<p>I’m not so sure a similar essay tailored to the school to which it was sent wouldn’t work. A friend who used to work in admissions at a top university once told me that humor and originality trumped just about everything else.</p>
<p>I got this letter/essay.</p>
<p>No offense if the author’s out there, but it is HORRID. Quite possibly the worst filth I have had the unpleasent experience of reading in my entire life.</p>
<p>I actually had a similar idea for U Chicago admission, but mine was more like I was proposing because I wanted to spend the next four years of my life with U Chicago. In one of my U Chicago essays I actually invented a new humanoid species that were symbolic of U Chicago grads because they were too mentally superior and better educated to be anything else.</p>
<p>I know a girl from my HS who was in love with U Chicago, too. I think there’s just something about the university. Anyway, it ended up being much too expensive and all that debt wouldn’t be worth it. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.</p>
<p>"bartleby: where fun ACTUALLY goes to die.</p>
<p>Just kidding."</p>
<p>Eh, I don’t think education ought to be about fun-it ought to be about results. I don’t know, if I want to go have fun, I go drink, or hit on pretty ladies, or watch a movie with friends, or play video games. Now, I now this goes in the face of UChicago’s whole thing about how it’s students think learning is fun, but the thing is that UChicago has some of the best academic resources (e.g. faculty) in the nation. You don’t need to be outwardly excited about education in the corniest, most cloying way possible to take advantage of its resources to the fullest. It’s sad that lots of kids who very well-equipped to take advantage of UofCs academic resources won’t get in because they wrote an earnest and serious essay talking about their passion for academics that was deemed not creative enough. Others, though, will get in because they were creative and cute, regardless of where their academic potential stands.</p>
<p>“But really, lighten up! The letter may have been “cute,” but it was also a good, original, idea that was well-written and that managed to garner attention from the admissions committee. It’s funny and shows an understanding of the institution in a creative way (creative because it was out-of-the-box, unique, not the typical way to answer the prompt, and still successful and effective). It shows personality.”</p>
<p>Oh, it was obviously effective, and I could probably have predicted it would be effective. I don’t blame the kid for taking advantage of idiotic admissions criteria–very street-smart of him. But having personality has nothing to do with your academic potential. For every Richard Feynmann who has oodles of personality, there are ten brilliant physicists who have done just as much for the study of physics but have no personality.</p>
<p>And, maybe because I am a grinch on Christmas, if we’re judging people based on the personality they display on an admissions essay, this is not somebody I’d ever like to be around.</p>
<p>Also, this kid wants to be a corporate lawyer. Um, yeah, real personable.</p>
<p>I agree with y’all that its definitely a clever, unique essay. Its definitely better than the essays I wrote last year. However, I don’t remember reading anything specific about UChicago in the essay. I feel the applicant could have used this essay for any top university he was applying to (especially similar schools such as Columbia, Brown, Harvard, etc.) in the “Why ________?” prompts without even tweaking it. Again, it is an out-of-the box essay, but I don’t see how this answers “Why UChicago?” Even though the style is clever, it just seems to me to be too fluffy and has no real content to it; it just seems to be straight sucking up to the adcoms, and the adcom fell for it because they thought it was “cute.”</p>
<p>Love how bartleby jumps to conclusions about a kid he doesn’t even slightly know. </p>
<p>“Others, though, will get in because they were creative and cute, regardless of where their academic potential stands.”</p>
<p>Well I think Chicago looks for people who are academically qualified AND creative/cute. Everyone who’s gotten in from my school’s been like that (I’m sure you’ve heard stories of people getting into Ivies and rejected by Chicago). They’re looking for Richard Feynmanns. As for those 10 other brilliant but personality less physicists… well, they’d probably be be happier somewhere else.</p>
<p>Some people can actually be good at two things eg. Most of Chicago’s class</p>
<p>sometimes the personality written on paper is not a social personality, but rather shows the creativity of the person. i find that the essay also deals with problem solving. given a situation where you think of an idea that no one would’ve thought of, you could solve the given problem, like a machine having a crtical error and no one knows why. even it’s not the correct solution, at least you can bring the study of the problem somewhere. it is better than having a similar response as everyone, or in this case a common style of essays as others.</p>
<p>To bartleby, I know for a fact that his application was very strong and he had a wonderful interview (I should know, I’m Rohan’s girlfriend). He didn’t just write a funny/cute essay, he had a numerous EC’s and an excellent transcript. Oh, and he’s very personable :)</p>
