<p>I've heard that writing something different and originals is important nowadays, but it also seems very risky to me. I'd like to get a sense of what people wrote about in their Stanford apps and whether they were accepted or not. </p>
<p>So, what did you write about?</p>
<p>i haven't heard back from rd yet but i tried to pull the 'unique' thing...i tried to play the "skater with a 2400" card in my long essay...i submitted a pic of myself skating and described it...i guess mine is risky in that the pic is of me doing a fairly dangerous trick while wearing no safety equipment...but then again stanford is known to be liberal</p>
<p>I was accepted EA.</p>
<p>Long essay was about my experiences working in a lab there over last summer (essay was written as a series of three journal entries).
Activity essay was about some summer science clubs for kids my friend and I planned and directed.
Intellectual essay was about cadaver examination, as it related to the brain.
Roommate essay was a somewhat humorous look at my homeschooling experiences.</p>
<p>i was accepted ea.</p>
<p>long essay was about my passion for writing and how that affects the way i see the world.
activity essay was about having a play that i wrote produced.
intellectual essay was about the beat generation (specificially ginsberg).
roommate essay was about how i secretly read trashy romance novels and harry potter.</p>
<p>i think it depends alot on how well you pull off what you're writing about. some people can really make 'unique' essays work because they're really honest, and others sound contrived. similarly, the usual "i love drama/tennis/writing for the newspaper" essays can be boring and generic, but some people can write really interesting things and show how passionate they are. </p>
<p>if you want to see accepted essays there's a thread on the regular stanford board where people volunteered to pm their essays.</p>
<p>I was accepted EA.</p>
<p>Long essay was about passion in general, how I have a tendency to pick up interests then thoroughly research them on my own
Activity essay was about Junior State of America (a political debate organization)
Intellectual essay was about the mind-body problem
Roommate essay was about living in London for 4 months</p>
<p>I didn't really think my essays were great, but I do know that I had great recommendations, and that there was a decent amount of interplay between my recommendations and my personal essays. I think it's about making sure they can see who you are, since, at least at Stanford, no one is going to have an opportunity to meet and talk to you.</p>
<p>Thanks for replying.</p>
<p>Also, what do you think about the choice between different, risky essays and safer, more common essays? </p>
<p>My real weakness (as I understand it) is that everything I've excelled at is what other people use for cliched essays. So if I write and submit a very true, heartfelt essay about how others saw leadership qualities that I didn't see in myself, elected me as a club president (2 separate clubs), and then I grew into the position and learned about what it meant to be a leader, the essays will seem hackneyed regardless. But I worry that I'm not being true to my experience if I try to make up a less common essay... I could do it, but it would not be as natural.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>equilibrium was a great movie</p>
<p>christian bale is a beast</p>
<p>u should have written about christian bale in equilibrium</p>
<p>Accepted EA</p>
<p>Long essay (photo): trip to World Youth Day in Germany
EC Essay - track (how much it sucked, yet why I still liked it)
Idea Essay - music and its connection to writing and visual art
Roomate - Philippines vs. Maryland. "You know what you don't see enough in Maryland? Guys walking down the street whipping themselves."</p>
<p>juzam...totally there with you...beast, definitely</p>
<p>i think generally, ALWAYS pick the riskque essay! they understand you have guts and they respect you for that</p>
<p>Accepted EA also!!
