Must I explain here even if the title of my course makes sense within the context of my interests/extra-curriculars?
I would include a short explanation.
I donât know what youâre writing about, but be careful about making the response about extracurriculars. Yale is primarily an academic institution, and classes are designed to be deeply scholastic. Itâs important here that your response resonates with this, and if your activities happen to coincide with this, thatâs a nice bonus.
Ideas:
- The Physics of Football
- The Highs and Lows of Topography
- Whatâs in a Name? Classical Liberalism vs. Modern American Liberalism
- Mozart to Michelangelo: Great Artists 1500-Present
- The Great Wall: Entrepreneurialism and Barriers to Entry
- Red Tape: How the Federal Government Works
- Grant and Sherman in the Civil War: Saving the USAâs Bacon
@prezbucky I think all those were at one time or another offered as a Freshman Seminar at Harvard. 
https://freshmanseminars.college.harvard.edu/files/freshmanseminars/files/fsp-catalog_2017-2018.pdf
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The point of this short take is for the adcoms to find out more about YOU. It doesnât have to be scholarly- it can be a course about making the best blueberry muffin known to humankind (if that is what you are into). It can be serious if you want it to be and have the credentials to actually teach a course in physics, but it certainly does not have to. This is where you show who you are- not nec. to impress.
Sad: âAsian America, 70Y, Diana L. Eck âŠCANCELLEDâ
Seriously, donât think too much about the short-takes. Thereâs another school on the west coast that has these short-takes. When we asked the Admission Director, he said, âwhatever you want to write ⊠I usually skip over those.â
I would not read anything into it; the decision to cancel was likely the professorâs as Harvard rarely cancels courses for low enrollment.
âOne, Two, Three, Fo, Get yo Woman on the Flo: Misogyny in Hip Hop Cultureâ
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âThe point of this short take is for the adcoms to find out more about YOU. It doesnât have to be scholarly- it can be a course about making the best blueberry muffin known to humankind (if that is what you are into). It can be serious if you want it to be and have the credentials to actually teach a course in physics, but it certainly does not have to. This is where you show who you are- not nec. to impress.â
My opinion is probably too late for this yearâs applicants (writing this for future applicants), but I think we disagree (which is fine). Yale is looking for scholars who will be the next generation of influencers and leaders. Who you are is a crucial part of your application, but I feel that the essay and one of the other short answer questions are more appropriate to discuss hobbies like baking. In addition, your academic motivations and curiosities are something about you that the admissions office really wants to know as itâs a priority, and questions like this are explicitly designed to shed information on this facet of the application.
This question provides a very focused venue for applicants to discuss something that excites them intellectually. A topic like âhow to make the worldâs most delicious blueberry muffinsâ would be inappropriate, in my view - itâs more like the fun weekend classes students run for local high school students and would never be offered as a Yale class. Something like âfrom muffins to pop-tarts: trends in food processing and preparation over the 20th centuryâ would be more fitting.
I do agree that this shouldnât be an opportunity to show off - you donât need to write something like ânumerical methods for the time-dependent schrodingersâ wave equation.â Something like this could backfire by trying too hard, especially as a lot of adcoms are alums so have taken advanced classes in most majors offered.
I think you could make a blueberry muffin class sufficiently scientifically rigorous - the chemistry of cooking is big business these days. I forget which college it was, but we had one where a guide was quite proud to tell us about the fact that a non-scientific student could take care of their lab science requirement with a âChemistry of Cookingâ class and make a souffle for the final project.
Theyâre asking the question to gain a little insight into who you are.
I would take every single possible opportunity to give them that insight.
I said a class about the legend of Bill Nye the Science Guy.
Once again, similar to a Harvard Freshman Seminar. 
https://www.thecrimson.com/flyby/article/2014/3/2/courses-you-should-have-taken/
- That's still several steps more rigorous than the blueberry muffin idea. And it's a Harvard Freshman Seminar, which means it's less about content, and it's more about learning how to write at that level and how to relate to faculty in a fun context.
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I forget which college it was, but we had one where a guide was quite proud to tell us about the fact that a non-scientific student could take care of their lab science requirement with a 'Chemistry of Cooking' class and make a souffle for the final project.
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That doesnât sound like Yale. I hope.
- Not that it matters for this year, anymore, but I think this is a great college application question. It's shorthand for "What do you know about most? What do you care about most? What is at the core of what you want to learn so well that you are the world expert on it?"
@JHS said what I was trying to articulate much better than me.
I wasnât saying to have the blueberry muffin course be your answer! My point was that the course you created should be about something that you cared a lot about and knew a lot about, so much that you think you could âteachâ a class on it. This question is trying to get at âwhat makes you tickâ and offer the adcoms some insight as to who you are and what you love. I made the reference to the blueberry muffin as an example- IF you loved baking blueberry muffins and it was truly a passion of yours, THEN a class on making the best blueberry muffin would work for you. My point was that it didnât have to be a scholarly topic if you didnât want it to be. Hobbies are a very important part of who a person is and can tell a great deal about them. Not every answer has to be erudite and stuffy trying to overly impress. Sometimes that can backfire. In any case, application season is over now, so I hope you all are happy to be done and I wish you all the best of luck!! My boys love Yale so i am crossing my fingers you all have good results come April!
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