<p>Just wanted to have a fun thread for those people anxiously awaiting EA results. </p>
<p>From the first short essay, what kind of "fun" activities did you all write about? 100 words isn't a lot of space, so I'm wondering if most of you went the typical route (sports, reading, eating? haha) or put in some more unusual things. </p>
<p>"We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do for the pleasure of it."</p>
<p>I wrote about reading and how I appreciate language in general. It was completely off from the rest of my math/science-oriented application, but I felt the variety gave a bit of a breather.</p>
<p>Sailing. I really liked how the essay turned out.</p>
<p>A certain board game with references to a certain white mouse...</p>
<p>:P</p>
<p>I wrote about the embarrassing and true fact that I do what many consider boring and surf Wikipedia, following link after link and using tabbed browsing to develop massive backlogs of pages to read all in hopes of learning something interesting.</p>
<p>I need a better hobby.</p>
<p>I wrote about making music videos with my friends.</p>
<p>Baking! Yummy cakes, crepes, cookies...</p>
<p>I think I'm going to end up baking a lot today- I have another day off from school, this time for snow. This means that I have an entire day to stress out some more about MIT admissions, which I'm convinced is going to kill me by 11:59am Saturday.</p>
<p>Wasn't that short essay something like the short answer from the common application? I mean, shouldn't we write about one of the extracurriculars listed? And if not, is it OK if I still write about an extracurricular? in Romania, we are not required to do anything outside classes, so those who join a club or something do it just for themselves.</p>
<p>The short essays were not like a short answer about a specific extracurricular. In this case, the prompt was along the lines of, "What do you do when you want to have fun or relax?"</p>
<p>And in most places, extracurriculars are not required outside of classes--that's why they're extracurricular.</p>
<p>I actually used my sailing essay for the common app as well- if you look closely at the common app prompt, it includes "personal activities" under things you can write about. This way, it should also really stand out from all the essays that are along the lines of "I like debate because..." or "Cross Country has taught me..."</p>
<p>I did not want to write about a listed EC; somehow, I feel like, though I gain a LOT from my ECs, I do them for more than "just the pleasure of it" - piano is really stressful a lot of the time, but it is something from which I gain overall, so though it's something I love, I definitely couldn't say it's "just for pleasure" because often it doesn't bring (immediate) pleasure, and it would be silly to say I do math JUST for pleasure when I want to do it for a career. I think that question is more about "When you are DYING of stress and it feels like THE END OF THE WORLD (lolol see long essay question), what do you have that can help you get away from that?" I have seen/heard that MIT students usually have "something else" that keeps them sane through all the stress of classes. For me, structured ECs, though I often do get much pleasure from them, often also add to that stress, though in a kind of crazy wonderful-stress kind of way. So I didn't want to write about a structured EC, but rather what I do to offset the stress of a filled lifestyle, if that makes sense.</p>
<p>also, I officially hate common app, lol, and am having a terrible time trying to fit everything I want to say into Harvard's application (lol, lots of extra info I guess? haha). Rawr common app. Using this short essay for common app is a great idea, ducktape - wish I had thought of it! lol. I wrote a little something about my music classes, which I hadn't the space to explain in the activity list place (there is NO ROOM ON COMMON APP). <em>common app anger</em> lol. sorry to get off topic.</p>
<p>No, I hate the common app, too. I understand your pain.</p>
<p>The thing about sailing is that when you're on the water and the sails are trimmed just right and it's just you and the boat it really feels like all is right with the world. And if I get into MIT, I'll get to do that for 3 hours 4 days a week and almost every weekend in the fall AND spring. :)</p>
<p>I'll post my essay here if I'm rejected/accepted early. If I'm deferred, I'd still prefer to keep it under wraps.</p>
<p>agreed, the commonapp sucks lol.. MIT's application is so nice :P</p>
<p>i put reading... although i haven't had that much time to read for fun since this year started lol</p>
<p>"Basketball's ma favorite sport, I like the way they dribble up and down the court"</p>
<p>-sums up my theme perfectly.</p>
<p>Piccolo, would you play at MIT?</p>
<p>I wrote about playing Ultimate Frisbee in bad weather. It came out really nice I think.</p>
<p>My essay was about being a competitive lifeguard! Hows that for an unusual EC!? Haha, but I dont know how great it came out because I had to actually explain what the hell competitive lifeguarding is...so i ended up writing a very short "why" statement...oh well...lol</p>
<p>@ducktape: definitely. While I might be a bit undersized for a shooting guard...If I decided to play like a true basketball player I think I could make the intercollegiate team (or at worst dominate intramurals lol)</p>