<p>I just finished my first draft of the supplement essay (EA) and it reeks of who I am BUT I think I went a bit to overboard with the essay! The essay is more like my mental ramblings than a college essay. </p>
<p>I don't allude about my accomplishments. I don't add an annotation to prove 'how great a applicant I am'. (Already done that in the Common App essay! :p).My UChicago supplement essay is just a reflection of my thoughts on the prompt! (It isn't as boring as it sounds; at least I hope it isn't ;))</p>
<p>As far as I have heard UChicago is very lenient when it comes to essays? As in they respect the views and thinking of the writer, even if the thinking is a bit on the controversial side..Is it true? Should I play on the safe side like I did in all my other essays? </p>
<p>Oh and the essay is a little bit embellished with fancy words, but none that I had to look up the Thesaurus for, so should I tone that down as well??</p>
<p>My advice would be to not embellish with fancy words (as in, use them if they occur naturally to you, but don’t try and fit them in to impress people, since they probably won’t).</p>
<p>I would give the essays to people you know and trust (like your family). People online are generally well-intentioned but don’t know you well enough to really evaluate a personal essay.</p>
<p>Sometimes people you know and trust don’t get it, either. My parents tried to tear my common app essay apart because it was too “academic” and “narrow” as opposed to descriptive of my greatness and whatnot, but I kept it and submitted it… and was admitted.
Try to read your essay from a stranger’s perspective. Is it interesting? Are the “mental ramblings” relevant? Do you sound pretentious or intellectual?
I would stay away from the controversial. You don’t know who’s going to read your essay - no need to make things any more awkward than necessary.</p>
<p>@heinochus: The words occurred naturally, and I just read a few other Chicago applicant’s essay and I think my vocabulary exploitation is equivalent to theirs.</p>
<p>And I don’t think my family or most of my friends would be of much help with my essays. They’d rather have me follow the age-old tradition of ‘I AM AWESOME’ essays!</p>
<p>@Mudskipper: I think my parents would come up with the same adjectives for my supplement essay.
I am trying my best to cut the controversial part! It is around 690 words…condense enough?</p>
<p>People on the email lists got an email from Admissions, with those essay topics in them. Otherwise, you can check the admissions blog (the uncommon blog?) on the college admissions web site for Uchicago (collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu?)</p>