<p>The prompt for Essay B on applytexas is as follows:</p>
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Choose an issue of importance to you—the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope—and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.
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<p>I want to talk about petroleum engineering, because I want to get scholarships from that department.</p>
<p>I just don't know how to go about that essay question. I tried, and I had to bring in all these things (i.e. the oil is running out, environmental claims that oil was causing global warming) because I have to refute those anti-petroleum claims. It all sounds very weird and convoluted. I tried to talk about how oil is important to our economy, but that it distorts our foreign policy, which should be based on democratic grounds. I tried to point out that through the ingenuity of petroleum engineers, America could maybe become a little more self-sufficient, so that it could have a cleaner foreign policy. I really don't like to get into politics and patriotism in a college essay.</p>
<p>I'm really stuck. I have no idea how to approach this. You are not prompted for why you want to major in a field anywhere in the application. What should I do?</p>
<p>It’s so hard b/c we have to take an unorthodox stance. It’s hard to be green. And then you don’t want to start talking about the economy or foreign policy. Adcoms could have different opinions. Talking about the economy and foreign policy is just too complex and others could say that you don’t really have much knowledge if you say something incorrect. Damn, I’ve wasted so much time on this.</p>
<p>My son got a departmental scholarship. His app did not discuss anything related to PetE because he applied to a different department. But when he switched his major to PetE, he was offered the scholarship. Also, once you are accepted, you can apply for the Nelson Scholarship for PetE, and on that app you will have opportunities to discuss your interest and goals in the field. Luckily, PetE is one of the few departments that has generous scholarships for freshmen. Good luck.</p>
<p>^ For that prompt, should I even discuss anything related to petE? On Applytexas they don’t specifically prompt you for an essay related to your major. I’m just wondering if I should talk about it for Essay B. Is it good idea? I mean supporting petE is somewhat of an unorthodox stance given issues related to foreign policy, the economy, and the environment. For some of those issues I feel that I lack the knowledge to write a good essay. I feel that it is very difficult to write about petroleum engineering, and impress both the adcoms and the dept.</p>
<p>Should all my essays be about my personal life?</p>
<p>I would not talk about my major in this prompt if it were me. There are ways you could do it, but like you said it will feel a bit unorthodox depending on how you approach it. I would use this essay to give admissions a different look at who you are beyond your specific future interests. Find an issue that you are truly passionate about and just write. If it feels right, then you know you wrote a good essay. Good Luck!</p>
<p>I agree with aggieengineer on this one. While we both would like to impress adcoms and the petroleum department, i feel the risk of possibly stepping on someones feet out weighs the benefits. I’m going to play it safe here and pick an orthodox issue where i will have nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>^ yea, me2. Sucking up to the petE dept. is hard and risky. it easily gets very convoluted and esoteric. And it’s wise not to talk about a topic you don’t know too much about (to the extent that you are just googling your way through) to write a comprehensive essay. it’s not a good idea, especially considering how unorthodox you might sound (belittling global warming or saying that it can be easily dealt with).</p>
<p>too bad i wrote a three page (the maximum cutoff is 120 80 char lines) essay before realizing that it just won’t work out.</p>
<p>thanks again aGGieENGiNeeR. I know the capitalized letters to your username now, lol.</p>