<p>If you were a member of the committee that was reviewing this (your) application, what is the single most important aspect of your application that you would emphasize in order to convince the rest of the committee to offer this candidate (you) admission and why? </p>
<p>How are we supposed to answer this question? Are we supposed to refer to our academic achievements or that we want to stress how we do X ec 20 hours a week?! Could class of 2010 help out?</p>
<p>I tell this to just about everyone because I think it's good advice. The point of the personal essay, or any essay for that matter, is to show off something about you that's not readily apparent from your transcripts or ECs. Unless you have indeed accomplished something extraordinary in less than two decades of life like competing in the Olympics or founding a successful business, there will be a bazillion other students with statistics and resumes like yours. The only way to make yourself stand out is to show the adcom what you think about and how you think about it.</p>
<p>In short, DO NOT talk about your ECs or your academic achievements unless you can say something truly profound about it.</p>
<p>Hey, class of 2010 here. It seems to me that they want you to tell them what is most meaningful to you. That could be academic achievement, an extracurricular that you've devoted a lot of time to, or perhaps the essay.</p>
<p>Any other advice? Conflicting opinions here.. lol</p>
<p>Just to clarify - what I meant was: Do not write about your ECs and accomplishments as in "I did this, that, and the other, so I'm special, nyah!" (As I said before, a bazillion people have done this, that, and the other, so in general it's not very impressive.) It's far more interesting to see someone say, "Sure, I won the Emergency Room Volunteer of the Month award, but I learned so much about myself/others while volunteering, and that was more important to me than the award because..." Does that make more sense?</p>
<p>Haha, actually I was just trying to elaborate on what shades said. What I meant was that an EC doesn't necessarily have to be extraordinary (although extraordinary is certainly a boon), just that it be meaningful to you (which I think is what the question is really asking).</p>