<p>
In other words, they are just as ridiculous a way to judge an applicant as is the Common App essay. I’ve always hoped that essays are just window dressing to convince applicants that they are being judged holistically, because it’s absurd to evaluate students based on material that could have been suggested, edited, or entirely written by a third party.</p>
<p>AHHH…</p>
<p>Absolute creativity?</p>
<p>Write in a generic way that somehow relates to the prompts strongly.</p>
<p>When I saw the title of this thread, I thought of Kalamazoo’s supplemental prompt for this year. It was this:
Filling out college applications is time consuming and requires a lot of thought. Let’s go back to a time when learning was a pure joy. Please tell us your favorite childhood book and why.</p>
<p>My son had fun writing that one.</p>
<p>UChicago
“Compare and contrast Plato and Play-Doh™”</p>
<p>The prompt attributed to UVa hasn’t been on our application in the 8 years I’ve been here.</p>
<p>I have to say, as someone still in the process of applying, I infinitely prefer these crazy prompts to the generic ones. The absolute worst essay to write is the “Why do you want to go here?” one. Those essays are almost entirely made up and lies,</p>
<p>true… especially american universities… i was laughing at some of the questions in common application…</p>
<p>that’s funny but retrospective…</p>
<p>Not directly related, but I’m interviewing right now for gap-year programs and one program director asked me the immortal “if you were a tree what tree would you be.” Among the people who apply to these programs that question is kind of an urban legend, and luckily I had advanced notice for that one or I’d have either burst out laughing or just sat there with my mouth hanging open in a most unladylike fashion.</p>
<p>Off beat questions are also used to determine your thought process. Particularly during a live interview, they can see how you think and approach things rather then restating ‘canned’ answers to standard questions. This also shows if you were perhaps excessively coached to answer questions the ‘right’ way.</p>
<p>Personally, I prefer those universities with quirky essay questions, but it’s hard to write… Actually, I don’t know why some schools ask us to write “why do you choose XXX university?”</p>
<p>^Yeah, I hate the typical ones, like “Please tell us about an experience that changed you.”</p>
<p>I’ve found the worst essays my kids have written are the ‘Why school X’. Not because they weren’t familiar with the school and didn’t have specific reasons unique to them but because it’s an awkward essay to write in the word limit. It doesn’t flow well for anyone. You are rarely revealing much about yourself. The ones they’ve done best are similar to ones posted. Creative, open ended, allow for interpretation and individual thought.</p>
<p>Interview questions that aren’t basic, biographic information are often behavioral interviews and can throw you off the first time. This can take practice to do well. They absolutely are trying to find out how you think, are you are leader or follower, how do you handle the unknown and stress. It’s just as much about how you react, your demeanor, as what you say.</p>
<p>A truly competent writer can make any prompt work beautifully, including the trite and boring ones. Making those work is where creativity and subtlety come into play. The quirky --read utterly stupid – prompts are merely crutches for the pseudo-intellectuals and the poor writers who need all the help they can get. </p>
<p>And, fwiw, answering the quirky and off-the-wall essays are the easiest to write. Hardly the creative work some love to pretend is required. Little wonder they appeal to teenagers.</p>
<p>I think that there’s nothing wrong with weird prompts. As an engineering student with not much writing chops, it helps me get creative! Also, it makes me excited about the schools- instead of slaving over am application, I have fun (to some extent).</p>
<p>Just saw Santa Clara University’s prompt “Tell us about the most embarrassing moment of your life.” Not even sure how I’d answer that, haha</p>
<p>Although I do like some of the prompts, I agree with halyconheather, in that it’s much easier to be out-of-the-box when presented your standard “describe an extracurricular,” “talk about something you’re interested in” prompts.</p>
<p>I think the “Why X school?” questions are there to separate those who really want to go to the school and have familiarity with it and would embrace its culture, from those who are just applying to apply.</p>
<p>I actually do enjoy writing those unusual prompt, since they allow you to show more of your personal opinion and uniqueness.</p>
<p>Elon has what they call “Think Fast questions” - four, I believe - which must be answered in no more than two sentences. The questions are fun (such as “In the year 2030 your name and picture appear in the news, what is the headline?”) and it’s certainly a creative way to ensure applicants stay on topic.</p>