Long essay: "Why do i keep hitting myself with a hammer? because it feels so good when i stop." - about humyn disposition and nuclear proliferation, etc. very peace orientate and liberal
Roomate: about my first kiss - with freedom at this political rally that changed my life
others: wrote about my period and how it makes me a better person, the power of noncomformity, hospital volunteering, and lots of angry ranting at 3AM on 10/30</p>
<p>don't go out of your way to be "unique" becauseyou will fail, but just be emotional and angry or whatever works for you and channel your chakras into that monitor and blow it away.</p>
<p>Wow, purplerain666, very risque indeed. Kudos for having such...metaphorical...balls. :-D</p>
<p>purplerain...you are too cool---> i've been meaning to say that for quite some time now. I look forward to being in your class next year, really.</p>
<p>Tetragrammaton:</p>
<p>I think that any topic can make for a great essay, and any topic can make for a poor essay. </p>
<p>It is not the topic, it is what you do with the topic.</p>
<p>A topic that is hackneyed in some one else's hands could be unusually enlightening in yours. In that event, your essay looks all the better for having been written in a well-plowed field. On the other hand, a topic that is virtually unique to you could yield a cliched essay.</p>
<p>If you write in a personal and specific manner about something meaningful to you, the chances are you are on the right track.</p>
<p>Also, IMO look at:</p>
<p>P.S. One of the most interesting and enlightening essays that I read this fall (and I read about 100) was about someone's experiences as a club president.</p>
<p>The McEssay..........hehe I like that article. So many of my friend's essays I've read qualify.</p>
<p>"roommate essay was about how i secretly read trashy romance novels and harry potter"</p>
<p>that is so awesome! Wow! Now I'm less embarrassed to say that I do the same thing...harry potter fanfiction and trashy romance original fiction at fictionpress.net. It's so bad for me. But...</p>
<p>"I wish I knew how to quit [it]." :)</p>
<p>my long essay was about a picture i drew on the plane when I flew to Taiwan alone when I was 6.</p>
<p>my room mate essay was a long collective list of why life is gonna suck living with me. (The kicker? I use reverse psychology)</p>
<p>my other short essay was the night I boogied on down with senior citizens.</p>
<p>GO FOR THE RISKY ESSAYS! You'll stand out more in their head and u'll seem more human. when you write, get yourself into a euphoria and go nuts. seriously.</p>
<p>I think I wrote about some unconventional experiences in a conventional way. Not too much I did was that risky...</p>
<p>My long essay was about adopting my sister from China and how that has led to my involvement in a bunch of fundraising activities. It focused more on the perspectives gleaned from the experiences.</p>
<p>Most important activity - discussed fundraising endeavors some more</p>
<p>Intellectual interests - talked about how my bizarre abilities with mental math (I can do weird things like double 15 digit numbers) led to a unique perspective in how I see the world.</p>
<p>Roommate - talked about my passion for Cross Country & Track even though I'm not much of an athlete; applied it to my other efforts as well.</p>
<p>I got in SCEA for class of '09 </p>
<p>My long essay was a typical conversation with my friends at lunch, lots of bad, nerdy puns and stuff, somehow I think it really gets at who I am. I liked it. </p>
<p>My activity essay was about how my experience with debate/public speaking has made me a better scientist. I also really liked that one. </p>
<p>My intellectual interests essay was about perceptual learning, neural nets, stuff I looked at in research I did during high school. Wasn't so crazy about this one.</p>
<p>My note to my roommate was about my experience on the Badminton team and how I wasn't an athlete but had fun with it anyway. </p>
<p>Note one thing with most of the essays mentioned on this thread... many of them make you go "wow, he/she sounds cool, it'd be interesting to meet him/her." In our dorm twice a week we have this thing where a couple of students tell their life stories and we can ask questions. One of the questions we always ask is what people wrote about in their college essays. A lot of them are pretty interesting. They are often very "them" that is they seem to at least begin to explain who the person is. A great essay will be something that begins to get at who you are as a person. It's hard to get right, but rewarding when you do.</p>
<p>Picture essay: I wrote about setting off fireworks with my brother, and how it taught me to live life passionately.</p>
<p>Activity essay: Art, and how much I love it.</p>
<p>Idea essay: I talked about the mind-brain problem, and my interest in consciousness studies/cognitive science.</p>
<p>Roommate: Hard to explain...it was about how I cherish the simple things in life (stargazing, cloud-watching, the color of a blade of grass), and also how I like to ponder things and have meaningful discussions.</p>