<p>How big a factor is the essay in college admissions?</p>
<p>Is it a big deciding factor, or is it not seen as important as things like sat scores.</p>
<p>Hey ,can write about my trip to Israel where I was impressed by their courage,determination and patriotism?
I will also be writing about how despite their conflicts,the Palestinians and Israeli doctors were working together to save their patients lives in a hospital in Jerusalem</p>
<p>Hello i am new here, this thread seems helpful but i am still in a dilemma. I will be applying for Maths undergrad to a couple of unis on the Common Application, which has this topic something like: 'Describe the person who has influenced you & how...'. I was wondering if i could write on a Guitar virtuoso; Steve Vai. He's revolutionized my Guitar playing technique, i think i have adopted some, if not all of his style. His guitar is his voice, and what he does on it is precisely want he wants it to do. Other than the musical influence i appreciate things like these:</p>
<p>Vai helps the unpriveliged who cant learn music, thru his non-profit organistion , i do the same at school, help students with maths/mechanics prolems. </p>
<p>Vais brilliance at playing with the worlds TOP guitarists each year at the G3 tour, is influential in a way that i dont indulge myself in negative competition, i am compelled to reach one aim the and i tend work with others collectively.</p>
<p>......I have a bag full of points like these, but is this wise?, i dont even know if i am on the right track, the GD cant seem to help either....so please shed some light, give me ideas on how to approach this particular topic.</p>
<p>-Choting</p>
<p>Sounds like a great idea. It will stand out and you are passionate about the topic.</p>
<p>Akashbansal:</p>
<p>Remember the essay has to highlight YOUR qualities, not those of others.</p>
<p>Choting: Sounds like a great essay topic. Your passion already shines through this bried synopsis. Make sure that other parts of your application highlight your interest in maths. My S is also applying to study math. His main essay has nothing to do with his intended major.</p>
<p>Xiggi wrote that it is not good to explain bad grades in our essay.. but what if I have bad grades in my sophomore year but I already move to another school? Is it alright to do that since there is no one that is going to explain it in my application?</p>
<p>I decided to take the risk of using an essay topic on politics. I discussed my disappointment in recent US foreign relations, but in a pretty sarcastic way. Many people, including my English teacher, told me that it was an insightful, creative essay that showed I was willing to take risks in writing; however, I am still concerned that admissions officers will find my essay to cynical or too different from their own opinions. What is your opinion about this, and what kind of effect do you think it will have on admissions decisions?</p>
<p>Ledyana:</p>
<p>Do not use your essay to explain bad grades, Your essay is meant to define you, and you do not want to be defined by bad grades. Is there a section that ask you if there is anything else you want to tell the adcom? That would be the place to do so.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Risky Essay
I decided to take the risk of using an essay topic on politics. I discussed my disappointment in recent US foreign relations, but in a pretty sarcastic way. Many people, including my English teacher, told me that it was an insightful, creative essay that showed I was willing to take risks in writing; however, I am still concerned that admissions officers will find my essay to cynical or too different from their own opinions. What is your opinion about this, and what kind of effect do you think it will have on admissions decisions?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>XCsweetie, I believe that you know the answer. Let's look at what you write about your essay:</p>
<ol>
<li>Risky essay</li>
<li>Topic is politics</li>
<li>Tone is sarcastic</li>
<li>Reviewer is English teacher</li>
<li>Shows you are willing to take risks in writing</li>
<li>Danger to be considered too cynical</li>
</ol>
<p>My opinion is that the risk is too great. Most people with knowledge of college application essays tend to agree that adcoms won't be blown away by the political insight of an 18 year old. The subject itself does not lend itself to much introspection and you will give up a great opportunity to talk about yourself. Then, you have the issue of the cynical or sarcastic tone ... this a very tall order for a high schooler to pull off with success. You may have read reports of a student who submitted a very good parody of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground for his main essay. The attempt at self-deprecating humor fell on deaf ears, and an otherwise brilliant student was simply rejected. Do not expect the adcoms to be literary experts or especially adept at recognizing humor, sarcasm or veiled cynicism. </p>
<p>I am not advocating to avoid risks at all cost and end up with a sanitized or safe essay. If you write about personal experiences, your essay should be quite lively and unique.</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments. Do you think my use of this essay will have a tragic affect on the admissions decisions?</p>
<p>I'm a little confused on Encomium's suggestion to "cut down on Latin-based vocabulary". While I realize that oftentimes strange SAT words are out of place in an essay, it's somewhat difficult for a student who's studied Latin for a number of years to avoid what I guess may seem like "thesaurus words". Is it a problem to use Latinate words if those words are part of a student's natural vocabulary?</p>
<p>It's okay if Latinate words are part of your regular vocabulary, but make sure you do not sound pompous. Look at what happened to Kerry: he lost.</p>
<p>LOL !!!
