Hey guys, here is one prompt for this year’s Princeton’s Essay of Your Voice that I’m thinking about to write on.
"One of the great challenges of our time is that the disparities we face today have more complex causes and point less straightforwardly to solutions."
Omar Wasow, assistant professor of politics, Princeton University; founder of Blackplanet.com.
This quote is taken from Professor Wasow's January 2014 speech at the Martin Luther King Daycelebration at Princeton University.
So the main point here is disparity. Should I write about my view in general, or should I write about it and give it a solution? Or what…? I’m kind of confused… Any brainstorming?
Here are the directions from Princeton’s Supplement . . .
So, what disparities – think inequalities, differences, inconsistencies – in YOUR life have you faced? How have those disparities defined one of YOUR values or changed how YOU approach the world?
As you should include concrete examples in the essay from your life, or an event in your life, or a person in your life about those disparities, no one on CC is going to be able to help you brainstorm, as it’s a very personal essay – or at least it should be.
TIP: The key to any college essay is specificity – as it relates to you. Writing a generalized essay about disparity (racism, for example) will demonstrate that you can craft a well-thought out essay, but it will not let an Admissions director get a glimpse into your soul. And that’s what you need to do!
FWIW: I once heard Peter Johnson, a Senior Admissions Director at Columbia University, give this tip on college admissions essays:
Mr. Johnson’s comment applies to Princeton’s supplemental essays as well. You need to write about something so specific that only you could write it. Good luck!
