@geemssi I did like 3 each for books, movies, and bands, and one magazine. Just try and show all the different sides of you. At least that’s what I did, but I always seem to do stuff like this in weird ways, so you may not want to trust me…
@geemssi
Whatever lies as a core interest to you or something you really connect with. If you get to the interview stage, they’ll be asking you about it, and the closer the favorite is to you the better you’ll answer the question. So it’s not really any set number.
Just my two cents.
@Kingtape No worries! I’m happy to answer 
I think that the main focus can definitely be narrow if that’s what you feel differentiates and impassions you, but I would include at least a small segment demonstrating how the skills you learned from your creative writing and related educational opportunities impacted other aspects of your formal and informal education, and, of course, how that relates to what you’ll bring to TASP. Also, don’t forget to go over which experiences you felt fortunate and unfortunate to have (and that goes for all of you)! That’s the #1 thing that I’ve been seeing people forgetting to include in the applications I’ve been critiquing.
@random72 Yes, of course! You can email them to info@myivyeducation.org, and I’ll get back to you with all the details. That goes for any and all of you who are looking for a critique 
@UesugiKenshin and @QuestionCactus Yes, I did use contractions. I think the essays tend to turn out best when you go as deep and as intimate as possible, and for me personally, that entails writing more like I speak - i.e. informally. However, I tried to approach my use of contractions from a writerly perspective by asking myself whether I felt like they elevated the stories I was telling by indeed making them more intimate, as opposed to just feeling informal for the sake of informality, or like I didn’t have a strong grasp of English grammar. I think the main takeaway here is to be intentional about everything you do, and to make sure that you have the grammatical wherewithal to back it up. If you have any worries whatsoever, be sure to get your essays looked at! Like I said above, I’m happy to do it myself
hey @5toryt3ll3r ! thank you so much for all the help you’ve left on this thread so far- i was wondering if you could offer some insight on an idea i had for essay 2. it has to do with one of my friends being super against drinking and upset with me for doing it once. i definitely explore more after explaining the initial conflict but i’m not sure whether i should explicitly mention drinking (i’m underage pretty much everywhere…) or just say that i’d never drank before but couldn’t understand her viewpoint. i thought it’d be fine but a teacher i showed my essay to was concerned that telluride would assume i’d be a liability during the program for mentioning drinking or ever being ok with it at all. my other ideas aren’t great so i’m stuck here on how to present the topic.
@az2630 not 5toryt3ll3r, but i would strongly advise you not to write about drinking if you are underage… it is a known rule not to do that in college app essays, and I think the same thing applies here. I would say just say you couldn’t understand her.
@az2630 Oooh, yeah, I can see your teacher’s perspective. While TASP doesn’t always enforce the rules super strictly (they also have a rule against romance and yet there was a couple at my seminar that was sanctioned by the factotums), no alcohol is a biggie. If you feel very strongly about this essay, then I would be sure to work in something about being sure to never do it again, especially in a TASP-type location. However, I would advise against writing anything that can be construed as condoning something that’s against the Association’s rules. I know it might seem like curtailing a part of who you are, but I do feel that it would pay off in the long run (the only time when honesty might not be your absolute best policy, haha).
Is the application due the 22nd at 11:59 PM, or the 21st at 11:59 PM??
@Anonymousia It’s due on January 22 at 11:59 EST!
Hi, sorry to nag, but I actually was hoping for an answer.
On my application website, there are two applications showing up. What should I do? Is this happening to anyone else?
Am I the only person who thinks their Essay 3B is pretty bad? I honestly have no idea how to work with the prompt. I’ve tried to make the other three essays memorable in different ways, but my answer to the fourth prompt is pretty boring and straightforward.
Also, how long has everyone made their “list of favorite media” question? I have about twenty items and I’m unsure if that’s too much or too little.
@afewxtoomany What I did for 3B was try to draw a parallel between working through the hypothetical disaster and an interest of mine, which made it a little more interesting. Admittedly, it is a tough question to crack.
@5toryt3ll3r i hear that the application readers are college students (who are former TASPers). Is this true? Also, who are the interviewers?
@geemsi i did books, 3 movies, 2 artworks, animes, music artists, poems
@mullophone I only have one application showing up. There are these 3 dots on the upper right hand corner of the application and if you click on it it lets you delete an application. Make sure you don’t have any important information in there first though!
@memeqween101 So far no one from my cohort has been contacted to read applications, that’s for sure. I think they employ their own staff, but there could be truth to what you said! The interviewers are sometimes college students, but are often older, and they’re ex-TASPers who can range from the very young and relatable to the quite elderly and intimidating. I had two - one college student and one woman who attended TASP in the '70s, if memory serves - and they were both very kind.
@5toryt3ll3r For the most relevant activities short answer, how specific/prestigious do they need to be? Many of my volunteer experiences are very local to my area and I don’t want to appear disingenuous by putting something super obscure down.
not sure if this question has been answered already, but how are we supposed to cite sources? for our second essay
also my essay has facts that i got from other sources, and im not sure if i need to cite them or not, considering theyre specific but im paraphrasing the information. A works cited list would make me go over the word limit
@odyssey3102
Sorry that I’m not 5toryt3ll3r, but I don’t think they need to be specific or prestigious. If your volunteer experiences are local, that may actually add novelty to your application. Generally, application readers have open minds, and if they doubt something they can simply ask you about it in interviews and detect any bogus.
Sorry if I’m misunderstanding this, but is your essay critiquing free? @5toryt3ll3r