Hey i have to write an essay on a potential student that i would like to meet in college or have as a room-ate? I don't know how to even start this sort of essay....Any suggestions ???</p>
<p>My son asked for absolutely no advice with his essay and as a result it contained a misspelling and a few grammatical errors. These boo boo's were apparently not "fatal" because he was accepted everywhere he applied but he did not apply to any reach colleges, Oberlin and Case being the most selective colleges he applied to. If he had, the essay probably would have been the kiss of death. </p>
<p>However his topic seemed to be unique, being about his slightly askew teeth and the reasons why he had resisted orthodenture(?)-the perfect picket fence around the Cleeveresque house, in the Updikean suburb being one metaphor included in the essay. The Allegheny College adcom reviewer got a charge out of it, attaching a note to his acceptance letter. As noted above, I guess he was letting them into his quirky world. Ahem, and he does have a modified mohawk so you kinda get the picture.</p>
<p>Originaloog:</p>
<p>Had I been an adcom, I would have loved that essay, misspelling and grammatical errors notwithstanding. It shows a sense of humor, a streak of non-conformity and a well-read mind. What else should colleges want?</p>
<p>elizabeth22-
words based on latin tend to be of a "higher order" and are more suited for academic writing than personal essays. (of course, there's no way to avoid them, just avoid the higher ones that sound pompous)</p>
<p>This is not a new tip. I took it from Elements of Style, haha:</p>
<p>"Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when when there is a ten-center hand, ready and able. Anglo-Saxon is a livelier tongue than Latin, so use Anglo-Saxon words. In this, as in so many matters pertaining to style, one's ear must be one's guide: gut is a lustier word than intestine, but the two words are not interchangeable, because gut is often inappropriate, being too coarse for the context. Never call a stomach a tummy without good reason.
If you admire fancy words, if every sky is beauteous, every blonde curvaceous, every intelligent child precocious, if you are tickled by discombobulate, you will have a bad time with Reminder 14. What is wrong, you ask, with beauteous? No one knows, for sure. There is nothing wrong, really, with any word-all are good, but some are better than others. A mater of ear, a matter of reading the books that sharpen the ear."</p>
<p>and elizabeth, I'm a latin student too, and I want to major in classics, but there's a time and a place for the words :)</p>
<p>Elizabeth,
I had a discussion with my son concerning your very question. It is a shame that you almost feel compelled to avoid your natural way to express yourself.
I believe that the growing reliance on professional editing is not helping, so that those students who are comprising their own essays (and do so by accessing whatever they had learned) automatically become suspect of having received too much help.</p>
<p>I would give you the exact same advice I ultimately gave my son:
Write from your heart, and express yourself in whichever way you are most comfortable to get your point across. If your style happens to include Latin derivatives, then so be it. The adcoms should be able to verify whether your style and level of insight conforms to the level they should expect from you on basis of your stats/ other records.
The English language (almost unlike any other) offers such a colorful way to express oneself using common/ simple terminology. Sticking to plain terminology is often also most effective, as this steers one's focus to the meaning (as opposed to being distracted from the intended meaning by attention-getting big words). However, sometimes the first expression coming to one's mind when trying to express something, is also the most accurately descriptive one. Why change it, and make it something less fitting, .... just to avoid being "suspect."</p>
<p>An example is "contra-intuitive." If there is an all English word (Anglo-Saxon derivative)to express the very same, ... then at least I do not know it.
I personally feel that the key is to use good judgment when resorting to uncommon terminology. It should be perfectly fine, as long as it is used appropriately (not in a clear effort to impress), and is apparently consistent with what one would expect from the student otherwise.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Marite, our son is not that well read. However he was fortunate enough to take his first and only honors literature course called 20th Century American Literature-Trilogies and More his senior year. The course was developed by the head of the English Department who labored to get it into the curriculum.</p>
<p>They read four novel series starting with Updike's Rabbit tetrology, with Rabbit Run assigned as summer reading. The remaining three grading periods they read John Dos Passos's USA trilogy, Peter Mattiessen's Watson trilogy and Cormac McCarthy's Border trilogy. It was by far the most reading he ever did and he got frustrated at times. But he thought the discipline of reading 30-50 pages a nite was a good for him. </p>
<p>This summer he read I Robot, Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun for the halibut. Something he had never done before. He said that it was fun prep for his Minds and Machines/AI major at RPI.</p>
<p>Originaloog:</p>
<p>Your son was fortunate indeed to have taken a course whose reading list was not the standard one, and that he was able to make use of what he'd been reading in his essay. It shows that he paid attention to his reading. I love the way he refers to teeth as the equivalent of white picket fences. We've got such a fence around our house--but my kids still got braces. :)</p>
<p>don't use essayedge.com..................it realllly sucks</p>