<p>Serious writer’s block on these essays. I keep locking myself in my room to do them but I just can’t. Need that perfect topic. Sometimes I love how complex these essays are, but at a basic level sooo hard.</p>
<p>Hey guys! This program has just been brought to my attention approximately two days ago and I’ve been reading past forums for hours while trying to decide whether or not to apply. I think I will because it seems like an amazing experience, but I don’t want to get too attached to it because there are such minimal changes of getting in </p>
<p>Question - for the bit about intellectual interest, did you just list them or put them into paragraph form?</p>
<p>@funnymetaphor
if you go on the TASP website there’s an explanation for each of the essays</p>
<p>I was wondering how to go about doing the book list, which is one of the essay questions. Is it just a list of your top like 10 books that you find important along with author? Or do I have to explain the importance of each to me? It seems hard to believe it’s literally just a list but I don’t want to do more work than necessary.</p>
<p>^I was also wondering this!</p>
<p>I did a list; no explanation</p>
<p>You just list the title and author, with no other explanation. I’ve heard of people including anywhere between 5-25, but I don’t think the number or genre matter.</p>
<p>Hey guys! I’m an international student considering applying to TASP, and I consider myself a fairly strong writer and have good marks… However, I’m not really an extracurricular superstar (i.e I have no major awards and few leadership positions)… This is partly because I’ve moved around a lot (this is my third highschool in three years). Do you think I have a chance regardless of my lack of awards or should I not bother applying?</p>
<p>I don’t have stellar awards either, but luckily those are hardly weighted in the decision process. ^-^ The most important things are your essays.</p>
<p>Hi everyone!
For the critical analysis essay, are we allowed to choose a movie?</p>
<p>@Jen1122, yep! you can choose pretty much anything that would allow you to complete the prompt.</p>
<p>@Jen1122:
What counts as an “other text” for the critical analysis essay?
In the first essay prompt, we ask you to critically discuss a book, poem, play, essay, or other text. You should feel free to take a broad interpretation of what counts as a “text” for this essay, including types of works you might not typically discuss in school. The text does not need to consist only of words, and it is possible to write a quality critical analysis essay on music, art, film, and photography, to name a few examples. It is important, whatever type of “text” you choose, that you are able to formulate an argument about the work and support that argument. Most people find that they are more comfortable and able to make stronger and better supported arguments when discussing more familiar types of works.</p>
<p>@pmmywest: We require you to submit essays which have not been submitted for another purpose. You are strongly encouraged to write entirely new essays for your application. This will help you answer the prompt more specifically and effectively, and provides a good opportunity to write about something you wouldn’t usually have a chance to write about. We discourage applicants from basing their essays on writing done for extracurricular activities or other scholarship competitions.</p>
<p>@ssddss: It is quite common for applicants not to have had prior in-school experience writing critical analysis essays like the one required for the first essay. If you are unsure how to approach this essay, you may find it valuable to discuss the prompt with a teacher from your school. As the prompt indicates, the most important thing for this essay is to have an argument and to support it. Thus, this essay may differ from book reports you have done in the past where the main goal is to summarize the plot or identify themes and literary devices. You may find yourself focusing on just a small part of the text, or just a few features of the author’s approach, in order to make your argument. There is no one way to write a good essay, and we encourage you to find an approach that works for you. (so, you should keep the tone more detached and objective - not personal - this is where you get to show your scholarly chops, not a place to be self revealing…)</p>
<p>@funnymetaphor: Should I explain my areas of intellectual interest? What should I include? The “intellectual interest” prompt in Part I asks only for a list, not for explanations.</p>
<p>@Lezzgo2231
Should the book list also explain why each book is significant?
No. You should list only the titles and authors (where applicable) of the books you consider most significant. You should be prepared, however, to explain their significance to your interviewer if you are selected for an interview.</p>
<p>How important would originality play in the critical analysis? I wrote an essay on subtle signs done by the author showing his true feelings towards a certain subject. I personally came up with all of the connections and commentary to prove my point. However, I got bored yesterday and googled the topics of my essay and somehow, someone had apparently said quite similiar things to mine many years ago. Am I being too much of a creativity hyperchondriac? I really thought I had actually been able to uncover something about my book that many people had probably looked past, but now I just like a cheat.</p>
<p>Do we have to put in-text citations/works cited page if we quote someone on our issue essay? My guess is no, but if someone could confirm that it would be great 
Also, how sophisticated does our critical analysis book have to be? Mine isn’t like necessarily something that would be taught in schools, but there’s still plenty of stuff for me to talk about. Do you think I’m fine?</p>
<p>misteryman, if it’s your original work, stick with it, and don’t worry about what you saw on the internet. This is one of the downsides of google. As long as you wrote the essay and wrote it specifically for TASP, you are absolutely fine. There’s no doubt that the rigorous interview process will uncover any intellectual dishonesty – I don’t mean to refer to you, rather to reassure you that it will be clear when your interviewers talk to you that your writing and ideas were original.
@yoloyng, “Do you prefer a particular citation format for the essays?
None of the prompts ask for research papers, so the main outside source you will need to cite is your text for the first essay. We recommend that you use a citation format with which you are comfortable. The most important factor for citations is that your reader should be able to easily locate your source material if necessary. If you are unsure whether your chosen format is appropriate, a teacher or school or community librarian should be able to advise you.”
That’s all TASP says re: citations so use your best judgment.
I’m sure your critical analysis is fine - if the ideas are interesting to you and the essay represents original work, it’s all good. Telluride values individuality and creativity, and they know you’re all high school juniors. They will be happier with your unique approach than a ‘sophisticated’ polemic.</p>
<p>The deadline to submit the online application is January 20th, right? Just want to make sure im not missing something important.</p>
<p>Yea ^^ monday from next, but it’s due this friday (17th) for those not sending it online.</p>
<p>Oh god that deadline is quickly approaching</p>
<p>January 20th, 11: 59 pm right?</p>
<p>for the education/career goals essay, is it alright to be pretty general? i haven’t specified any colleges or majors that i’m interested in, but i’m discussing my general areas of interest and why i’m interested in them.</p>