<p>Fine. I’ll give you my Yale one. It got me in… </p>
<p>I wrote about a stupid, completely outrageous(yet confounding) philosophical question I had while ordering pizza at a local restaurant with a friend. (No details on what that stupid question was…) I basically wrote 500 words on my philosophically inquisitive nature.</p>
<p>^oh, awesome 
i’ll probably ask to read that one from u in a year after all my apps r done, if ya don’t mind :)</p>
<p>simultaneous bumppp.</p>
<p>I applied last november, and I suggest reading the book that M’sMom suggested…
I read that book (and many others) and it really helped me key down on what to write…
What you want to do is to write about YOU. think about how many applicants they get that try to make themselves sound good on paper, and think about how many essays they’ve read over the years… they all sound alike after the 10th essay… so just remember not to write what you THINK they would want to hear, because you’ll never know. instead, just write with honesty, and be paint a picture of yourself. What they want is an essay with personality. If your scores and GPA aren’t there, then a spectacular essay wont help you much anyway. But if you ARE qualified, then you want to let them know that you’re not just another number. Dont TRY to be too unique. Just be yourself, because you’re already different without trying…</p>
<p>my suggestions for starting (i know its hard for some people to figure what to write about), is to start EARLY. and just write…about your experiences, what you saw, felt, heard that day… everyday… dont stop or erase, just write your thoughts… soon enough, you’ll find something clever that sticks, and it’ll be an essay from the heart </p>
<p>Basically, this is what i did and my teachers said they were some of the best essays they’d ever read (although I dont know how much i should trust them)</p>
<p>anyhow, goodluck!
PM me if you need any more help!
(remember: show, dont tell!)</p>
<p>OH, and please try not to write about anything too depressing. Remember, these people aren’t your therapists or counselors.
(and though some topics are really cliche, the WAY you write them can make anything sound great. so even the jock or the studying abroad essay can work, if you know how to write them. </p>
<p>AND please dont try to write about YOUR ENTIRE life in one essay…
i think this is one of the biggest mistakes people make.</p>
<p>Overused/lazy: the long list of random non-sequiters (sp?) in which applicant tries to appear quirky and unique, writing an essay about how hard it is to write a college essay.</p>
<p>Advice for the essay: put down the thesaurus. Your SAT CR score will evidence that you have a large vocabulary. You will learn in college that the best writers don’t use obscure words to impress people, but communicate at a level that most people can understand. This is not to say that you cannot write intelligently, but write using language and words that you normally use. If you normally use words that other people call “SAT vocabulary words,” when you write with them, they will sound natural. If you normally do not use those words, when you try to shoehorn them into your essay, it will sound contrived and stilted. Write at your comfort level.</p>
<p>Show, don’t tell. Don’t say that you are kind; tell them about that time you gave your last dime to get on the subway to a homeless family and trudged home through the snow. Don’t say that you are thoughtful; tell them about the time that a math problem kept you thinking all night long until you finally had to get up at 2 am to solve it. Reveal yourself.</p>
<p>Don’t write about potentially touchy topics UNLESS they reveal your own personal convictions and you can be really delicate about them. The adcom doesn’t want to read a treatise about why the pro-life or anti-death penalty philosophies are right. They don’t say anything about you and you may end up just ****ing someone off. You CAN write about your experience at a pro-life rally or how you felt when your uncle Sal was put to death.</p>
<p>Don’t try to be someone you’re not. Don’t attempt a funny essay if you’re not particularly funny.</p>
<p>Start early! Start drafting over the summer between junior and senior year. Don’t worry about trying to keep it down to 500 words or your spelling or grammar errors…editing comes later.</p>
<p>When writing an essay about “Why I want to go to ___”, do yourself a favor and do a little research on the school itself. What are some resources the school has? Organizations? Special features? You can say “I want to go to X because there have been many fabulous alumni from this school and it changed the world” about just about any school (and if you read the ‘about’ page of most colleges, they all believe that their alumni are amazing and that they’re special). But you can’t say “Spelman has a commitment to engaging black women in service to their community and involving them in fields that black women do not traditionally enter. The African Diaspora & the World courses will expose me to important works that are generally excluded from the literary canon, and the exchange program with the women’s college in Japan is perfect for my needs” about any college but Spelman.</p>