<p>In the NYU supplement, in the personal statements section there is one prompt:</p>
<p>"In the year 2050, a movie is being made of your life. Please tell us the name of your movie and briefly summarize the story line."</p>
<p>Personally, I think this is a pretty dumb prompt. I like all the other personal statements, and I enjoy essay questions where I can be a little more creative. However if I try and answer this one I know I'm going to end up with something really kitschy.</p>
<p>So, my idea is to take the plot of an actual movie, completely unrelated to my life. I would use the actual title of the movie, and just fill in my time with the protagonist's. It would be a well known film, so there would be no question in the readers mind of what I was doing.</p>
<p>Personally, I find this to be pretty funny, and shows some independent spirit. The question is, would the adcoms feel the same way?</p>
<p>If you’re going to do it, you should probably make it VERY CLEAR that it’s an actual movie. So clear that it’s funny and therefore, the point is made that it’s suppose to be funny. You don’t want to make them think that you were trying to fool them. </p>
<p>And I guess it depends on the film too. </p>
<p>This is actually quite similar to my movie supplement. Mine revolves around the description of a real dramatic event. Perhaps not very well remembered, the event I described could strike anybody as familiar. So, in the additional info section, I noted that I adapted my supplement from a real event, and provided some details.</p>
<p>That’s exactly what I did. It never even occurred to me that it might be “risky”!! (Slapping self on forehead.)</p>
<p>I was very clear about what I was doing, tho. I gave the name of the movie (new name, didn’t use original), then sed it was a remake of X movie by Y director (director has distinctive style & is known for dark humor.) Then I just took the basic plotline of the movie and updated it with events from “my” life, circa 2050. You know, kinda like “Clueless” was a remake of JAusten.</p>
<p>So, it’s kinda black humor/farce. Maybe I was wrong, but I just assumed they were looking for creativity. I mean, really, who has a crystal ball?</p>
<p>I mean I actually went further than you. I won’t post the name of the specific movie till after the deadline, but it is like a historical biopic about a person TOTALLY different from me. So I said like “Growing up in [time and place that i am obviously not from]…” et cetera. </p>
<p>I guess my problem with the prompt is like, to answer it “seriously” you basically have to just like brag about all the big things you hope to accomplish. I wrote another draft of an answer where it starts off sounding like I’m going to be doing that, but then I talk about how all my dreams fall apart and my career fails and I end up wishing I was still in college. But I thought that was too dark.</p>
<p>don’t say the prompt is dumb because you aren’t creative enough to make something cool up. be happy they didn’t ask you to write 500 words on why NYU is better than every other school in the country.</p>
<p>So, Lame, deadline past. What movie did you do?</p>
<p>Agree, answering the prompt “straight” calls for bragging, something I’m not comfortable with. Plus, I would think it would get really boring for the adcoms, reading the 2000th movie where the person’s gonna be a doctor in a 3rd world country and save the world (because, who’s gonna script one where they become the highest-paid plastic surgeon on the upper east side?)</p>
<p>The question’s not stupid so much as just absurd. I figure they were looking to get some absurdity back, but who knows? I just tried to be funny.</p>
<p>I don’t really even “get” how it would work to use an existing movie and fill in your name. ?? Is that answering an essay question? What is it about it that your “wrote”? I must not be understanding what y’all did because it just sounds like…ummm…basically cheating (?), for lack of a better word. IDK</p>
<p>Wow. See, I didn’t read the question as “Tell us exactly what you’re going to accomplish between now and the time you’re 59. Be deadly serious about it.”</p>
<p>I figure if that’s what they wanted, that’s what they would have asked. I thought the question was kinda–dunno-whimsical, I guess? I thought they all were, and that they were trying to encourage creativity. So I got creative. </p>
<p>Which is funny, 'cause if you knew me, I normally get uptite about coloring outside the box. But NYU’s questions inspired me to take some chances. I hope I get in, but if not–well, really I had the most fun answering NYU’s supp of any college supplement I did.</p>
<p>Like I said, I liked all of the other questions and their “whimsical” nature, they were a lot of fun compared to all the other apps I’ve been doing. I just felt that I may have answered TOO whimsically. </p>
<p>I took the plot of “Walk the Line.” So it began describing how I (in the third person) grew up in depression-era Arkansas, and eventually how my wife June Carter saved me from my addiction. </p>
<p>I did end up submitting it. The actual content of the response says nothing about me, but hopefully the way I approached it will give them a sense of my humor. Of course it could also make them think I’m a deviant who tries to bend the rules of my assignments. Which isn’t entirely false…</p>
<p>It seems like most people tried to me humrous. I’m not one to try to be funny because half the time people don’t get it. So, I was more serious in my approach to the questions.</p>
<p>i don’t think so. i wrote about how i was an old man who has 68 dogs because he’s obsessed with them and doesn’t know what to do when he sees another one he wants to adopt. that was it. i think they want to see who a person is, or i guess “see” their personality. i really hope they didn’t admit me because they thought my aspirations in life include having too many dogs.</p>
<p>IMHO, its all good. If youre a deadly serious personwell, you probably answered it that way. If youre more of a risk-taker or creative or funny, theyll see that, too.</p>
<p>Personally, the 68 dogs thing is hilarious & I dont think you can go wrong with self-deprecating (sp?) humor. I dont think any adcom on earth would read that straight up. But then, Im also thinking (hoping?) that a sense of humor would have to be the # 1 requirement for any adcom to last more than about a season.</p>
<p>I did something kind of similar to the OP. I made it a generic Lifetime movie and talked about how I became a “strong woman” and read Jane Austen and overcame a stalker and 2 divorces and all this stuff.</p>