<p>1.Stanford students possess intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development.</p>
<p>2.Virtually all of Stanfords undergraduates live on campus. What would you want your future roommate to know about you? Tell us something about you that will help your roommateand usknow you better.</p>
<p>3.What matters to you and why?</p>
<p>They are so insanely difficult, I am having a huge writer's block. I feel like I could write a very good "Why Stanford?" essay, but these topics are just ridiculous.</p>
<h1>1. Doesn't seem TOO bad. I'll probably write about one of my extracurriculars.</h1>
<h1>2. What the hell I have no idea what to write about.</h1>
<h1>3. Should I write about my love for mountain biking? An academic pursuit? It's so broad!</h1>
<ol>
<li>do you have anything that you have experienced that is unusual? Caught in a hurricane? Tornado? Lava flow? Worked with a scientist on a science project? Try to find something a little different than the obvious EC. If you must choose an EC, can you isolate a special reason why the EC is your topic? </li>
<li>What if you told your story as if you were your little brother/sister? Or your pet? What would they say about you? Warn others about you? Praise about you? They live with you now! If you have a sense of humor, you might enjoy this one! </li>
<li>What could you not live without in your life? Obvious answers: family, friends, education. Maybe not as obvious: the feeling you get when you tutor the 3rd grade non-english speaking students. You get the idea. Think outside of the “obvious”. If you have to go with obvious, try to find a twist to it. </li>
</ol>
<p>Hope that helps. If not, maybe someone else will give you better ideas!</p>
<p>^^ Yes, I am making a joke. Philosophydude said its what separates the men from the boys, (although I’m sure he didn’t mean it in a sexist way) and I was making fun of philosophydude for a perhaps accidental sexist joke. However, now I am making fun of you. But now this whole thing is just unfunny (as i’m sure you would argue that it was unfunny to begin with). sigh.</p>
<p>“men from the boys” is a cliche, not a sexist joke of any kind…</p>
<p>Anyway, I don’t think the essays are that hard if you approach them the right way. I think the movie Finding Forrester said it best: “Write with your heart, rewrite with your brain.” Try to be genuine in your responses and honest. The task will become easier and, hopefully, you will effuse the good characteristics which will impress the school. THEN, when you rewrite, focus on making your essays more sophisticated and watching for the connotations of certain words or examples you’ve used (ex. “Can Adcoms misinterpret ‘this’ to mean ‘this’?”) and remove the parts that are extraneous (or where you’ve been “too” honest about some less-than-desirable traits) in order to make the essay succinct. Of course, this is all easier said than done.</p>
<p>These are so easy. First one is a bit specific. Second one is essentially an “anything goes” topic (tell something/anything about yourself). Third one is very similar as well, a little more focused toward a specific interest.</p>
<p>Philosophy dude was not saying it in a sexist context, so this thing just got way out of hand. Simple look at the context in which he used it when he replied to “Stanford’s essays are so hard” tells us he meant it in a non-sexist way. This is an issue which shouldn’t even be an issue.</p>