I’m confused on what to right about for the Yale reflection supplement. For my common app, I wrote about the failure prompt so I think it’d be redundant to write about failure again. Or would Yale not care? I have some stories but they are pretty bad. Basically, i did this and that.
Do you have any role models who have inspired you to do something? Any causes you are passionate about fighting for? A novel idea about leadership that would be an interesting read?
well…not really. I wrote about basketball for my yale supplement, and it doesn’t tell enough about me. Thing is my main problem isn’t finding a topic but finding a topic that I have stories to tell with. Basketball is just ok: I played basketball, I had fun etc.
Maybe just stew over a philosopical question rather than telling a story like your common app essay does.
I would respectfully disagree with the above. Just find something to tell a story, or give the AO an idea of who you are-a defining moment, perhaps, but it doesn’t have to be. Write about your intellectual passions or what helped you to develop your future plans or a moment when you stood up for something or why you are different from the thousands of others(which everyone is 
Don’t try to get too abstract or philosophical-again, we are only 18 years or so old. They don’t expect us to have the thoughts of Kant or Locke or Gandhi, and it seems a bit pretentious to try.
Be yourself. You have a story, you have a history-what do you want to tell of it? What do you want to represent you? These are questions you will have to answer-the essay is you speaking out for yourself, and your qualities and your experiences. Choose something to portray “you” and something that you can write about 
Best of luck!
Yes but if you already told a story, and have thoughts in your head that fascinate you, there is nothing wrong with laying your thoughts out in an essay. Some of the best I’ve read are philosophical. No you don’t have to be Locke or Kant, but if the AC can see that you know how to think through a paradox, they will be impressed. It’s a suggestion to stand out. Which is how you get in to these schools. Granted, I’m sure you stand out in other ways, so in the end the choice is yours.
I didn’t mean to be inflammatory It’s a good suggestion, if done correctly. I suppose I was speaking from my own experience, where I get too lost in philosophy and forget to portray myself. I simply am not good at abstract writing…but I guess I shouldn’t have generalized like that, apologies.
PS I am an accepted Yale SCEA too Congrats!!
@aoYale2020 whenever I start thinking philosophically, I turn to nihilism…So i probably won’t try to write like that.
The essay is your opportunity to “speak” to the person reading your application, to reveal different aspects of who you are.
The Yale website has some essay tips and a video: http://admissions.yale.edu/advice-putting-together-your-application#essay
Johns Hopkins has a great site with “essays that worked”, a collection of memorable essays from the past four admission cycles. They are all highly individual but give a perspective on the wide variety of topics and subjects that can provide inspiration for an essay. https://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays-that-worked/
I also like an Emory admission blog from last year that has good tips on essays: http://blog.emoryadmission.com/blog/2014/10/24/tackling-your-application-essays/
@dumspirospero34 no worries! Essays are a very personal thing different for each applicant! Great resources posted above! Best of luck @coumadin !!!