<p>Congrats to all you Stanford freshman. Little help for a freshman wannabe? How did you approach the short application essay that's a letter to your freshman roommate:
1) as another chance to say something moderately serious about your personality/social style/other but using a more casual tone with (horror) contractions?;
2) truly what you would write to your future roommate, kind of facebook-esque with incomplete sentences, rambles, slang, jokes, pet peaves etc.?; or
3) other?</p>
<p>My roommate and I both wrote normal essays. I was a big more casual and funny (different from my other, serious essays) but I think my roommate just turned in a regular essay. So 1. (I wrote about Trader Joe's and my roommate wrote about writing and performing her own music.) And we haven't read each others' essays, but we have talked about it...:)</p>
<p>I used contractions in my essays. It was a conscious choice because I wanted the essays to sound conversational.</p>
<p>My roommate note is an actual note, starting with Dear Roomie and ending with Sincerely, Jimmy. I pretty much just introduce myself through the note.</p>
<p>I used a few conjunctions, just sounding normal. Just write however you feel comfortable I guess! I think the point of this essay is to say some stuff they might not know otherwise?</p>
<p>I wrote about a fender bender that I got in because I avoided a cat that darted out in front of me. My mom yelled at me bc insurance wouldn't cover the damage (if you swerve it's your fault), I got in trouble and had to pay for the damages, but I wouldn't change what happened. I related this to the sacrifices that I would make as a roommate/friend. </p>
<p>It def wasn't a "here's another extracurricular activity essay," but was written very casually. Having said that, don't write a facebook message - this is a "letter" to your roommate, not a facebook message. And, this is still a chance to show how you interact as a person - which isn't conveyed with "omg's" and "what's up?" </p>
<p>Hope that helps! And honestly, there is no perfect way to do this. Part of the open style of the prompt is to see how you interpret it. Good luck, and know that whatever happens you'll find a school that you love!</p>
<p>i wrote about running a marathon while i had a friend who wrote about not wanting to have children and not understanding why every female on the planet wants them. just be yourself. :) good luck!</p>