<p>Instead of starting a new thread for every question about the Yale application for last-minute applicants, why don't we just keep it all on one thread? </p>
<p>For the first question...
On the "elaborate on an activity" short answer, how many words is it acceptable to go over? It says 150 words or less, but by how much could you go over without drawing attention to the fact that you are "ignoring the guidelines?" I'm submitting on paper, so the limits of the little box online aren't of concern, but I'm curious as to how much I can go over on this essay.</p>
<p>I'm just wondering if 60 words is even noticeable. My dad looked at it and said that if it's less than 1/2 a page, it doesn't make a difference, because it's short. Then again, my dad doesn't speak English very well and doesn't even know where half of the schools I'm applying to are, so who knows how much help he is.</p>
<p>I absolutely hate that essay! Can someone tell me how to approach it? Should I go with a creative anecdote or just spit out random facts about the organization or activity. It's so open-ended.</p>
<p>I struggled with this essay a lot before I finally found something that I thought was unique. It seems like there are very few ECs that are "original," as in there are thousands of people who play ____ varsity sport or play ____ in the band/orchestra or do research on ____ or whatever. </p>
<p>Originally, I took "elaborating on an activity" to mean explaining it in more detail until I realized that most of my activities (varsity sport, Speech & Debate team, student government, etc.) were fairly straightforward. I chose to briefly discuss WHY one of my activities is important instead of WHAT the activity is. My short answer is a little funny, I think, and I never directly say "This activity is..." or "This activity is important because..." or anything remotely like that. If you are in band, don't waste time talking about what band, why you like music or why you like being a part of something. Those are all obvious things. Try to find something (ANYTHING!) completely unique about why you like your activity and develop that.</p>
<p>They don't want to be swamped with a lot of verbiage. Tightly written essays that are reasonably beyond the word limit are acceptable, if the excess words are needed to complete your story. Just avoid going on and on; you weaken your story if you do and people start getting really annoyed.</p>
<p>Quick question, both my common app and suppl. app essays are rather abstract. I'm not sure how great they are in comparison to others, but does Yale, as well as other ivies, prefer a certain type of writing?</p>
<p>And on another note, what do you guys think of essayedge.com. I personally don't know anybody who's used it but it's getting more and more tempting to try since I feel I have a fairly strong application except for my essays. All money aside, what do you think of sending your essays to be edited by an online company? (I'm ready to be flamed =X)</p>
<p>If you have hundreds of dollars to spare, go right ahead. Having your essay edited by an online company is as equal as having CC member editing it. Same quality of evaluations in my opinion.</p>
<p>I think that the more you allow somebody to edit your essay, the less it sounds like you. I think allowing people to read your essay is a good idea, but why pay for it when people on CC can probably provide equally valid/valuable opinions?</p>
<p>Yeah, I don't think I'm going to send it to any essay editing service. But on another note, I have to start a whole essay from scratch because my original just doesn't seem to cut it. =(</p>
<p>I think 560 is fine.
If it makes anybody feel any better, I am barely started on any of my Yale stuff. Or any of my stuff for any school, for that matter. Then again, I started my Stanford app on December 15th (the deadline) at around 4:30 (including essays) and managed to submit it with an hour to spare. So it's not really surprising that I am such a horrible horrible procrastinator.</p>
<p>Hey guys, what do you think of submitting something in the additional information box like another essay to elaborate on an interest that wasn't clear in the rest of the app to show character traits?</p>
<p>I don't know if I would submit another full-length essay in the Additional Information section. If it was short (and by short I mean less than 300 words), I MIGHT do it, but we have to remember that the admissions officers don't have a lot of time to read essays. I'm not sure if I would do this or not...since Yale allows 2 500 word essays, that's a lot of space to talk about yourself.</p>
<p>I am conflicted about this, though.
Does anybody know definitively?</p>