Stanford essay - "What matters to you most, and why?"

College Essays
1

<p>I wrote this essay for my Stanford application.<br>
The question was: "What matters to you most, and why?"</p>

<p>I put a weird spin on it and am wondering what people think of it. I was pretty sarcastic with it, but I figured I would have to take a risk if I wanted to get into Stanford.</p>

<p>Here it is:</p>

<pre><code>Matter is what matters most to me. I breathe it, I drink it, I eat it and I am made of it. Without matter, nothing would exist.
My thoughts and beliefs are incredibly important to me, but I would not have any without matter. My brain, which is made of matter, creates and holds my beliefs, so without matter I would think nothing. Figuratively, my thoughts and beliefs make me who I am, but literally matter is what makes me who I am. My heart, brain, lungs, and every other body part of mine are made of matter. My thoughts are very important to me, but in order to have thoughts I must exist, so therefore matter must matter.
My family is also very significant to me. I love my parents, brother, and sister with all my heart. The unfortunate thing is that I would not to be able to love them if matter did not exist, because they would not be alive and I would not have a heart. Even my closest friends are made of matter. I never would have met them if it weren’t for matter. Just another reason I thank matter every night before I go to bed.
That is why matter is important to me. Without it, I would have no thoughts, no family, and no friends. I would not be writing this essay or have the opportunity to attend Stanford next year if matter did not exist. For these reasons, matter is what matters most to me.
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2

<p>Don’t like it, but in general I write very matter-of-factly and not creatively like this, so this is just my opinion.</p>

3

<p>I feel like you’re squandering an opportunity to write something meaningful about yourself, and I think that is the purpose of this essay prompt. This would be more appropriate for a UChicago type prompt where they’re asking you to be cheeky.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the reply. I also tend to write matter-of-factly, but I tried to break out of my shell on this one. Everyone always says that you should try to stand out, so that’s what I did.</p>

5

<p>Just like everyone else, I don’t like it. After the first sentence, I think, “ok I get it.” And it just keeps going on… and on… and on… and on… without telling me ANYTHING about you.</p>

<p>Pretty boring, sorry just being honest.</p>

6

<p>I also concur- the essay doesn’t reveal much about you. Also, I would not post essays like this for everyone to read. Many have commented on how your essay can easily be “stolen” by someone else and submitted.</p>