<p>bartleby, how do you think corporate lawyers get their corporate accounts? Networking, personality, creativity. All necessary for corporate “rainmaking.” Corporate lawyers who are drones cranking out contracts are easy to find; those who can actually speak to clients and understand their businesses and develop relationships are much rarer and therefore usually much more successful and in demand.</p>
<p>Oh, and as I understand it, the system in China is much more restrictive. Not everyone is eligible for college. </p>
<p>Another good thing about this essay, and another reason why I think the dean sent it out (not just for the quirkiness aspect): It shows kids that they can get off the “But I never did anything exciting, so how can I write about my experiences???” treadmill. It shows you don’t have to write about how you want to save the world, or how much your mission trip to Indonesia changed you, or how your research led to the cure for cancer. You just have to be you. Your essay doesn’t have to be “deep” and “meaningful.”</p>
<p>This is fantastic! :D</p>
<p>Very, very creative and fun. Now I can see that I was actually lucky to be deferred.</p>
<p>“To bartleby, I know for a fact that his application was very strong and he had a wonderful interview (I should know, I’m Rohan’s girlfriend). He didn’t just write a funny/cute essay, he had a numerous EC’s and an excellent transcript. Oh, and he’s very personable”</p>
<p>That’s exactly what I would have expected based on the U Chicago alum and students whom I know, and based on the fact that one would have to be very smart to write that essay, which displays a very strong facility with language.</p>
<p>The folks I know who have gotten into and have gone to U Chicago have been creative, brilliant, loved academics, and were personable. This includes one of my mentees, a freshman there now. </p>
<p>He was a star athlete including winning regional individual sports honors and being captain of his team. He was active in his church, had leadership positions in his school, and volunteered with younger S and me a lot, including helping create and run a one-week summer youth camp here. He did those activities out of genuine interest, not to look good to colleges. He asked my advice on his college app and I had to remind him to add some activities that he had done. He has lots of friends, is fun, modest and is one of the nicest, most compassionate people whom I know. He loves U Chicago!</p>
<p>And his stats also were great!</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, the U Chicago students are very similar to Harvard students except that U Chicago students are more intellectual than are Harvard students.</p>
<p>“Even though the style is clever, it just seems to me to be too fluffy and has no real content to it; it just seems to be straight sucking up to the adcoms, and the adcom fell for it because they thought it was “cute.””</p>
<p>The adcoms fell for it because it reflected a strong knowledge about U Chicago including U Chicago’s humor, strengths, and the way it regards itself. The essay, for instance, would not fit Harvard.</p>
<p>It might, however fit a school like Swarthmore if Swarthmore also has gothic architecture.</p>
<p>Even if the college’s name had not been in the essay, I would have known to what college the student was referring.</p>
<p>I didnt apply to chicago but personally, I think that email does not brighten up mood but just leave applicants more depressed since that essay is so creative and they might think theirs arent as good as that essay.</p>
<p>If the letter causes some applicants to decide not to apply then U Chicago wouldn’t have been a good fit for them.</p>
<p>The letter would energize some students because they’d realize that their quirky way of thinking would be welcome at Chicago. That would be a big relief to some students whose out of the box thinking may have caused parents, teachers and peers to think they were strange. </p>
<p>So, the letter will help Chicago attract exactly the type of students that it wants.</p>
<p>When the going gets tough, the tough get creative: 54% more EA applications this year at Chicago. A breath of fresh air for a very tired AdCom.</p>
<p>Wow. My Why ______ essays are all pretty specific to the school for what I want to study (ie professors I have read about/worked with), but nothing like this. I feel like this sort of an essay is something that I’d use as a last possible resort…</p>
<p>Bartleby, please stop criticizing; you’re being rather annoying. I was accepted EA to UChicago this year and I can tell you that my “Why Chicago?” essay was über-specific and completely formulaic (not creative what-so-ever). My main essay was pretty plain as well (though there was some sarcasm in it because I’m a sarcastic person). I was not admitted for being “cute” or original. And if you have such a problem with UChicago’s admissions criteria then you should have abstained from applying and have sent your application to a more “sensible” school.</p>
<p>Wow, there seems to be a nice bit of Shakespearean language in the letter! :)</p>
<p>Sorry to ■■■■■, but…</p>
<p>WHY CAN’T YOU PEOPLE SEE THIS ESSAY SUCKS???</p>