<p>My mom thought (and still thinks) they're really weird, in a "Gee, I wish you wouldn't talk about things like that" sort of way. So I get it.</p>
<p>(She wouldn't be happy at Chicago, either).</p>
<p>Ummm... I don't "get" prompt #1. Seriously. Am I missing something? What the heck does that quote mean?</p>
<p>I think these questions are a bit pretentious. >>I'm really happy that Chicago has essays like these, because the fact that they are there helps weed out students who probably wouldn't like to be here anyway.<< Guess I can consider myself weeded out! lol</p>
<p>The first one could mean almost anything- that's the beauty of it.</p>
<p>For others, it inspires terror. :)</p>
<p>My son didn't want to go to Chicago, but one year the prompt was if you could be an equation what would you be and why. My son thought of a good answer right away. You never know, but I think it was easier than trying to come up with something personal in a more traditional way.</p>
<p>And I think that's the problem with these cute, pompous questions (and the invite cute, pompous answers). It doesn't require that students come up with anything personal, or meaningful to them or to share what they feel is most important for the school to know. The Common Ap actually provides such an opportunity</p>
<p>It doesn't require it by the nature of the question, but I'll bet you the school is still looking for that. Just because something's not asked for directly doesn't mean its not being sought. My guess is the vast majority of those admitted provide just that with their response. And something being personal doesn't necesarily have to take the form of "Mr. Randly changed my life" or "The time I helped <blank group=""> meant so much to me". A discussion about one's personal philosophy (live the question), an examination of how their bi-cultural household has made them who they are ("smashing question"), or an examination of their family life, compared to the state of the nation, then compared to their own internal turmoil as a teen ("zoom in zoom out"). </blank></p>
<p>And those are just the obvious tangents.</p>
<p>When S1 wrote his Chicago essay concerning teleporting an astronaut from Mars to Earth where the original was destroyed, I was pleasantly surprised (well, slightly shocked would be more like it) by how well he handled and communicated complex ideas. Chicago claims the prompts are designed to see how applicants handle ideas, perhaps they are serious about that. Is there something personal expressed when responding to these prompts that is not expressed by the direct "tell us about yourself" type prompt? for S1, there definitely was, but perhaps this is not the general case.</p>
<p>but idad- didn't they learn quite a bit more about your son by his choice of answer than they would've if he'd set out to present himself to them as the ideal candidate talking about his puppy?</p>
<p>I googled.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day. </p>
<p>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Seems sort of like a Hallmark Card.</p>
<p>In our family's experience, I couldn't disagree more with mini's thought that "cute, pompous" answers to Chicago's "cute, pompous" questions don't result in anything personal or meaningful. My D's Chicago essay from a couple of years ago was much more alive and revealing of how she thought than anything else she wrote for college apps.</p>
<p>Option 2 reminds me of Horton Hears a Who.</p>
<p>S's Chicago essays said more about him that his Common App ones did. No question.</p>
<p>I'm a current applicant, and I love chicago's essay prompts. I've written an essay from prompt #1, and I was inspired to create a prompt for my common app because of the zoom-in, zoom-out prompt. </p>
<p>Every other supplemental essay i've looked at has only been a "Why _______ University?" prompt... and that's just boring to write about. i see why it's necessary, and I think i've done a good job with most of them, but it would be nice to have a fun prompt from some of the other schools.</p>
<p>as far as my essay being "cute" or "pompous," I really disagree. My essay was very sincere and not cutesy at all, but it let me show my thought process in a better way than any other essay.</p>
<p>I'm not Chicago material either.... I could handle the one about describing a street, but the others would certainly strike terror in my heart.</p>
<p>As an admin officer, I bet these essays are MUCH more interesting and revealing than the "typical" college essay, though!</p>