<p>haha yeah, uni, I laughed quite hard at your suggestion. xD</p>
<ol>
<li>FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech</li>
<li>Living in the South</li>
<li>“Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone”, something my mother often tells me</li>
<li>Wish I was more patient</li>
<li>Visit my favorite record store, then work on my newspaper</li>
</ol>
<p>Why Yale: I talked about strength of PoliSci and record of producing leaders in govt, the opportunity to write for the Daily, and the residential college system.</p>
<p>haha I think it is pretty open to interpretation! in any case, I hope it was phrased less ambiguously on the application. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>I guess I’ll post some of mine:
What is the best piece of advice you have received in the last three years?
If you believe you can do something, go and do it, because that’s the only way you’re going to get it. Make it happen.</p>
<p>If you could witness one moment in history, what would it be and why?
I would witness the moon landing in 1969 because it was an incredible technical achievement that was accomplished through unified support from the American people.</p>
<p>What do you wish you were better at being or doing?
I wish I was more patient.</p>
<p>What in particular about Yale has influenced your decision to apply?
In college, I plan to explore several majors before deciding on an area that I am best suited to, maximizing my ability to make an impact on my field. Yale would help me achieve this with its flexibility in both distribution requirements and course selection through the shopping period. I would also enjoy participating in Yale’s array of extracurricular activities, particularly intramural sports, which are enhanced by the camaraderie and friendly rivalries of the residential college system.</p>
<p>Those are word for word, what do you think? I did some of them quickly (why Yale, especially) :S</p>
<p>I just don’t quite understand how the impact you make upon your field will be “maximized” by exploring different majors? If anything, I would think narrowing the scope of your endeavors will keep you more rigid and firm on a selection, thus offering the greatest insight into the field through offering more prior experience.</p>
<p>just the gist of each, not word for word…</p>
<p>Free Afternoon?
Playing trombone, mentioned a few tunes I might be playing, such as “The Imperial March” from Starwars or “Under the Sea” from the Little Mermaid.</p>
<p>Best Advice?
wrote about how I reread the “Sword of Truth” series for the ending speech… more specifically, “Your life is yours alone. Rise up and live it.”</p>
<p>Moment in History?
The Geneva physicist conference of 1962! Thats where Gellman theorized the higgs particle and unveiled the eightfold pattern (not the Buddhist one).</p>
<p>Better at doing?
I can’t remember what I wrote for this one.</p>
<p>Change your mind?
Changed my mind on which field of physics I wanted to specialize in. (Now it is either quantum electrodynamics or quantum chromodynamics)</p>
<p>Why Yale?
This one I really liked. I pointed out how Yale was the only college I applied to that had the types of trees that I grew up around, and that growing up surrounded by their “surreal and simplistic beauty” made me appreciate how many trees Yale has. Made metaphors and other writing tricks in it too.</p>
<p>I hope in the end I don’t regret trying to bring out my personality in these.</p>
<ol>
<li>Go on a sailing trip with friends to a nearby desert island.</li>
<li>“If you have a thirst for knowledge, you can learn anywhere.”</li>
<li>Beginning of Christianity (I’m not religious at all, but I thought it would be cool).</li>
<li>I wish I was better at time management</li>
<li>I used to be pro-2nd amendment, now not so much.</li>
</ol>
<p>“In college, I plan to explore several majors before deciding on an area that I am best suited to, maximizing my ability to make an impact on my field.”</p>
<p>collegebound808, what I meant was that I would explore, so that I could find the thing I was best at, so that I could make a bigger impact. Because if I didn’t explore then I would settle for something I was sort of good at and not be able to get to the same level. I thought it made sense. 
Oh well. No use worrying about it now.</p>
<p>Let’s see.
I’d spend an afternoon doing apps, job hunting, doing p90x and baking cookies.
I wanted to witness Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms.
I’ve changed my mind about abortion.
I wish I were a math wizard.
Best advice? A quote from Conan O’Brien.
Not word for word obv.</p>
<p>For the best advice one, I was so tempted to do “Start your application essays early (DID NOT FOLLOW!)” but decided for obvious reasons that I probably shouldn’t do that haha xD And, to be fair, I did start my college essays early enough.</p>
<p>I applied SCEA but here they are:
Time in History: The instant after the big bang.
Free Afternoon: Watch some movies.
Best Advice: Be unique (except it was placed in the context of bird species).
Improvement: Gain more confidence in myself so I can ask this guy out.
Changed Mind: I now like history after taking AP Euro.</p>
<p>These are definitely not word for word. I thought some of them were a bit risky, but they worked!</p>
<p>also accepted SCEA:</p>
<p>Free Afternoon: bike ride in the countryside
Change of heart: I used to be affiliated with a political party [did not name which], now I am independent
Quote: My grandfather telling me to always work hard [cliche, but it has really affected me, and it worked lol]
Quality improvement: being able to draw or paint
Day in History: speech of Tecumseh to William Henry Harrison
Why yale: I talked about the two departments I’m interested in, two extracurriculars I’m interested in, and the res colleges. all of which invoked stuff unique to Yale</p>
<p>also-- my secret theory is that the whole point of the short takes is weeding out people who say “I wish I was…” rather than the grammatically correct “I wish I were…” They planted that question just to test our grammar… LOL</p>
<p>@litotes: I noticed that too ahaha</p>
<p>@litotes
Legit checked my app to see what I put. I’m in the clear. xD</p>
<p>Haha litnotes, but seriously, I got paranoid for a second and had to go back and check my supplement even though I know better.</p>
<p>I specifically talked about Yale’s innovative neuro program and how its everything i need since ive been torn between psychology and biology for the longest time.</p>
<p>hahah sorry if I scared people I was just trying to make a joke</p>
<p>P.S. nowadays the subjunctive is dying out to the point where using “was” instead of “were” is pretty acceptable-- I’d even wager that many Yale admissions officers are accustomed to talking that way. So I think you’re in the clear if you made that error.</p>
<p>I legit just checked my app for that error, haha.</p>
<p>Same lol. Thankfully I didn’t need to say “was” or “were”</p>
<p>Misuse of the subjunctive is one of my biggest pet peeves, and to read that it’s dying just made me immeasurably sad. I know it’s true, but sheesh, I didn’t need to see it in writing. :(</p>
<p>I liked my short takes. They’re actually the only reason I applied to Yale… lol, it was just a nice application. But it was almost an afterthought - I added it to my common app account on 12/27 or something like that - and I sort of blew off the rest of the supplement. My Why Yale answer was ridiculous - I think I used about 90 characters, and the gist of it was pretty much “Yale’s fabulous.” The supplemental essay was 760 words, more than 50% too long. And to top it off, I forgot to read the directions on the art supplement and uploaded files that were about 8x too big.</p>
<p>In retrospect, I have no idea what I was thinking. Pretty sure that was $85 wasted.</p>
<p>Haha, stupiddorkyidiot, your post made me laugh. :D</p>
<p>But hey, it might end up working, you never know.</p>