@candylover1005 My finished essay is 1499 words, which is crazy lol!, I actually had to trim it from over 2000 because my conflict was quite complex.
Im planning on writing about a book that I read when I was 13 that influenced my worldview a lot. Forgive me for not wanting to name it here, no offense 
My first essay is prob gonna be really succint, and I think my second one will be long because I have so many ideas about the book! (I havent really started either yet!)
@Intelligent08 that’s awesome!! would you mind telling us what it was about (you don’t have to be specific - you could just say if it’s a “discussion, piece of writing, movie, work of art, or other life experience”)
Writer’s block right about now… God, I always seem to dictate my essays while I am not near my laptop, then end up stuck when trying to write. I have yet to finish even one essay at this point…
@peaceprincess Of course I have no problem sharing what it was about. I wrote about a personal life experience how based on how I was raised and my culture, I was sort of forced to believe in one idea even though I didn’t agree with it. But once I was put into a different enivornment with lots of different people, I learned that there was so much more to that idea and started to change myself in order to represent what I believe in now and create a better life for later generations.
everyone who said something about writers block I FEEL U!!! I am struggling with the same thing…especially for #3
@Intelligent08 that sounds really cool! I actually relate a lot because I’m a first gen American! I’m sure they’ll love it
@FreePariah I DO THE EXACT SAME THING!! like, I give entire, beautiful, impassioned speeches complete with hand gestures, talking to myself… but god forbid I touch a keyboard, all of those ideas fly away. Its so frustrating!!
@peachprincess Up at 2 am thinking about TASP I see :)) @annagrace18 @Intelligent08 @WinnerWannabe @candylover1005 From what regions of the US are you all from, or are any of you internationals??
@FreePariah Buffalo, NY!! What about you?
ok but @FreePariah @peachprincess ME TOO like my thoughts are not translating well to written words :)) glad I’m not the only one experiencing that
are there any previous TASSers who could share some insight about the application, essays, etc?
@FreePariah Northern Virginia
Hey guys, I’m applying to TASP too this year. Haven’t started writing any of my essays yet though LOL. I REALLY want to get in but I’m not sure if my writing is up to par… TASP alumnis, any advice on writing the essays? How much can you veer off from the original topic ( first essay is about our education- formal or informal, but I’m not sure how flexible the definition of informal education is…). Good luck to all of you!
Hey y’all, I was a TASS alumni from 2016 actually and the essays for TASP are a lot different from the TASS essays. These are a lot more broad topic and harder to gauge…but one thing I do have to say is that word count really doesnt matter and write as much as necessary for your essays to be concise yet informative. Also, write about yourselves–they really don’t care about other people, they want to know about you.
Hi! I don’t really know how useful my input is going to be since I’m in the same position as you—applying—but if it makes you feel any better, I’m stretching the definition of “informal education” in my own essay, too. If you learned something from an experience and you want to write about it even if it’s not really “education”, I would say go for it. As long as you back up your topic choices for that essay, I should think you’d be fine. Just relate back to how it shaped you/your perspective @steph_sky8278
@annagrace18 @notoriousrbg Thanks guys! Do you find that the essay questions are a little too broad? Like the second one, I’m not entirely sure what their goal is- do they want to see that we can change our opinions on things? Or do they want to see personal growth? The topic I’m choosing focuses a lot on personal growth so I’m hoping it’ll be fine. Do you know if they want any specific kind of essay structure? How lenient are they with formality? Sorry for all of the questions!
@FreePariah Canada!
I think they purposely left the topics really broad to see how you interpret them. but yeah, I would definitely agree that it makes it hard to write the essays since I don’t really know where to start. @steph_sky8278 tbh I’m struggling the most with the third prompt 
^my second essay is about personal growth too btw. Idk how well I can answer your question since I’m an applicant too but I can at least tell u what I’m planning on doing lol. in terms of like essay structure/formality I’m trying to write formally in that the voice is very mature and I use good writing conventions…but I’m not doing like an intro/body/conclusion structure. I feel like they’re looking more for content that conventional structure. (hopefully anyway, lol)
@annagrace18 Yeah I’m doing something similar. Well anyways good luck!
How short do yall think is too short? I have an essay at 700 words and I think it’s complete, but someone said that it should be longer since the limit is 1500