<p>was just wondering... is it better to submit a somewhat risky essay with a not so usual topic (i wrote mine based off a real, somewhat humorous incident in comparison to a metaphor... so yeah, it's kinda strange and my only problem with it is i feel like it doesn't show enough about "ME"?), or to submit something that is fairly commonplace but you write it with a flair so it's more personal? (ie making it not those MONOTNOUS boring ones, but the subject matter is still those oftenseen "why my favorite hobby is reading" or "how i saved starving children in peru"... i wrote mine about oil painting and oil paints. lol...)</p>
<p>I'm in a similar dilema as right now people have been saying my essay is good, but doesn't directly talk about me a whole lot. It's one of those "who influenced you" essays and I wrote it about a coworker and kind of made it a narrative. The thing is, I talk a lot about the coworker rather than myself (though I do think that you can totally see what I'm like based on how I view the world around me, however ppl still say that it needs to be more personal).</p>
<p>Anyways. I don't really have an answer to your question as it's kind of my question too, but if you write well on a generic topic it's not going to hurt you in any way. A trite essay on a generic topic will.</p>
<p>My essays are intentionally strange, not enough to be overdone, but about true events that are a little off color. I think writing about oil paints is really boring. Trust me, I know they are wonderfully complex, I've worked in them a lot, but unless you had a private exhibition displaying those beautiful oil paint talents, don't write it. In fact I read a passage on the PSAT in my 8th grade year (I think) that was about a woman's struggle with oil paint. It was boring as ****.</p>
<p>My essays are usually a little on the strange side. I like to exploit my personality - my quirks - and I think that if you have a strong enough command of the language, you should absolutely make it interesting.</p>
<p>I probably shouldn't have, but I wrote about Meat Joy (a controversial work of art) on an admissions essay. I got into the school and probably made someone laugh a little in the process.... heh...</p>
<p>I think you definitely need to be balanced--essays can be off-color a bit, but still have to show something about you. My essay is slightly risky in that I admit to a fault I have--my (former) inclination to think of art classes as a waste of time in my schedule--but I think if it's honest and you can work with it in a way that shows a lesson you've learned or says something good about you, it's okay.</p>
<p>RISKY!!! Risky, risky, risky...always be risky. Within limits of course. Could you imagine reading 20,000 essays of "My favorite hobby is...", "I admire Martin Luther King Jr. because...", "Molecular biology fascinates me because...". ALWAYS take risks. The goal here is to STAND OUT!!! You're not gonna do that by using cliches or playing it safe.</p>
<p>The goal is to show the staff something about YOU. That is the ONLY way they have of knowing who you are & whether or not they think you will be an asset to their campus. Yes, quirky essays will stand out ... but they are not for everyone. My daughter would never submit a quirkly or odd essay. It's simply not representative of who she is. She did, however, take a bit of a risk in her subject matter; she figured if they didn't like it, she didn't want to go to their school. But you don't have to do anything controversial, either. The point is to submit a well-written essay that shows who you are. That is it! Ask yourself: does my essay let the reader know who I am? Is there any insight into my personality, my passions, my interests, etc? If not, you might want to rewrite it to reflect some of those things.</p>
<p>You could write a good OR bad essay about something terribly interesting. You could write a good OR bad essay about something inherently boring. It's all in how you do it. You state that you don't think your essay shows enough about you. That is your red flag ... you need to figure out how to make it about YOU!</p>
<p>I am with shortnproud...my essays thus far have all been fairly risky. One essay prompt I did recently for UT was to write about a potential classmate that was different from you and what that classmate could teach you. Everybody in my entire school wrote about somebody of a different religion/race/socioeconomic background/political affiliation and ALL of them were insanely boring.</p>
<p>I wrote mine about someone who had never ridden in a car with me before.</p>
<p>There's a difference between being gimmicky and being risky. So avoid the first, go for the latter, and try to have fun while doing it. Good luck!</p>