<p>yeah, true. Im kind of discouraged. oh well, I wish i had found out about this program sooner!</p>
<p>ummm, i thought the first two essays were supposed to be formal “intellectual” essays and now im worried that they should be more creative. is it okay if i saved my creative side for essays 3 and 4 or should i be really creative for all of the essays?</p>
<p>cagedbird93, you don’t have to be creative for all of the essays</p>
<p>When you are looking back on your essays, the one question that you should be able to answer “yes” to is: Do these essays show who I am? </p>
<p>With the the first and second essays especially, choose something you are passionate about. I know this sounds really cheesy but I’ve always believed a good writer can make even the mundane sound really interesting.</p>
<p>@miriel or any other former tasper, since im really into politics and such, i chose to write about thoughts on a current issue in the world. is that okay, or should i do something more general pertaining to my overall credo concerning politics? sorry im OCDing over this. =P</p>
<p>I think writing about a specific issue would be better than something more general. Just make sure that is issue is something you can discuss well during a potential interview. :)</p>
<p>I 'm worried because about the essay 5. I approached it a little like an essay. However, I worry that TASP- especially this year just wants a quick dash off -500 words max.
They stated:
5. Discuss the topics of the seminars, in the order of your preference for attending each, addressing the following: What attracts you to this seminar? What would you like to gain from this seminar topic? What concerns would you have if placed into this seminar? Please be succinct; we do not expect a formal essay.
Please indicate if there is any seminar you would definitely not want to attend, and explain why. Your answers to this question will help us to place you in an appropriate seminar if you are selected.</p>
<p>I’m nervous. I guess I’ll cut my reasons to 1 pg aand a half.</p>
<p>Also, another question. When the third essay asks me about a conflict I’ve faced- can it be something as simple as an internal conflict- fighting bullying
or joining a sports team? and then analyzing what I learned from this experience about others?</p>
<p>^I’m probably not the most qualified (I’m applying too haha) but I think an internal simple conflict is just fine. </p>
<p>I’m super happy because I just thought of a good idea for my conflict essay!! 
mine is a personal conflict, and its pretty simple, but its important to who I am today.</p>
<p>edit: everytime I check my post count, I’m on a double number, like 66 or 77. wow that is so weird.</p>
<p>nil desperandum, I just wrote a brief paragraph (definitely less than 500 words per paragraph) for each of the seminars. I don’t really think they want an essay for each of the seminars-that seems a bit too much.</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree with nith901. An internal conflict is fine. Remember, the subject doesn’t matter as much as what you do with the said subject.</p>
<p>Thanks miriel. My last answer has come to just 1 page and a little bit of flow-over for all the seminars.</p>
<p>I think most of us are doing personal conflicts, but I’m a little worried as to how much mine relates to the “TASPs are small educational communities that rely greatly on individual members’ maturity” bit. I kept trying to relate my essay back to the title, but that kind of failed, so I’m just going to come back to it in a little while.</p>
<p>
You probably got nominated by someone then.</p>
<p>I have 4 essays planned out but none written. I had good ideas for all of them but when I put them on paper they just weren’t as good and now I’m really discouraged. =/</p>
<p>dunbar, I feel the same way. My outlines have great ideas, bu I can’t seem to write them well enough. I think I’m just going to write them anyway, and hopefully that “spark” will help them improve when I re-write.</p>
<p>and I’m having trouble with the literary analysis. It is so difficult…I think I’m mostly focusing on plot elements as opposed to formal elements, I hope that’s not bad.</p>
<p>I feel you nith901- no matter what I do- I just feel like my essays aren’t good enough. I can’t even write the “what makes you tick” essay and the critical analysis or the community essay. After all, 1000 people are applying- why would they pick my essay to be the 80-100 who are accepted. What is so special about what I have to say? nothing. I keep imaging my application from their viewpoint. I imagine them looking down at my essays and thinking " So what?" “Why do I care?” I mean after 100 essayys- nothing is new under the sun. Everything said has already been said about abortion/the death penalty/every other topic.</p>
<p>That’s why you need to choose a topic other people aren’t writing about, or somehow have a different perspective that makes yours stand out.</p>
<p>Also, I’m confused about what people are referring to as the “what makes you tick” essay. Is there one I’m not seeing?</p>
<p>I agree with both nith and nil…
But I will still apply no matter what because the program is ABSOLUTELY amazing. I wish there were some other similar seminars but apparently there are none. Why the world is filled with so much math/science?
Just write, cross my fingers and hope for the best.</p>
<p>kameronsmith: It’s the topic of choice essay, about a problem you care about.</p>
<p>nil desperandum: Yeah, we all feel that way, but the fact that we’re all on here means we care enough to do something about it. The fact that we WANT to be TASPers at all makes us infinitely better than the majority of other people our age. So, chin up! And obviously you wouldn’t choose a topic like abortion or the death penalty. What’s something personal and unique to YOU? I’m writing mine about a pet peeve, to put it simply. Write about something you’ll enjoy writing about, and don’t think so much about the readers. You can’t know what they’ll think. You never know, you might be the one they say, “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!” to.</p>
<p>
Indeed! This seems to be the only prestigious humanities program out there… and there also aren’t any humanities contests/awards.</p>
<p>Bleh, that was a lot of 'about’s in my last post.</p>
<p>happysunnyshine: EXACTLY! There are tons of super-prestigious research/math/science/whatever programs, but nothing else like TASP. I’m so grateful it exists at all. :D</p>
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<p>uh oh. haha mine is about a pretty common and controversial topic. But I do really care about it…so I think I’ll stick to it.</p>