<p>What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised or unsettled or challenged you, and in what way?</p>
<p>Do you think it has to be a specific work, like Theorem 104 (I just made that up), or can it be general, like the study of calculus?</p>
<p>If I am looking in the business/commerce field, would it look bad to write about art or lit?</p>
<p>Write whatever is true to you. Don't write what you think the adcoms want to hear, as they can see right through that. Use the essay to show who you are and how you think. So if calculus in general challenged you, then use that. If it's something more specific, or in art or lit, use those.</p>
<p>yep with shoe on this one.</p>
<p>Just follow your heart (your intuition, its easy to... ok I'll stop)</p>
<p>They wont care if what your writing about completely is the same as what you want to study, they care that they get to see you, and not what you think they want to see. If you write what you think they want to see, that qualifies you for instant rejection.</p>
<p>I do not look forward to essays where the answer to that question is an entire subject. To be frank, an essay about how calculus challenged a student usually puts me to sleep. We see plenty of essay about this, as calculus is a challenge for many students. </p>
<p>Try to be creative...go beyond the obvious.</p>
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Try to be creative...go beyond the obvious.
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</p>
<p>She hit it right on the head. Don't answer the question to directly...use your imagination and heart to answer it, but take it on your own "adventure".</p>
<p>Try not to think about what would "please" the committee. Something anecdotal or anything else to that effect is advisable.</p>
<p>I wrote about how the song "In A Gadda Da Vida" was unsettling to me lol.</p>
<p>yeah, I think the admissions counselors are going to have to admit me after they read mine. I won't reveal the topic, but it's so outside the ordinary they're going to wonder what planet I'm from, then smile and press the "admit" button.</p>
<p>Yeah, right. But pretty much what everyone else said. I started out thinking mine was really stupid, but it's ended up being my favorite essay so far. I think I'm going to use it for some other schools as well, in fact. Just run with it...</p>
<p>I'm pre-Commerce and I wrote about The Beatles' Blackbird as the first song I tried to learn on guitar.</p>
<p>vc08, you're from CA too! :) It's going to be tougher for you; which hs do you attend?</p>
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I'm pre-Commerce and I wrote about The Beatles' Blackbird as the first song I tried to learn on guitar.
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I don't know if I read your application, but if I came across an essay with that topic, I'd probably find it refreshing.</p>
<p>There are many, many students who try to tell us that the work that unsettled them was some pop or rap song. You wouldn't believe the number of essays I've read about Tu Pac.</p>
<p>I really loved UVA's essay questions from last year. They were the best out of all the applications I completed and I think they really allowed for a lot of creativity.</p>
<p>No matter how average you think you are, there IS something unusual about you. Write about it!</p>
<p>"It's going to be tougher for you; which hs do you attend?"</p>
<p>-um, I can guarantee you've never heard of it, it's this little school in the middle of nowhere really, though technically it's within San Diego County. Though it did provide me with some interesting perspectives for my essay. Where are you from?</p>
<p>I have relatives down in San Francisco and I actually lived there for quite a while. NorCal rules by the way! haha. I have a friend from San Diego who went to Poway High. Where exactly do you live?</p>
<p>Kind of outside Escondido. I've played a lot of sports at Poway though. Haha, SoCal is sooo much better. We have Disneyland, Hollywood, Sea World, the SD Zoo, and all that good stuff. Oh yeah, and we don't say 'hella'. That's so annoying. I don't even get it.</p>
<p>That's hella unbelievable! Well NorCal doesn't have conservative rednecks that populate San Diego, so we're safer off that way. :p Are you applying to UVA this fall?</p>
<p>haha, yeah my town is wayy conservative.And then there's my brother who goes to Cal. So I'm sure you can see where this conversation is headed....but yes, I am going to apply to UVA. You're a student there, I'm assuming?</p>
<p>Is it better to write about light music? or one literature work, will there be too many people writing about a novel? thankyou very much~</p>
<p>you can’t ask this question. no one can answer it except for you. if a novel is what challenges or inspires you, then write about it. if it’s music, then write about that.</p>
<p>Does the subject you write about have to be the one you plan to study?
For example, if I were to study something in the sciences, would I still be able to write about something in the arts?</p>