If I chose the first topic-- “Tell us about a person who has influenced you in a significant way.” --I will be compelled to spend lots of my essay explaining that person and his circumstances, and only the conclusion will be about the various lessons that person taught me. Isn’t that considered out of context? And if so, how should I go about in such a situation?
And if someone wishes to read this essay and give me his feedback, that would be very appreciated!!!
The most important thing is that your essay contains your voice. The content isn’t super important. That said, I remember watching a video that interviewed admissions officers from all the elite schools about the essay game, and one of them said “I read a great essay about a grandfather, but by the end of it I wanted to admit the grandfather and not the student.” So just be sure that you bring that prompt back to you and your experiences - don’t get too expository in describing the life story of the person. Just give it enough flavor to be genuine and have your voice unequivocally, and then bring it back to how that informs you in some way.
Good luck!
It wouldn’t be out of context, but more words describing the other person leaves less words for them to learn about you.
Yeah, the problem is…there is not much to say about me.
All what I have to say is:
"This person did…
and…
and…
This taught me … and … and …"
I can’t figure out how I have more than a paragraph to reflect on the lessons I learned from such a person?
Talk about the specific experiences in which they taught you those things, and talk about how you went on to use them.
I’m imagining writing such an essay about my father. Any description of his past or his circumstances would be indirect. I’d just write about his impact on my life while weaving a few details of his history into the essay. I hope that helps. Good luck!