
@runthejewels I didn’t really cite specific readings since it’s kinda hard to do that with the class I created. I feel like if you wrote about a class with any literary focus (like if you’re specifically talking about Shakespeare, you should probably cite some readings), then you should probably put specific books in there. When I went through all the critical inquiry classes, some had specific readings but others didn’t.
@runthejewels I didn’t either. I think you should though if you feel like it adds to your essay in a significant way (ie says something about the course/about you that’s not otherwise adequately communicated).
My son passed this on to me. Thought that some of you might find it provocative. I think it’s pretty silly.
Where was this prompt? I received the supplement regarding the $4000 grant and what you would research.
These two should have popped up on the common app:
"Please respond to one of the following two prompts:
Pomona’s Critical Inquiry course is required of all first-year students, and is designed to be highly interdisciplinary and engaging. Recent class titles include: ”The Politics of Classical Art,” ”Seeing Science,” and ”The Theatre and Environmental Activism.” Imagine you were hired to design and teach a Critical Inquiry course. Describe the title of the class, its contents, and why you chose it.
Through the Summer Undergraduate Research Program, Pomona provides students up to $4,000 to conduct research with a Pomona professor on any topic in the arts and humanities, social sciences, or natural sciences. Imagine you received one of these grants. What would you research and why is this topic important to you? How would you know if you had been successful in your research?"