<p>I'm looking to be quite risky in my supplement essay for CALS. This is basically a question to anybody who has been accepted/deferred/rejected from Cornell already, but how far did you go in terms of risk? Meaning, did you play it "safe" and simply answer the question, or were you a little out there?</p>
<p>I know this is a very broad question, but I really don't want to give details as to where I am going with my essay. I'm very proud of what I have so far and I feel that it is very different from what most people would write about. Then again, what do I know? This is ivy league city, everyone is probably writing incredibly unique and different essays.</p>
<p>i was accepted ed and my essay was pretty plain and simple for CAS. I just talked about how i like teaching, my experiences, and why cornell. didn’t really take any risks. You never know though, everyone writes differently so your risk might work in your favor.</p>
<p>Well I don’t know how much of a comfort it can be coming from someone who has yet to apply to Cornell, but I think my essay is pretty risky, too. I think it’ll be okay, as long as you don’t go too out there.</p>
<p>“The day the aliens abducted me was the day I decided to study astronomy.”</p>
<p>If I can remember right my supplement essay had to do with my dreams. What initially sparked them and how Cornell will help to shape them. It is important to be honest and reflect your true self in your essays. This is the only time your true expression can be seen by the readers of the applications. Be risky if that is what you feel will best highlight and explain you as a person.</p>
<p>when I got in ED to CALS last year I had a very safe essay. I wrote about the major I was applying to, why I wanted to study it and what I hoped to achieve through my study of it. I tried to mix specific memories with general goals. but it was very “safe.”</p>
<p>I did pretty much the same thing as faustarp for transfer into HumEc fall '08, with the added why Human Development as opposed to Psychology in CAS.</p>
<p>it depends what major you’re going for. if you’re doing a lib arts major - ie: english, theater, etc, go for risky. it’s cool. if you’re doing AEM, however… i wouldn’t exactly say that you should be “risky” with your essay.</p>
<p>but then again, i don’t know how you define “risk”.</p>
<p>Well the way I see it is like this: Cornell is a BIG reach (I say big because in my opinion, it’s a reach for everyone) school for me. My grades aren’t what I’d hope for it to be and such. So I’m hoping that a bit of a riskier essay which still answers the question will make me stand out way more than my grades do. If the risk doesn’t work, then oh well…I didn’t stand that great of a chance in the first place.</p>
<p>Hahahaha, I am going for AEM. And I see what you mean, risk does mean a lot of things. But I feel like it’s more imperative to stand out in AEM. That’s just me though, how do others feel about that?</p>
<p>i applied (and got in) RD for AEM last year and my common app essay - ie: the main one, wasn’t really risky - it just defined who i was/am really well.</p>
<p>for the “why cornell/AEM” essay, you can’t really do risky. if you want, you can PM me and i’ll tell you what mine was/tell you if your idea is okay.</p>
<p>keep in mind all contract colleges are REALLY fit-based - and not necessarily grades based.</p>
<p>I wrote a risky essay when I applied to Cornell for ED. My CAS essay was about a professor at Cornell that I had met on a personal basis and how he tried to convert me to Christianity. The essay wasn’t a critique about Cornell or Christianity but it was about my inquistive and curious nature and how I wanted to broaden my horizons with respect to learning after having experienced a time where I had questions about the existence of God etc. </p>
<p>My main essay was about water guns so yeah, that was a pretty memorable essay in the minds of the admissions officers I guess? It was different and was more about lessons learned. </p>
<p>I’d say that you should take a risk only if it reflects who you are as a person. Try to connect the riskiness to something about learning and one’s inquistive nature or something. I’m glad I took the risk - I’m at Cornell now and am gonna graduate in a semester. It’s been fun here over the past 3.5 years. </p>
<p>As for stats though, I was lucky - I was the valedictorian of a not so good NYC public HS and was “underprivileged”. I am a poor Asian American - definitely different from other AAs. I guess that worked to my advantage as well and might have made my risky essays not be such a big matter you know?</p>