<p>First off, congratulations to all of you who were accepted to such a fine school! I hope to share your good fortune come April. </p>
<p>I'm currently reviewing my Cornell CAS supplement, the one asking me to write about my intellectual interests. As the deadline draws closer, doubts begin to fester so I want to make sure I do this right. </p>
<p>For those accepted, how many interests did you write about? I fear writing too many, which might suggest shallow interest. How specific were the "academic programs" at Cornell that you listed? For example, if I say that I will participate in undergraduate research to further my love of science, would that be too vague? Lastly, what are some history program? </p>
<p>As of now, I have written about 3 interests, each comprising a paragraph. The bulk of each paragraph elaborates on "their evolution" and what makes them interesting to me. Only a concluding sentence for each paragraph is devoted to how I will use Cornell CAS programs. Will that suffice? </p>
<p>I've kind of unconsciously compiled a 5-paragraph essay format. I hope it won't serve as a stigma that would effect disdain from the adcoms. </p>
<p>I made my the interest the whole theme of the paper, and each paragraph had to relate back to that theme. Basically I talked about a specific event when I discovered that I liked a certain major and how it has progressed in my life.
For me, and my English class, closed writing (5-Paragraph Writing) is kinda standard but also used so much, it's very boring and too enclosed to really tell a story. Your interest essay is more like a story towards your life and you are the one narrating the growth of your major/interest. So you rather write out what comes to your mind and feels right for a story instead of following a format. For me, if you really want to show that you are ready for higher learning, you are going to have to ditch the 5-paragraph format.</p>
<p>I was an ED admit last year (hence a current student and not the demographic you were looking for)...but I do have a little common sense and I've read lots of essays on CC. </p>
<p>first of all, I notice you're using a lot of big words in your posts. are you using this same tone in your essays? it seems quite formal, particularly for an internet message board. (also, check effect/affect) I mention this only because I'm thinking of the best essays I've written; none of the best have dazzled me on the vocab front, but I certainly got a sense of personality from the richness of the writing.</p>
<p>only saying this to try to be helpful in any way possible. I don't mean to pick on you at all. I wrote pretty bad essays when I got in so I'm sure your draft is already better (not lying.)</p>
<p>anyway. your actual questions now. </p>
<p>love of science and research is a vague and widely used topic. if it's the truth don't discard the concept altogether, but be careful. there's enough room in this essay to be a little creative, I think. what you choose to be creative on is a nod to what you know about the school.
something that would illustrate your sincere interest like either an anecdote, a captured mood, or a quality story of evolution would be good. but ANY of those would be good. you don't necessarily need to have a parallel setup where you talk about the evolution of each of your interests. I think you should avoid a basic 5 paragraph essay, at least one that following the 1-3-1 format.</p>
<p>I don't know what you mean by history programs. I'm a little bit all science all the time right now anyway, though. I hope someone else can help you out with that.</p>
<p>My CAS supplement was centered around my major (psychology). I introduced how my interested developed from a curiosity in literature into research and methodology. So from there I went and discussed my recent enrollment in a psychology course (over the summer). I technically wrote 4 paragraphs, but the first "paragraph" is a brief thesis (if you'd call it that). My final paragraph talks about the research and programs that Cornell offers (I cited specific titles) and how it would help development my interest blah blah blah.</p>
<p>I'm thinking of writing about only two of the three interests I had originally intended. The topics I used were Chemistry, History, and language. The first one is my intended major but the other two seem better done and more revealing of me as a person. Do you think it would be better to write about the latter two though my intended major is chemistry? I'm also struggling to find a "program" for history. To be honest, I'm not sure what counts as a program and what does not. know Cornell does Cornell in D.C. but it doesn't appeal to me that much. I have a program that really interests me in the paragraph about language though.</p>
<p>What do you ponder? What do you google? What do you discuss with friends? What do you like to read about? What questions do you ask? Those are your intellectual interests. Paint a picture of yourself - show who you really are? Make sure your major matches - if it doesn't, think about a different major. Cornell seems to honor truth and passion which is what makes it such an honorable school. Best of luck.</p>