<p>I have written all of my essays for MIT, but I did not yet send them. My ethical dilemma essay was on a felony my classmates were going to make (that is, stealing an exam), and in which they wanted me to get involved; I reasoned them. Yet, last week, my grand-father died, and it radically changed how I behave: I was going to see him in the night, and my father was going to see him a few hours before. He asked me if I wanted to go earlier, and I refused. He died during the afternoon.</p>
<p>I believe it is very important to address this in my application, and I found this prompt to be the most suited one (something that didn't go according to plan), yet it is still not exactly the right subject.</p>
<p>I’m not sure exactly why you feel compelled to change the essay- possibly because the situation with your grandfather was a powerful and meaningful experience to you that happened recently? That’s perfectly valid and understandable- however it sounds like the essay you’ve already written answers the question well anyway.</p>
<p>Either one seems like an excellent topic. Write and submit the one that you personally feel most comfortable talking about (both from the point of view of the strength of your application and the point of view of your personal life and dealing with these things), but I’m not sure one or the other is “better.”</p>
<p>Thank you very much, LauraN. Yes, I deeply feel that my grandfather’s death will be, in fact, a crossroads in my life, and even though it happened very recently, I really want the admission officers to know it. However, I will have to make sure it does not turn into a “significant person” essay.</p>
<p>I know that my previous essay answers the prompt, but changing the essay gives a more accurate vision of myself: it shows my weaknesses, my doubts, and how I deal with them. I want to give to admission officers the feeling that they know and understand me — I hardly believe I have any chances to be accepted otherwise. The attempted theft of the exam is not very important: it showed who I am, but it didn’t change me. Living my grandfather’s death has both of these features. So this is why I am sure the new essay is better than the previous, but I still created a topic here to be sure I won’t miss the topic if I switch them.</p>
<p>In the end, I will check if I actually addressed the topic, but now, I know I can confidently write a replacement.</p>
<p>You did answer my question, thanks for your help.</p>
<p>I would keep the old essay. For one essay, you have a situation which you rose to the occasion. For the other situation, you didn’t (though it’s not a situation of ethics and it’s not something to feel bad about.) Regardless, in job interviews or college apps, you are generally better off answering with something which reflects you in the best light.</p>
<p>In four years when a job interviewer asks you, “What is your biggest weakness?” they don’t want to hear that you’re lazy sometimes.</p>
<p>kairoo, are you calling the “something that didn’t go according to plan” the “ethical dilemma” essay? Are you using those titles interchangably? Because, like ganggreen, I don’t recall an ethical dilemma essay.</p>
<p>(parent here, btw)</p>
<p>I agree with LauraN. Just write the one you feel most compelled to write. There are no wrong answers here, as long as you answer the prompt. I guess I don’t get why you’re so concerned about it. </p>
<p>I disagree with collegealum. While I don’t think that students should ever write to what they think admissions wants to hear (beyond the obvious step of answering the question that they ask), I for one think that admissions folks LIKE to hear stories that tell about an applicant’s humanity, particularly when that applicant grows and learns something in the process. Admissions personnel KNOW that you’re all 17-19 years old, still maturing, hopefully still learning, and still human (with faults). Writing about such a learning experience is not going to tell them something they don’t already know – that you’ve made mistakes in your lifetime. And topics like that tend to be somewhat “intimate” and revealing of a person’s true character, which is what adcoms want to see – something outside of the numbers; something “real.” (And the grandpa idea is probably “fresher” than the test idea.)</p>
<p>Again, I wouldn’t advise anybody to try to stretch a story like that into their essays, if they’re not really “feeling” it – just to write what they think the adcoms might want to hear. But if you have a story like that that’s eating at you to be told, then I think it sounds like a great topic.</p>
<p>Good luck in whatever you decide. I truly think that there are no wrong answers here.</p>
<p>Either essay topic would be fine, I guess, if there really is such a prompt. Anyway, what gave me pause was the statement, “I believe it is *very *important to address this in my application…I really want the admission officers to know it.”</p>
<p>I get this vibe that kids are using admissions as sort of a spiritually cleansing exercise. It’s just an application. MITchris isn’t going to absolve you of your sins and admit you after you bear your soul. </p>
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<p>Isn’t the point of an application to show who you are using concrete examples?
Besides, this seems like more of an “ethical dilemma” than the grandfather situation.</p>
<p>I think you must be referring to Caltech’s application, which DOES have an ethical dilemma essay. In which case, make sure you are addressing the right college!! Caltech and MIT have many similarities, and many important differences, including different applications!</p>
<p>On your essay, either one could work well. The grandfather one could well be tweaked as ethical - decisions to spend your time with family vs your own goals, and how that affects you. The stealing of an exam essay may backfire, it may sound trumped up to make you look good even if it is all truthful. I would go ahead and write both, and see which one sounds more reflective of you and your growth.</p>
<p>Yeah, sorry, I was talking about “the most significant challenge you’ve ever faced or something that didn’t go according to plan.”</p>
<p>gwang314, I thought about that possibility, and as I look back at my stealing of an exam essay, I don’t feel it reflects my personality well. I feel as if I sneaked my friends, so I will just wipe it out and use my “grandfather” essay, which is way better.</p>