<p>I’m about to start my essay. What I want to know is that is the essay suppossed to portray the future (2/3 through my life i.e. mid-40s) or is the autobiography suppossed to around 2/3 through my life so far i.e. around the age of 12?</p>
<p>i talked about this a lot with people who applied ED, and a person in the admissions office, the conclusion was the parameters are vague and you shouldnt let them get in the way of a good story. write about whats interesting in your life, then worry if it is on the right page or whatever.</p>
<p>i think you can take it however you want.. i chose to use my life up until this point.. but even at that i didn't really choose something from when i was 2/3 my age now.. i dont think they chose page 217 out of any significance but it's probably just something to get you to reflect on events in the past i guess</p>
<p>also, the person in the admissions office said that 217 was supposed to be part of your future, but if you have a really good topic from being 12 years old just go with that. if you have a good topic/story, write about it. they care more about seeing you write, express yourself and tell about details about yourself rather than if it fits their format.</p>
<p>Think about it: has every book/autobiography you've read been in chronological order? Of course not. My thinking is that if Penn wanted you to write about yourself in the future, they would've made that explicit.</p>
<p>It is left entirely to your discretion and imagination - that's why this essay is such a great topic, the ambiguity leaves wonderful scope for creativity. Mine, for example, was based entirely on the future and what I had done, though I personally loved the line...This reminds me of my alma mater's motto: "Laws without morals are useless." :D</p>
<p>I liked my last line (my essay was written in retrospect): "And that's when I went to Philadelphia."</p>
<p>when I did my paper, i made it so i was around 30, and I made myself in my 20s, so it doesnt really matter i think. i hope that my essay worked for ed (knock on wood). But have fun writing it.</p>
<p>I doubt that too many autobiographies are in chronological order. A lot are based on themes, so pg. 217 could happen to be the theme of [insert whatever you want to write about here].</p>