<p>"While Tufts and the University of Chicago may be the two schools most well known for their unorthodox essays, many colleges have slipped in quirky questions to shake up potential applicants. Topics have ranged from autobiographical to flat out insane, but all the prompts in theory should tell a school something about yourself." ...</p>
<p>Most</a> Ridiculous College Questions - Business Insider</p>
<p>School admission committees with too much time on their hands… or too jaded by tell us what you want to do in life.</p>
<p>UNC Chapel Hill has some fun ones, I did “Why do you do what you do?”</p>
<p>I wonder if I’m adopted and my real parents are UChicago adcom’s…these questions sound just like me.</p>
<p>Then again, what more could bizarre essay prompts accomplish compared to asking for, and scrutinizing extracurricular lists? Or even asking for more ordinary essay prompts?</p>
<p>I really really like these – especially UVa, Brandeis, ND, and Kalamazoo’s. Makes me want to apply to college all over again.</p>
<p>Lehigh’s were a bit odd- one referenced to “The Big Bang Theory” and another one asked you to describe what you would tweet about the university.</p>
<p>DS is applying to Wake Forest in part because of their relatively quirky essays. One asks for the applicant’s Top Ten List (no other guidance given) and to describe themselves as fully and accurately as possible within the 140-character limit of a tweet.</p>
<p>^ I like that idea. It certainly cuts down the work for the committee and should show how much thought went into the response.</p>
<p>Guess I should be an adcon. i thought these were cool. They give a kid a chance to express originality and are way better than goals in 5 years. yawn. i am hoping the kids can choose one bizarrre question above other bizarre ones in case they are stumped by mustard size. if they can pick, i see no problem with these questions.</p>
<p>I guess these questions stimulate creativity.</p>
<p>Perhaps it is more accurate to say that they simulate creativity.</p>
<p>My younger son (sophomore at Wake Forest) actually preferred the applications with the quirky essays. He loves to write and felt like he could paint a better picture of himself through his answers than just the basic Common App essays, lists of ECs, etc. </p>
<p>Another positive - he is convinced that the quirky and time-consuming application makes for an interesting and witty student body 
If nothing else, it certainly shows a level of interest. Not many kids are going to slug through some of those applications on a whim!</p>
<p>I’m not sure how I feel about these prompts. I always felt like I wasn’t droll/wry/witty/sarcastic/subtle/funny/cultured enough to write good essays for them. In a way, it’s easier to be creative with a boring prompt because you can predict how other people will answer it and then do something different.
Michigan has some [weird</a> prompts](<a href=“http://www.lsa.umich.edu/honors/prospectivestudents/applying]weird”>http://www.lsa.umich.edu/honors/prospectivestudents/applying) for their honors program.</p>
<p>I would worry that the prompts allow for answers more tenuously connected to the particular applicant, for answers that are just clever in general, making it even more likely that the applicant seek and receive substantial help from older siblings, friends, parents, and well-educated adults the applicant knows (not to mention paid consultants for the well-to-do applicant).</p>
<p>I love these topics. For a lot of people applying to colleges (including myself), it’s easier to write a funny or quirky essay about their lives instead of one that’s serious and contemplative. My favourite has got to be the one for UPenn. That sounds like it would be fun to write.</p>
<p>Taken individually, these are pretty cool, and challenging - gives applicants a chance to “strut their stuff”, so to speak - I’ll bet these prompts turn up some fabulous responses.</p>
<p>But if I happened to be applying to all 15 of those colleges, I’d be exhausted just thinking about answering all of them - if college #10 on my personal lists asked some of these questions, I’d probably put drop them from my application list …</p>
<p>I don’t think they’re ridiculous at all. I especially love Amherst’s prompt, but if I had some time, I’d definitely attempt to write all of them. Then again, I want to be a Screenwriting major…</p>
<p>I absolutely love these prompts. I had to write a quirky essay this year and it was by far my favorite essay. These questions are fun to answer and challenging at the same time; besides, they stimulate creativity and originality. Ahhh I just love these so much</p>
<p>As a girl applying to wake forest, university of chicago, and tufts (schools mentioned in this very thread for having unique essay prompts), I can say i thoroughly enjoyed their quirky essay topics. It’s actually one of the things that solidified my attraction to the respective schools. By a university offering more unusual essay prompts, it tells a lot about what the admission committee might be looking for, and what the overall student body might be like. As a creative soul, these questions allowed me to really explore essays options and be more confident when pressing the dreaded “submit” button.</p>