One of the topics for the ApplyTexas application is “What was the environment you were raised in? Describe your family, home, neighborhood, or community, and explain how it has shaped you as a person.”
I started off writing about my community but I realized that it will most likely be too short. I was thinking about writing a short story that encompasses things about my community and then explaining how it affected me.
Is this a bad idea?
As long as it’s a true story, answers the prompt, and not in an odd format, it’s fine.
I would not. They are not looking for your artistic talent. It seems like it would take up too much of the word count, and wouldn’t really be about you.
Think of it this way. Admissions officers didn’t make up the prompts (they are dictated by the Common App). So they are not tightly tied to them. The goal is to give them insight into your personality and make them want you on campus. You want to “show, not tell”. Your idea seems long on telling.
Ignore the prompts to start with. Think about what is unique about you and specific stories or incidents that reveal that. They can be small things. Once you have that, you can think about what prompt it goes with,
Yeah, agreed with intparent, that doesn’t sound like a good idea. That being said, I see nothing wrong with writing that sort of thing just to spark ideas.
@intparent @Philpsych I’ve thought about it and I’ve decided to write about my family because I feel like I would have a lot to say. I was thinking of having a paragraph describing my family, a paragraph describing how it affected me, and then a paragraph explaining how they affected me negatively. The number of paragraphs will probably change but would you say it is a bad idea to talk about the negative aspects?
That’s a tough question, but ultimately I’m inclined to say that yes, it would be bad to talk about the negatives, unless you can also spin them in a positive way.
I think you are missing the idea of a college essay. It should be 90% about you. The idea is to reveal more about you than they can see from the standard application. Your community and your family aren’t going to be living on campus and adding to their community. Think of stories and incidents that reveal things about you. My opinion is that it is better to stick to positive things about you that would improve the campus atmosphere somehow.
This might be a dumb question but I can’t find it anywhere. How long should the essays for UT Austin be? I’m planning on answering Topic B as my second essay but I don’t know how long it should be. Thank you!